Boston Ballet / New Visions / 28 March 2007

rutt · April 3, 2007

It's taking me a long time these days to get around to sorting these out, getting them approved, processing, and presenting these ballet shots. But I was especially pleased with this particular performance and think I got some good shots. Hope you like them, too.

[size=+1]Brake the Eyes[/size]
Choreography: Jorma Elo
World Premiere

Larissa Ponomarenko
Canon 5D / 135mm f/2.0
f/2.0 @ 1/250 / ISO 1600

Larissa Ponomarenko & Sabi Varga
Canon 5D / 135mm f/2.0
f/2.0 @ 1/200 / ISO 1600

Raul Salamanca & Melissa Hough
Canon 5D / 135mm f/2.0
f/2.0 @ 1/250 / ISO 1600

James Whiteside, Kathleen Breen Combes & Melissa Hough
Canon 5D / 85mm f/1.2
f/1.2 @ 1/160 / ISO 1000

[size=+1]Polyphonia[/size]
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Erica Cornejo & John Lam
Canon 5D / 135mm f/2.0
f/2.0 @ 1/250 / ISO 1600

[size=+1]Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion[/size]
Choreography: Val Caniparoli

Mindaugas Bauzys
Canon 5D / 135mm f/2.0
f/2.0 @ 1/200 / ISO 1600

Nikolai · April 4, 2007

John,
Great series!
I like the last two especially. Great moments, outstanding captures!

winger · April 4, 2007

Yeah I love the last two as well!

wxwax · April 4, 2007

I very much like the silhouette in the first image.

And like the others, I like the more traditional last two images, as well. As you have done so often, superb work under extremely difficult lighting circumstances, Rutt.

urbanaries · April 4, 2007

rutt, always look forward to your work, you make me salivate for a 135L. The last one is unbelieveable. I'm not sure how you stopped the action that well at 1/200th...Wow.

Are you using a monopod or handholding these?

rutt · April 4, 2007

Some of that is the dancer's art. Their goal is to hold their extreme positions and make the transitions happen quickly. All handheld, well, actually knee and back of seat in front stabilized.

urbanaries wrote:

rutt, always look forward to your work, you make me salivate for a 135L. The last one is unbelieveable. I'm not sure how you stopped the action that well at 1/200th...Wow.

Are you using a monopod or handholding these?

PawPaw Bear · April 5, 2007

rutt wrote:

Some of that is the dancer's art. Their goal is to hold their extreme positions and make the transitions happen quickly. All handheld, well, actually knee and back of seat in front stabilized.

A lot of it is the photog too. I have been itching to get a new camera body and have been debating the last month on whether to go for the new 1D Mk III or the 5D. With these shots I have to say the 5D is really impressive but I can't decide which is my favorite. I really like them all. Well done!

How did you get the seating location for these shots?

gmonkeh · April 5, 2007

Please tell me you did some noise reduction on these cause I just spent $900 on a new lens and you're making me think of switching to Canon.

rutt · April 5, 2007

gmonkeh wrote:

Please tell me you did some noise reduction on these cause I just spent $900 on a new lens and you're making me think of switching to Canon.

The Canon 5D is well known for producing remarkably clean ISO 1600 images. Even so, I do have to pay attention to noise when I process. I don't use a noise reduction product, but I do:

Make a duplicate image, convert to CMYK
Use the inverted K channel as a layer mask for surface blur, which limits the blur to the shadows where the noise mostly is.
Use the non inverted K channel as a layer mask for sharpening, avoiding sharpening noise.

I'm going to try a 1D mkIII when they are available to see if it makes cleaner ISO 1600 images (and maybe even ISO 3600, which would have been great for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Brake the Eyes. I just sold my trusty 1D mkII because the 5D was so much cleaner in low light.

juliegraham · April 5, 2007

The last two for me. The last one is especially good.

graham
www.desktop-meditation.com

Sam · April 5, 2007

Rutt,

You are a master at Ballet photography!

Very nice work.

Sam

Mike02 · April 5, 2007

Nice shots, I really like 2, but it looks like in some of them, you could have used a higher shutter speed, but other than that, theyre okay

.

Seamus · April 5, 2007

Excellent photos.

1eye · April 23, 2008

Absolutely amazing... help please

rutt wrote:

The Canon 5D is well known for producing remarkably clean ISO 1600 images. Even so, I do have to pay attention to noise when I process. I don't use a noise reduction product, but I do:
Make a duplicate image, convert to CMYK

Use the inverted K channel as a layer mask for surface blur, which limits the blur to the shadows where the noise mostly is.

