Outdoor Portrait Photography: Sharing My Shooting Style

Last month, I organised a group outdoor shoot for my photography kakis (friends) who rarely shoots portraits. It was a great learning session for everyone, including myself. While others have opportunities to practice portrait shoots, I have the chance to actually see how my style makes a difference to normal portrait photos.

So in this post, I shall share with you how I capture some of the shots using techniques and tips to create the look that I did for many of my portrait photos.

Backlight
This is one of my commonly-used lighting to create a dramatic effect. Some higher-skilled photographers would be able to control the flare effects but I like my way of shooting against the light.

The above shot cast rather unusual rings of flare, a result of the Nikkor 24-70mm shot at f4.

Here's one below where the flash is completely covered by the model. It might not look different from a shot without backlight, but notice the model's arms have a glow.

Here's an example of a shot without backlight and one with. Notice that the camera auto-adjusts the white balance to give a warmer tone with backlight. Of course, if you shoot in RAW, you could fix the left photo, but you certainly can't fake the glow.

As for the flash output, I always keep it at 1/8 power, and I don't factor it into my shooting exposure. Take a shot, evaluate the flash power, and adjust accordingly. You can trigger the rear flash using whatever methods you know that supports your camera system. For my case, I enabled SU-4 slave flash mode on my SB-600 flash and used my Nikon D300 internal flash set to minimum power (1/128) to trigger the rear flash. You could also purchase radio trigger but I want my shooting pals to also try the backlight shooting by triggering my rear flash using their individual built-in flash units.


Wide-Angle Framing
Surprisingly, most of my kakis were shooting close up on the model. During the shoot, I recommended them to pull back and shoot wide, but one of the commented that "there are too many elements when shooting wide, don't know how to frame".

The technique is simple: find a background that you would shoot with a wide-angle lens. Then place the model in the middle at about 2 feet. To make the subject large in a wide-angle shot, the subject has to be close enough. Finally, add a dramatic pose. In the above shot, I added another light source to the left of the camera - yep, that's not from a real sunlight but from my external flash.

Nikon D300, Tokina 12-24mm at 12mm, f11 1/250s ISO200

Here's another shot to show how wide angle lens can work on portrait shots. I framed the background structure into the photo. For this shot, I underexposed the background by several stops to give a more dramatic effect, then set my external flash to full power (1/1) to light up my model.

Close Panning
When trying to shoot a model with flying hair, you would either need a wind machine or a very windy day. Even so, you might not capture the right poses when the model is stationary.

What I do in this shoot is to ask the model to take a walk, let the wind blow in her face, and ask her to look into the camera at times. As she walks, you walk and pan with her. After dozens of shots, you might get a few good images with sharp focus on the subject's face or eyes.

Nikkor 85mm f1.8 1/1600s ISO200

Here's another shot, with all the random elements perfectly come together.

Nikkor 85mm f1.8 1/1600s ISO200

Conclusion
The above shots may not demonstrate perfect framing or lighting or posing examples because I took the shots really quickly in order not to hold up my kakis shooting enjoyment. Try these in your next portrait shoot and add some variety and emotional impact to your portrait images.

Visit my facebook page for more of my photos at http://facebook.com/chesterphoto . And if you need more information on the above techniques, please leave a comment below.

Emma and Kate: Newborn Photos

Last week, I visited a friend who just gave birth to twins, to pass her an old pen tablet so that she could use it for freehand graphic design. I brought my Samsung NX200 with me and asked if I could take some photos of her babies.

This is the first time I am using the Samsung NX200 for a "professional" photoshoot. You see, whenever I intend to do a shoot with some serious post-processing, I will always use my Nikon DSLR gear. For shoots where I do not intend to process, I conveniently use all other options. In fact, most of my product review photos in this blog are shot with either the mirrorless cameras, compact cameras or phone cameras, in JPG, and running through Picasa for minor brightness and contrast adjustments.

In order to post-process images taken on the Samsung NX200, I shoot in Samsung Raw (SRW) format.

Unedited JPG copy.

After processing in Lightroom.

