Flamenco violin + dancer

This was taken at a Paco Montalvo's "Alma del violin flamenco" (Soul of violin flamenco) concert in Seville. I managed to capture the dancer just at the right moment in her turn; however, I couldn't do much about the ray of light bursting out of the head of the clapper. It was an unfortunate mistake with the placement of the lights that I will make sure doesn't happen at his next concert.

Paco Montalvo is a rising star in the world of flamenco music; his fusion of violin and flamenco is unique and well worth listening to, and seeing.

You can see more of him at https://www.pacomontalvo.org/, and some videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/enterestid.

http://i67.tinypic.com/2e2q79f.jpg
Canon 6D, Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @180mm, 1/200s, f/5.0, ISO 2500

I wish I had a fast 70-200mm lens! My fast lenses end with a fixed 100mm macro :(

Tony

Nicely done with what you have, how high did you have to bump up the ISO?

Thanks for reminding me about the ISO. I have updated the original post. It was 2500.

Brilliant capture, great detail and movement.

Tony, very nice.

Very nice Tony :)

Tony, if I were shooting this event and was constrained by the maximum aperture of my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS Mark 2 lens, I would have tried a monopod with the IS on and a closer in-camera crop. Then I would have slowed down the shutter speed considerably. My aim would have been to get the violinist still and sharp and the dancer blurred with her motion.

I wanted to get a shot of a Sufi dancer ("Whirling Dervish") at a very slow shutter speed when I was visiting Istanbul but, did not give myself enough time in that marvelous city to visit everything I wanted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rpcrowe

Tony, if I were shooting this event and was constrained by the maximum aperture of my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS Mark 2 lens, I would have tried a monopod with the IS on and a closer in-camera crop. Then I would have slowed down the shutter speed considerably. My aim would have been to get the violinist still and sharp and the dancer blurred with her motion.

I wanted to get a shot of a Sufi dancer ("Whirling Dervish") at a very slow shutter speed when I was visiting Istanbul but, did not give myself enough time in that marvelous city to visit everything I wanted.

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Hi Richard,

Thanks for your comment. I didn't mention that the camera was on a tripod. I was at the back of the theatre and didn't want to move down the aisle and perhaps block people's view. (In future concerts I will do this, after receiving feedback from a friend who did a lot of concert photography; sometimes you just have to get in people's way for a few seconds to get the shot.)

I also would like to capture more movement of the dancer, and should have experimented doing what you suggest. It would inevitably result in the violinist's violin arm being blurred, as he moves it very quickly. The dancer is on stage for a short period of time and I didn't want to experiment in this concert; I will do so in the future.

I often accompany Paco on his concerts and take photos for him, and a photo I took of another of his concerts is on the cover of his DVD album.

Tony

Beautiful capture!