Trying out belly dancing.

[ashish]

C&C welcome.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture, I like how the crowd is almost melded with the background.

[Manfred M]

It's a very interesting image, Ashsish, but I'm afraid it doesn't quite work for me. Had the costumed belly dancer been sharp, then it might have worked.

I find having the main subject facing away from the camera rarely works because the viewer doesn't connect with it as easily as when the face is shown. Our eyes are drawn to the bright area in the image, namely the pants. Had she been wearing something darker and less intrusive, and the costumed belly dancer been in sharp focus, then the positional interplay between the two women would work better.

I also like the audience sitting in the background. That adds a reference that places where this event is occurring.

[Shadowman]

It's a very interesting image, Ashsish, but I'm afraid it doesn't quite work for me. Had the costumed belly dancer been sharp, then it might have worked.

I find having the main subject facing away from the camera rarely works because the viewer doesn't connect with it as easily as when the face is shown. Our eyes are drawn to the bright area in the image, namely the pants. Had she been wearing something darker and less intrusive, and the costumed belly dancer been in sharp focus, then the positional interplay between the two women would work better.

I also like the audience sitting in the background. That adds a reference that places where this event is occurring.

Manfred,

I didn't check exif data but I'm betting Ashish went for good exposure over freezing the moment/getting sharp subjects, it's something I struggle with also when shooting in lowlight. I would tend to go for freezing the moment in at least a couple of shots and bump up the ISO if I had to.

Ashish,

What effect were you thriving for when you captured this scene?

[Manfred M]

I did check John - wide open (f/2.8) at 1/320th at ISO 6400. Focal length - 70mm on a 5D MkIII. He could have cut his shutter speed significantly to get a bit more DoF. That being said, he would have had to focus on a spot between two dancers to try to get them both in focus. Motion does not appear to be an issue as both dancers seem to be standing still.

Agreed though. This is a low light shot and is challenging to pull off with existing light.

[ashish]

Manfred,

I didn't check exif data but I'm betting Ashish went for good exposure over freezing the moment/getting sharp subjects, it's something I struggle with also when shooting in lowlight. I would tend to go for freezing the moment in at least a couple of shots and bump up the ISO if I had to.

Ashish,

What effect were you thriving for when you captured this scene?

Hi John, Thanks ... The two ladies were in motion and i wanted to capture the moment they were both in a similar position. The lighting was quite harsh. i just waited for the moment and took the shot. Cheers! Ashish

[ashish]

I did check John - wide open (f/2.8) at 1/320th at ISO 6400. Focal length - 70mm on a 5D MkIII. He could have cut his shutter speed significantly to get a bit more DoF. That being said, he would have had to focus on a spot between two dancers to try to get them both in focus. Motion does not appear to be an issue as both dancers seem to be standing still.

Agreed though. This is a low light shot and is challenging to pull off with existing light.

Hi Manfred, Thank you for your thoughts ... the two ladies were in motion and i had to wait for this moment when they were both in sync to get this shot. You are right in your assessment that it might have been better if i had got the costumed lady in focus. Cheers! Ashish

[Manfred M]

Hi John, Thanks ... The two ladies were in motion and i wanted to capture the moment they were both in a similar position. The lighting was quite harsh. i just waited for the moment and took the shot. Cheers! Ashish

In that case your timing was perfect. These low light shots are difficult to pull off at the best of times and when you add a subject that is moving quickly it might be impossible, unfortunately.

My computer's trash bin is full of shots where I knew it would be difficult to get the image but I wanted to try anyways. Sometimes I would get one or two keepers out of 40 or 50 attempts and sometimes I would not get any at all.

[Shadowman]

Hi John, Thanks ... The two ladies were in motion and i wanted to capture the moment they were both in a similar position. The lighting was quite harsh. i just waited for the moment and took the shot. Cheers! Ashish

Ashish,

Good timing on the shot.

[ashish]

In that case your timing was perfect. These low light shots are difficult to pull off at the best of times and when you add a subject that is moving quickly it might be impossible, unfortunately.

My computer's trash bin is full of shots where I knew it would be difficult to get the image but I wanted to try anyways. Sometimes I would get one or two keepers out of 40 or 50 attempts and sometimes I would not get any at all.

Hi Manfred,

Here is a shot i took a few seconds earlier with the costumed lady in focus. Thoughts?

Cheers! Ashish

[Geoff F]

I think I would be tempted to try a merge of both figures so each one would appear sharply focused.

[FootLoose]

I like the composition of the first shot, Ashish. Nice converging lines between the two women.

[IzzieK]

I like #2 image better because the costumed lady is animated...beautiful.

[mknittle]

I like #2 image better because the costumed lady is animated...beautiful.

+1 much better.

[Manfred M]

Ashish - this one doesn't work all that well either as the woman in the foreground is not sharp and she simply takes up too much of the shot for you to get away with this. I think Greg is onto something and using the best of the two images in post might be the solution here.

Compositionally, I prefer your first image.

[Loose Canon]

On a technical note Ashish these two shots are pretty badly underexposed. Especially considering the ISO you used. The second shot more so that the first obviously.

Increasing the exposure in post will give you no love because a heavy-duty noise problem will rear its head. So the exposure needs to be upped a good bit in camera with these low light situations. Your 5D III is very good at handling these situations but you have to give it the chance to shine by watching your exposure with it.