Many people think that shooting in RAW format is a way for photographers to fix "mistakes" during the shot, like wrong exposure. RAW format is more than just that. When you shoot in RAW, you are able to edit the colour tone, the sharpness, the noise reduction, the contrast, or the brightness, without compromising the image quality.

You see, when you shoot in JPG, the image is already processed by the camera, so all the colour tones, sharpness, noise reduction, have already been fixed. In fact, when I tried to process the same shot in RAW and JPG using the same Lightroom presets, the result turns out entirely different.

RAW image applied with Lightroom preset.

JPG image applied with same Lightroom preset.

RAW image post-processed with Lightroom preset.

But that doesn't mean you have to always shoot in RAW, because sometimes, you really do not need the extra capability, since shooting in RAW increases your file size, requires special software and more time to process RAW images to JPG, and more importantly, takes longer to save the images on your camera. This is very apparent on the Samsung NX200. After taking a RAW shot, I am unable to review the image until the camera buffer has completely processed the images, which takes about 6 seconds. I would have no such buffer issues on a prosumer DSLR like Nikon D300.

It all comes down to picking the right equipment for your shoot assignments. Using a DSLR like Nikon D300 will allow me to shoot without lag, but I would have to pack a bag full of heavy lenses.

A mirrorless system like Samsung NX200 is easily fitted in a normal backpack, but I get the same image quality - the NX200 is a 20 megapixel APS-C sensor, which is on paper better than my Nikon D300. The only compromise I had: slower shot-to-shot, image review, auto-focus (lens dependent).

But sometimes, it's not the speed of the equipment that gets you the shot. It's anticipating the moment.

For more photos, visit my Facebook page.

Photo Blog: Gadgets Overdrive During my Hong Kong 2011 Vacation

While I take a break and enjoy my vacation in Hong Kong in Nov 2011, my gadgets went on overdrive.

This is the first time I brought my 4-year-old daughter abroad, so I need to make sure she is well-occupied. I brought all her favourite gadgets - the spare iPhone 3GS and the iPad, plus a comfortable pair of Sony MDR-Z1000 headphones.

Who doesn't love a pair of comfy cushiony headphones?

I also brought the Logitech Wireless Keyboard for Tablet so that I can work using the iPad more efficiently. I love the hard slip-in case that converts into a stand to hold the heavy iPad.

For my own private listening, I used the Logitech UE600vi, an absolute ear-opener. It's so light and comfortable that I could wear this whole day. The treble frequency is not high and so it's very suitable for outdoor use. In comparison, the Sony MDR-EX1000 has very clear treble sound but when used outdoors, the treble overpowers the bass.

I love Hong Kong because it is a very well-connected environment, be it transport or telecommunications. Just 12 months ago, a 7-day unlimited data VAS from CSL costed HK$178. On this trip, it costs only HK$78! Thanks to the 1O1O shop staff at the airport departure hall, I got it set up on my Samsung Galaxy S2 in a brief, while my Singapore SIM card is moved to my iPhone 3GS. Besides data, this card offers free IDD call to many countries including Singapore - pay only HK$0.28 per minute!

This was the Prepaid SIM card I bought. Link

The reason for using the Galaxy S2 for the Hong Kong prepaid SIM card is obvious: Android phones enable Wi-Fi hotspot. With that, I can tether all my mobile devices to the Galaxy S2 and enjoy data connectivity at no extra cost. I made sure all our other mobile devices' data roaming is turned off, and the Wi-Fi is connected to the Galaxy S2.

Besides the benefits of Wi-Fi tethering, the Samsung Galaxy S2 can also do USB OTG (on-the-go), which means I can plug an external storage device to the Galaxy S2 and it can read the storage device. Thus I am able to transfer photos from my cameras via a card reader to the phone and upload to Facebook. The photos are edited using the NX200 built-in editing tools and then resized.

And with so many gadgets, it is practically not possible to survive on a a couple power sockets in the hotel room. For that, I brought my own extension sockets to charge up all my devices. I even bought a portable battery pack just for this trip in case the phone battery runs out before the day ended.

Now that I've taken care of the gadgets, let me share some photos I took during the vacation and the process of capturing them.

