Fire Dancers

Went and shot a performance by the group "BR Burn". I need some help in improving these shots. I shot in TV (1/60), ISO 4000. I guess I could have bumped the ISO to 6400, but the images are noisy enough.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/1...a8450aeb_b.jpg
fire dancer14 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr


Not the best, but this is my favorite of the night
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7292/1...63e0f6a8_b.jpg
fire dancer13 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/1...fd799bae_b.jpg
fire dancer7 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3780/1...52474e28_b.jpg
fire dancer6 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3707/1...23e3c3da_b.jpg
fire dancer5 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2869/1...c62fbe8c_b.jpg
fire dancer4 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3739/1...1a809c62_b.jpg
fire dancer3 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

This would have been the best shot, but I just missed one of the fires
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/1...b9a6e3be_b.jpg
fire dancer2 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7429/1...b987a561_b.jpg
fire dancer1 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

Fun set - My faves are shot 4 in post one and the last shot of post 2.

I'm favouring fire dancer1 and fire dancer2 and fire dancer 6. Hard subject to photograph well. Well done.

The b&w really works well with the one photo. With the light available, how about interesting blurs? That'd get around the noise issue.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by QuietOne

The b&w really works well with the one photo. With the light available, how about interesting blurs? That'd get around the noise issue.

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What I meant when I said improve these shots, i meant the next time I shoot them. Is there anyway to capture a sharp shot on their face in this low light and them dancing? I didn't realize I lowered the speed to 1/25 on the last set (the girl in the B/W shot). I was messing with my camera between sets and lowered it from 1/50 to 1/25. The B/W shot would have been the best shot IF I would have had a little more space between the edge of the frame and that flame.

I went back and extended the frame, did some cloning of the fence and fire

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7448/1...7be4e66a_b.jpg
fire dancerBW2 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

These are some cool shots. Firedancer 1 & Firedancer 5 are my favourites.

If you are trying to freeze the action to get as sharp an image as possible then as you know, the movement here is the biggest issue, so trying to get the shutter speed as fast as possible is the key.

I don't know if the following is the correct approach, but this is what I would do -

Manually set ISO to highest you are comfortable with given your noise tolerance.
Set to aperture priority with the largest aperture you are comfortable with to be able to maintain focus through your acceptable depth of field.
By doing this you will automatically get the fastest shutter speed available to you.

As a far as exposure metering is concerned I would try to spot metering, so that the dark background doesn't result in the subject being overexposed (or the shutter speed being slower than necessary).

If you can, try to take shots at the time their body and head aren't moving as much.

A very good suggestion on how to make this work, Runmonty.

Yup good suggestions RM.
I can add that if flash is allowed (and you wanted to use flash) that too would partially freeze the dancers even if the shutter speed were slow.
d 'might' shoot this on manual mode though as in my experience, moving bright lights screw up exposures time and time again.
Hope that may help

Nice shooting AT! I'm liking the last couple of shots with the good view of the dancer and plenty of motion blur on the fire....nice!