Use the non inverted K channel as a layer mask for sharpening, avoiding sharpening noise.

I'm going to try a 1D mkIII when they are available to see if it makes cleaner ISO 1600 images (and maybe even ISO 3600, which would have been great for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Brake the Eyes. I just sold my trusty 1D mkII because the 5D was so much cleaner in low light.

Rutt, I started shooting ballet 4 years ago as father of a dancer. Great joy in capturing those straight legs and bowed backs you talk about... I've been using my Rebel w/ 70-200 USM, and looking to upgrade/rent another camera (e.g. 5d) and 85 lens (fast). How 'quiet' is the 5d so as to minimize distractions to dancers and audience (typically shooting a live performances (vs rehersals) and backstage too)?

Where can I get editing schooling directly related to low light event shooting (e.g. ballet)? I have a day job and photography is a hobby. I'd shoot you a sample of my photography, but don't know how to add a jpg to this thread.

Thank you. Brian

Swartzy · April 23, 2008

How'd I miss this thread? Love the lines and form here Rutt...wow, the light, the bodies....nice art.

David Evertsen · April 23, 2008

In the same boat

1eye wrote:

Rutt, I started shooting ballet 4 years ago as father of a dancer. Great joy in capturing those straight legs and bowed backs you talk about... I've been using my Rebel w/ 70-200 USM, and looking to upgrade/rent another camera (e.g. 5d) and 85 lens (fast). How 'quiet' is the 5d so as to minimize distractions to dancers and audience (typically shooting a live performances (vs rehersals) and backstage too)?

Where can I get editing schooling directly related to low light event shooting (e.g. ballet)? I have a day job and photography is a hobby. I'd shoot you a sample of my photography, but don't know how to add a jpg to this thread.

Thank you. Brian

Wow Brian I am right there with you, Daughters that Dance and having to have fun with low light situations. I have and XT and wonder whether a Canon 40d would be better for price and action photography. I do have a Canon 70-200L non-IS lense that has made a world of difference wondering how much the body would help. I know burst would help.

Rutt,
Amazing pictures, espcially since I know how hard they are to get and get clean.

How close to the stage where you??

Agnieszka · April 23, 2008

WONDERFUL

rutt · April 23, 2008

Thanks for the recent interest in these shots. Really, it's nicer than you might have thought.

It's been more than a year since I shot them and I am looking at them with new eyes now. Whew! I've let myself get out of practice and these are good incentive to get back to work. I have unprocessed shots from three ballets since I shot these: Giselle, La Sylphide, and Next Generation which is sort of this year's equivalent of New Visions, the performance for the most contemporary works the ballet does. It takes a certain mindset for me to sit down and process 10-20 of these shots.

In the next month I'll get to shoot Swan Lake and Three Masterpieces. Wish me well.

As for advice, I've written quite a lot about the technique behind these shots. I've included a list at the end. But the very most important piece of advice is this: shoot the dress rehearsals not the performances. In fact shoot as many rehearsals as you can, including studio rehearsals. The better you know the ballet the better you will do. Shooting the performance has way too many problems for good photography, including annoying people with camera noise and trying to shoot through the heads of of the people sitting in front of you. Typically there are 6 or so pros shooting Boston Ballet dress rehearsals and nobody shooting the performances. There is a reason for that.

Other advice:

Tutorial on post processing ballet shots
List of things I had learned by March 2006
Some stuff I learned from Costas, a true great of ballet photography.

The tidbit using the K channel as a mask for blurring (inverted) and sharpening (not inverted) is the only real thing I didn't cover in the above.

I still love the combo of 5d and 134mm f/2 for this work. The ideal thing is to know the lighting and choreography in advance so you can switch. From the 10th row, 85mm on a full frame body is really wide angle and works best for whole company shots. 135mm is bread and butter for soloists and duets. f/1.2 is great for really really dark scenes. Ideally you'd have both.

[SIZE=+1]Nadezhda Vostrikov & Company[/SIZE]
Canon 5d / 85mm f1.2
1/400th @ f/1.2 / ISO 1600

1eye · April 24, 2008

MrPhabulous wrote:

Wow Brian I am right there with you, Daughters that Dance and having to have fun with low light situations. I have and XT and wonder whether a Canon 40d would be better for price and action photography. I do have a Canon 70-200L non-IS lense that has made a world of difference wondering how much the body would help. I know burst would help.

Here's a sample...
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/283248497_FN8Ns-S.jpg

I'm just learing how to edit w/ Elements.

joshhuntnm · April 24, 2008

gmonkeh wrote:

Please tell me you did some noise reduction on these cause I just spent $900 on a new lens and you're making me think of switching to Canon.