Day 1: Going to the airport.

I took this shot on the moving taxi. After a dozen shots, this one captures the airport control tower without blur while the surrounding is. Tip: there is no way to guarantee a good shot on a moving vehicle. Just keep shooting and hold your camera steady.

Above, I used the Panorama mode on the Samsung NX200 to capture this seemingly fish-eye shot of the aircraft. You can see that Panorama modes are not limited to long stretches of images. This 4:3-looking aspect ration is achieved by panning using the portrait mode instead of the landscape mode.

Shooting without looking at the viewfinder takes some practice, but it's the only way to capture images at places where photography is not permitted. With a fast camera like the NX200, it doesn't take more than a second to get this shot and stealthily slip the camera back to my case.


Day 2: Checking the weather.

Still drizzling. Our original plan was to visit HK Disneyland on Days 2 and 3. But Day 2 weather is quite bad, so we had to hope for a better weather on Day 3. To get this shot, I had to anticipate her as she slowly heads towards the curtain.

That's Disneyland Hotel, and at the foggy distant background, the mainland Hong Kong, not the CBD, by the way. That's way too few skyscrapers if you noticed.

Bossini got the license to produce a range of Toy Story merchandise to tie-in with the opening of the Toy Story theme park in Disneyland. Unfortunately, the park only started from 18 Nov, about 10 days short from our trip. Nonetheless, Mayenne got to pose with this statue inside the 4-storey store at Sai Yeung Choi Street, among others. Notice the similar poses?

Day 3: It's Disneyland!

Weather was perfect! Cloudy cooling day with no precipitation! The moment we entered the park, we saw the queue for a photo shoot with Mickey and Minnie. We quickly got on the queue and captured this beautiful memory.

The must-watch show, Festival of The Lion King. Shooting in the dark is no problem for the Samsung NX200. Tip: set the camera to Manual exposure mode, maximum aperture, and then fine-tune the shutter speed, using the viewfinder as a guide.

I didn't take any still images of the Street Parade, because I felt that a video capture offers a better visual memory for my daughter (she still watches the video regularly at home till today). Here's one just to show the colour vibrancy of the Samsung NX200.

There were 2 things which I felt regretful as night time approached, yet the regrets were all negated by one non-event. One: the Samsung NX200 battery could not last the entire day. For that, I was fortunate to have a secondary camera, the Fujifilm Finepix F550EXR to capture video footages, while trying to conserve the NX200 battery for the fireworks. Second, I did not bring a tripod for the fireworks shoot. So I had to look for a flat elevated surface and attached my pocket flexi-pod. The only elevated surface I could find: the trash bin.

And this was the position.

But all these problems came to naught, when the PA announced that the fireworks show was cancelled!!

As the crowd dispersed, I attempted to capture a better shot of the Castle.

I wasn't able to capture any more shot, because at this point, the NX200 battery went completely flat.

Day 4: The Return

Before we checked out of the Disney Hollywood Hotel, we explored the garden, which is surprisingly well landscaped. If you are staying there, please make an effort to visit the garden.

At the airport, she insisted on handling her new luggage we bought for her. Doesn't she look like a seasoned traveller?

Credits:
I'd like to thank the following companies for lending me some of the gadgets to use for my vacation:

• Samsung for the NX200 and lenses
• Logitech for the UE600vi earphones and Wireless Keyboard for Tablet

There is also the Sony Camcorder HDR-PJ10 which was not featured in this vacation blog because, despite their kind intentions to lend me, I decided not to bring for the trip because I had too many gadgets to handle. This camcorder has a built-in projector which can project up to 60-inch size, and records with an internal 16GB memory plus optional card slot for expandability. The original intention was to use the camcorder to record videos, and at the end of the day, I could project the footages in the hotel room. I tried it in my own bedroom and the brightness is rather good. In fact, it spurred me to look around for portable battery projectors so that I could watch movies in my bedroom without all the wires and heat and fan noise from the common projectors.

If you have any questions about the post, drop me a comment. You may follow me on my Facebook photography page at Chester Tan Photography.

