I'm looking to get a bit more into photography (just as a hobby and for fun) and I want to be taking pictures of some of my friends that are dancers (of all sorts) and gymnasts. How do you properly do this? I know it'll probably vary on the camera, but... yeah. Let's also say the room was dark and a flash might be inappropriate maybe? What do you do, then? It seems very complicated to me.
Taking pictures of moving people in the dark is very difficult to do. If you're using an SLR, i'd advise shooting med res jpgs on a hi-8 ISO if you have it, 800 - 1000 will work as well. Open your aperture all the way and hopefully you can get away with a fast shutter speed which is key when shooting moving objects. If you want to shoot RAW, you'll have to get some light on the subject...the flash won't cut it. You'll need studio lighting and about 400 ISO with maybe f2.3. Again, anything you can do to get your shutter speed up.
Basically what Clash said, but also: Other than having a very fast shutter speed and a wide open aperture, if you are using an SLR, check the manual to see what the flash's range is... If you don't have the ability to studio lighting, you can try to get within the range of your flash and use that along with the fast shutter speed and an open aperture. Also, look into the lens you are using. Look for one with a lower f stop, that way you can open up your aperture even more.
Hahaha, I agree with you man. Trust me. I'm one of those guys who likes to always.. ALWAYS utilize natural light. For example, I go to concerts frequently where it is pitch black and never use my flash (and not just because of the first three songs, no flash rule). However, that is more of a personal preference to a photographer and not necessarily a rule in photography. So I added it in there as it is useful info.
I tend to avoid shooting concerts...NEVER good light if there's light at all. And if there is... it's 100 different lights in 5 different colors...thank god for photoshop
It really depends on the concert.... If you go to a night time/indoor show, thats very true... Day time shows can get you same GREAT shots.. Just need a really fast lens