Download iPad Apps from Office and Install from Home

Scenario: I am an iPad Wifi (no 3G) owner. I bring my iPad to work every day. My work place do not have open  Wifi, so I am unable to connect iPad to the Internet. I use the office computer and find free iPad apps, but these iPad apps are free only for a very limited time. By the time I return home, the apps are no longer free. I do not want to plug my iPad to my office computer iTunes because I do not want my office computer to sync all the apps in my iPad.

My solution: I install iTunes on my office computer. I login using my Apple ID. I download the apps from my office computer via iTunes. I copy the .IPA app files to my USB drive. I bring the files home. I open the iTunes from my home computer. I drag and drop the .IPA app files from my USB drive to iTunes. I sync my iPad in iTunes. The apps will appear in my iPad.

Yes it might be a longwinded way of getting apps into your iPad, but it is an effective way of getting the free apps that are often offered in very limited time frame. You will save time by downloading huge apps from office. And if you are like me who tethers my iPad to my mobile device (Nokia E72 via Joikuspot Premium), it might be a good idea to save the monthly bundled data. 1GB might seem a lot, but if each app size is 100MB, 10 downloads would deplete your monthly quota. And did I mention the battery drain when using your mobile device as a Wifi hotspot?

To find the folder that stores the .IPA app files, go to the iTunes Apps library that displays all your installed apps, then right click any app and select "Show in Windows Explorer".

Oh, and you can only install the .IPA app file on devices with the same Apple ID. So you can't share the .IPA file with your friends. iTunes will not allow the app to be installed in devices with a different Apple ID.

Understanding Lens Focal Length and Aperture for New DSLR and Hybrid Camera Users

New Digital SLR and Hybrid Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera owners take note: you are possessing a precision-engineered optical imaging device that gives you sharp focus on any object that you so choose. To master the use of these optical devices, you need to understand what the numbers on the lenses stand for and what they mean to you. After all, the purpose of owning these cameras is to be able to change lenses, but if you don't know what kind of lenses do what, then you wouldn't know what lenses you need to buy.

This article will not go into the technical details, but it should allow the novice to have a flavour of lenses. And if that triggers your curiosity, you can do more detailed research over the Internet or attend photography courses.

The 2 important attributes that make a lens are focal length and maximum aperture.

1. Focal Length
If you are a point-and-shoot compact camera user, you would probably just be concerned about the zoom factor (3x/5x/10x zoom). More camera makers also try to market the wide-angle lens feature like 24mm. With a wider-angle lens, you are able to see wider view without having to move too far back.

On the other extreme, when the focal length is very long, like 200mm, you can zoom-in to the subject without having to go too close-in. Great for shooting wildlife, or become a paparazzi. A handful of compact cameras have powerful zooms, to like 400mm. That would cost thousands of dollars on an equivalent DSLR lens.

The below is a table to describe the common uses for lenses of different focal lengths.

Do take note that the focal length described in all interchangeable lenses are the 35mm full-frame equivalent. On a Four-thirds system, you need to multiply by 2. On cameras using APS-C sensor, you need to multiply by 1.5. Therefore, an Olympus or Lumix lens with 20mm focal length will give you 40mm field of view, while the Samsung lens with 30mm focal length will give you 45mm field of view.

2. Aperture
Aperture determines the "brightness" of the lens, or commonly used to refer to the "speed" of the lens. The smaller the f-number, the brighter the lens. Here's a diagram to explain it all.

To determine what the biggest aperture size, look for the value next to "F" (e.g. F2.8), or next to "1:" (e.g. 1:2.8). If there are 2 values separated by a dash (e.g. 1:3.5-5.6), it means the aperture varies from the minimum focal length to the maximum focal length for zoom lenses. This varying aperture characteristic happens to most low-end lenses and compact cameras, simply because when the lens zooms in, the lens barrel extends and less light reaches the sensor.

From a price point, a large aperture size (i.e. small f-number) instantly translates to an expensive lens, with the exception of 50mm f/1.8, easily the cheapest lens for the aperture size. Even so, prices may vary for the same lens type among brands due to the lens quality.

Here's a simplified table showing the common aperture sizes you might find in different types of lenses.

Other lens information that are just as important:

- lens diamater (front): denoted by a letter o with a stroke  (⌀) followed by the number. This information is useful when you want to purchase lens filters. Buy the correct size so that you can screw the filter to the lens.

- lens mount (back): each lens is built with a lens mount for a specific camera brand or range of models. If in doubt, ask before buying. Third-party lens brands like Tokina or Tamron often manufactures different lens mounts for the same lens model (e.g. 28-70mm f/2.8), so be sure to buy the correct lens mount. Some mounts are specified by the type instead of the brand because the mount is used by several brands. For instance, Four-thirds, Micro Four-thirds, K-mount.

- choosing and testing lens (quality control during production): even with the same lens model, the sharpness may vary during factory assembly. As I mentioned, lens is a precision optic, so any misalignment will result in a less-than-stellar outcome. Some customers would test several lenses to select the sharpest. If you want to do the same, please go to those popular camera shops that lets you do that without qualms.

- lens care: you are recommended to at least buy a neutral filter (e.g. UV filter) to protect the front lens element so that the special lens coating would not get scratched by abrasions. Do not drop the lens, especially if the lens has a built-in image-stabilizer function, because the mechanism is highly sensitive. Do not get so uptight when you spot dust inside the lens, and there is no way to prevent this from happening over time, because the lens is not sealed (unless you never remove the lens from the camera body, which then defeats the purpose of an interchangeable lens system). Dust will NOT affect overall image quality.

Take heart that while you may upgrade your camera body to higher megapixels or improved high ISO quality, the function of the lens remains unchanged. Getting great lenses will last your for decades (and may even cost more than the camera body), so treat your lenses well. A word of caution: hybrid camera lenses are generally less durable than DSLR lenses, cost less, and are made of lighter plastic materials, so try not to man-handle them during shooting.


I hope this write-up provides you some useful info when determining what lenses you should get for what purpose (generally), why there are price differences among lenses, and how to take care of your lenses.

Guide to Twitter for My Friends

Some of my friends recently got interested in Twitter, so I decide to do this post to get them started.

What's Twitter for?
Twitter is a platform where users post messages called "tweets", and followers receive these tweets.

Why do that?
Twitter allows you to
- talk about what happens to your life in 140 characters (microblog), not unlike Facebook.
- share information that is happening right now (e.g. a traffic jam at a road)

What if I have nothing to share, or if I value my privacy?
You can still use Twitter to follow other users so that you ("follower") can receive tweets in your account. You can also set your Twitter to private so that only followers you approve can see you tweets. But remember, that does not stop your followers from forwarding (retweeting) your tweets, so I always tell my friends who set their Twitter accounts to private that it doesn't mean your tweets are safe. The only way to guarantee privacy is not to even mention it on any social media.

Why should I follow Twitter users?
By following these users, you will receive tweets that they post. Note that many organisations or news agencies or interest groups use Twitter to share useful information like news, promotions, tips.

What's so interesting to search in Twitter?
You can search for the most recent tweets that users posted at http://search.twitter.com/ . For instance, during the recent floods around Singapore, I use Twitter to search and find who, what, where, when and how the floods occur. Some users even post photos. You can't find this news anywhere outside Twitter, until it's officially reported on the news sites. That is the wonder of Twitter, and this is made possible because of users like you who wants to contribute such information by tweeting.

So, the next time something interesting happens, you might want to tweet it so that people will find out (provided your tweets are public and you do not set your account to private).

How do I interpret and use the symbols on the tweets?
The "@" sign before a name (e.g. @musicdiary) refers to the Twitter User ID. When you use that, the tweet would be visible to the user. This is useful when you are mentioning something in the tweet about other users and you want them to be aware of the tweet too. If you don't do that, then the user would not know that you are mentioning him/her and would have no idea of your tweets, even if the user is following you. That's because the user may overlook your tweet among the dozens or hundreds of tweets he/she receives.

The "#" sign is a hash tag. It's basically like a tag or keyword that you often do on articles. It's useful if there is a popular (trending) topic that the Twitter community is heavily discussing or searching, so you can insert the hash tag to include your tweet to be part of the topic, e.g. #ndp2010. This feature is not really important, so don't use it if you don't know how to use it. I rarely use it, and I treat it like a short form (e.g. National Day Parade 2010) and many people must also use the hash tag in order to make it work. If only you is using it (e.g. #ilovendp) then the hash tag is meaningless.

Use "RT" to denote that you are retweeting (like email forwarding) a tweet from another user. In 2009, Twitter enhanced the "RT" feature to allow you to retweet in its entirety without having to include the tweeter's user ID in the tweet. This allows the original tweet to be passed around without having the retweeter to try to shorten the tweet in order to fit the entire tweet due to the possible list of previous retweeters' user IDs. The result is that the retweeter cannot edit the tweets, which might be rather handicapped as sometimes you want to include your comments before retweeting. This "primitive" method may still be allowed depending on the Twitter applications you use. So, if you want to do a complete retweet, just look for the "retweet" button and click it, which means no editing. If you want to edit before posting, look for an option to say "edit and retweet" (or something to that effect).

OK that's all. Leave me a comment if you have anything to ask or share. Cheers!

Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera System

Last Saturday, I was invited by Samsung to conduct a workshop at Courts Megastore (Tampines).Over the next few weeks, I will publish excerpts of the workshop materials in this blog.

Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera System: Do We Really Need Another New Format?

Photography, as we know decades ago, requires expensive and specialised optical devices called the camera, that only the trained can operate and afford. Single Reflex Lens (SLR) camera systems are the most portable imaging system that offers the best quality and versatility. Till today, digital SLR is the choice for professional imaging.

Featues of the DSLR:

• Interchangeable lenses
• Fast shooting performance
• Large image sensor
• Professional image quality
• Clean high-ISO images

Decades ago, compact film cameras began to popularise photography, thanks to its lightweight and ease-of-use. Naturally, the compact format evolves into the digital form and today, almost everyone carries an imaging device. While the compact camera can never replace the DSLR on the image quality, there are other features that consumers are willing to trade-off for.

Features of the Point-and-Shoot Compact Camera:

• Compact
• Easy to Operate
• Live View Display
• Video Recording

I've included the last 2 points here because while many DSLRs have these functions, it is still not considered a "de-facto" feature.

Now, where does this new hybrid camera come into place?



The mirrorless interchangeable lens camera has the best of both worlds!

Compact
Thanks to the mirrorless design, the hybrid camera can be smaller yet contains the same image sensor as a DSLR.

Easy to Operate
The hybrid camera comes with user interface that is as easy to use as a compact camera. It also has shooting modes to help the user capture the images automatically, and plenty of hardware buttons to allow advanced users to control the settings quickly.

Live View Display
Just like compact camera, the hybrid camera's live view display shows what you are about to capture. The NX10 also comes with the electronic view finder (EVF) to mimic the DSLR. On-screen display shows important shooting information. The screen sharpness is important for the user to do manual focus. Good thing NX10 uses 3" AMOLED screen.

Interchangeable Lens
Nothing more to say about the ability to interchange lens. This has got to be the most important feature to the consumers. Previously, compact cam users do not worry about the lens attributes. Maybe they would be concerned about the no. of times of zoom factor. Now with hybrid cameras, users need to understand the 2 important attributes: focal length and aperture. I will explain these 2 attributes in future.

Fast Shooting Performance
Indeed, one major drawback of a compact camera is laggy shooting performance, and it's not just the shutter lag. With the hybrid camera, the start-up speed is very fast, the focus speed is zippy, and the shot-to-shot is also speedy. Now, in no way will hybrid camera be as fast as DSLR, but I dare say no compact camera comes close.

Image Sensor
Again, no compact camera's image sensor comes close to a hybrid camera. With a large image sensor means hybrid cameras are capable of producing professional quality images. The high ISO images are also cleaner than any compact cameras in the market.

Video Recording
Video recording on a hybrid camera presents more filming controls than most compact cameras, and matching only the top-end DSLRs with video capability. On a hybrid camera, you can certainly zoom around with a zoom lens, perform manual focusing. Some models like NX10 also allows manual exposure override and aperture setting.

Final Word
Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera is a long-awaited next generation imaging solution, offering the compactness and easy of use of a compact camera as well as the image versatility and quality of a digital SLR. I'd say that any consumer who is intending to getting a low-end DSLR should seriously consider the hybrid camera, because it is smaller and its operation is closer to a compact camera. Price is very competitive, and you will be spoilt for choice below $1200.

Stage Dance Photography for Joo Chiat CC

Earlier this month I photographed a dance show for Joo Chiat CC Dance Classes, and they cover a wide range of dance genre, from classical ballet to modern dance, and tap syllabi.

If you do take up any stage performance assignment, here are some points that may be of use to you.

Focus on the Objectives
The major objective of photographing a dance school show is for parents and for archive. Many photographers do too many close-up shots of dancers but not enough group and general shots, and that's typically frowned upon. What I do is to take general stage shots on Day 1 of actual performance by positioning at the last row of the venue, then do close-up shots on Day 2 by positioning closer to the stage. Along the way, grab those artistically-styled images.

If you have more than one photographer hired for the event, you can then cater for more range of styles. Photographers should be assigned to different positions and to focus on shooting different things. Make sure that each photographer covers different areas, or else you end up with duplicate images.



Framing Close-up Subjects
If the dance item is a solo or a couple, it's quite easy to zoom in and grab the subjects. The challenge comes when it's a mass dance item, which is mostly the case for dance school performances. Who do you shoot? How do you frame? Whatever you do, you risk missing someone out in the frame. Students who are dancing at the back rows will not get photo coverage. As a photographer, I try to observe and frame groups of dancers logically. But if the dance item does not allow me to achieve that, then I will simply zoom in and shoot in sections. Parents will buy the photos as long as the faces of their children appears in it.


Rehearsals
Even a photographer should rehearse the shoot! By attending rehearsals, you are more likely to get better photos because you can anticipate the dance formation and highlights. Shooting rehearsal is just as rewarding as shooting actual performance. You have greater freedom in shooting at inaccessible places, like shooting towards the audience, or on stage near to the dancers. If you take up assignments for any stage performance, be sure to attend the rehearsals to increase your chance of getting good photos and delivering satisfaction to your clients.



Metering
Shooting for stage performance with constantly changing lighting effects is horrendously challenging because you cannot rely on your in-camera exposure meter. I say this again: NEVER use your in-camera auto metering for stage photography. The only way to achieve correct exposure is to constantly change the exposure manually. the camera will always over-expose because the dark areas occupy the major bulk in the frame, which averages out to be interpreted as underexposed.


My workflow is: take a photo, check the LCD, then quickly adjust the shutter speed and carry on shooting. Even if you get the correct exposure, you still have to continually adjust the exposure depending on lighting changes. Use your intuition: when you see lighting is dimmer, reduce the shutter. When the lights get brighter, increase the shutter. Do this constantly, depending on how frequent the lighting changes are. Shoot in RAW allows you to recover lost highlights in the event of an over-exposure within 2-stops.

No Flash (and that's fine)
Flash? Don't bother. You never need flash for stage photography, because the stage lightings are sufficient to give you ample exposure. Even if the lighting is dark, your flash will not help to boost unless you are in close range. And remember: your flash adds another light source to the stage lighting, and what turns out in your frame is not a representation of what is being presented. After all, if a dance scene is meant to be dark and in silhouette, then you should reflect that same light intensity.

Presentation of Photos
After 5 days of shooting during rehearsals and actual performance, I captured 2500+ photos, and eventually processed 1000 photos. Photobooks are popular, efficient, and a unique way to showcase the photos. I compiled all the 1000 photos into a 200-page book, and instead of using a generic contact sheet template (meaning, each page shows fixed 3x5 photos like a photo album), I arranged the photos such that group photos are larger sized (so that the faces can be seen clearer). I even did a 2-page spread on the finale shot, and it really look great.
Cost-wise, it's certainly cheaper than printing 1000 4R photos at 20-cents. This 200-page softcover photobook was printed for less than S$100 using Blurb, an overseas on-demand print vendor.


To see more photos of the event, visit the album at Facebook.