Go Canon!!!

1eye · April 24, 2008

1eye wrote:

MrPhabulous wrote:

Wow Brian I am right there with you, Daughters that Dance and having to have fun with low light situations. I have and XT and wonder whether a Canon 40d would be better for price and action photography. I do have a Canon 70-200L non-IS lense that has made a world of difference wondering how much the body would help. I know burst would help.

Here's a sample MrPhabulous...

I'm just learing how to edit w/ Elements, but I have have much to learn. Have more fun taking the shots, rather than editing. btw, this shot was taken from rear of audience during live performance (not the 10 rows back during rehersals as rec'd by Rutt/Costas (sp?)).

... and struggling w/ how to post here.

1eye

rutt · April 24, 2008

1eye wrote:

MrPhabulous wrote:

Here's a sample...
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/283248497_FN8Ns-S.jpg

I'm just learing how to edit w/ Elements.

Can't see your shot.

cmr164 · April 24, 2008

Lad; you are making me want to buy an 85 f/1.2 again

Seriously, that lens and the 135 f/2 are amazing in your hands.

dadwtwins · April 24, 2008

your last shot is soooo very good. Nice work in very tough lighting conditions

dadwtwins · April 24, 2008

1eye wrote:

rutt wrote:

I'll try again... these are shots from recent Cinderella...

Rutt, obviously, not the quality you shoot, but similar love of the art. I've got the luxury of watching/shooting a rehersal (where I might sit 20 rows up, and ironically, as you suggest rt or lt of center aisle), and 2 performances (one in back of audience about 60 rows I believe, and another I go backstage, trying to stay stationary, and out of way of dancers... I share the photos, slide shows with them to help win their support). Shoot 3 - 5 performances of this Company's performances (again, I'm started shooting as a dancer's dad). I seem to always shoot full manual (but auto focus, center metering), as I don't trust the auto selections on my Rebel (mainly due to the speed of the stage action, and concern for the distance away from stage), and instead periodically audit exposure on lastest images on lcd & adjust accordingly, and really conentrate on what's about to happen on the stage.

Like you've said, very much a learning process (low light, action, dance sequence, and dancers' desire for perfection), and love it.

My next steps include continuing to learn, take an editing class (though I already expect I might seek help from one of the more tech-oriented dancers, as I have little patience in finish work - i.e. I'd be the guy doing the bulldozer work at a construction site, not doing the cabinetry), and look to upgrade equipment (though probably rent a 85 1.2L or 135 first, to augment my camera, 70-200 2.8 US, and stock 24-85 (which only opens to I think 3.2 in the theatre, hence use that only when seated close, or laying behind curtain).

Btw, the last shot has tons of noise (I ordered print via smugmug) and need to figure how to fix via my Elements.

Thanks Rutt!

Sorry, still no show on the pictures

Andy · April 24, 2008

1eye, you have external links disabled in your gallery, so we can't see the photos. Please go to gallery tools, customize gallery and set ext link to yes.

You see them because they are in your browser's cache.

Andy · April 24, 2008

Rutt, I love these again! A year later they are still :jawdrop

pathfinder · April 24, 2008

rutt wrote:

The Canon 5D is well known for producing remarkably clean ISO 1600 images. Even so, I do have to pay attention to noise when I process.

I'm going to try a 1D mkIII when they are available to see if it makes cleaner ISO 1600 images (and maybe even ISO 3600, which would have been great for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Brake the Eyes. I just sold my trusty 1D mkII because the 5D was so much cleaner in low light.

Have you tired a 1DMklll yet? I would think that it might really be an assett with its faster frame rate and faster autofocusing than the 5D. I suspect the noise is slightly lower at high ISOs also.

You are fortunate to have such lovely access to the performances. Very nice work, indeed!

dadwtwins · April 24, 2008

wesome pictures, I really enjoyed viewing the height these performers can jump. Thanks for the post

1eye · April 25, 2008

Ok

Andy wrote:

1eye, you have external links disabled in your gallery, so we can't see the photos. Please go to gallery tools, customize gallery and set ext link to yes.

You see them because they are in your browser's cache.

Andy, made it so...

rutt · April 25, 2008

1eye wrote:

Andy, made it so...

Now that I can see these, I do have some advice:

Post the names of the company and the dancers. Ballet companies and (even more) dancers deserve credit. As you know, there is 0 money in ballet; careers are short; companies are always the poorest arts organizations in town. They do what they do for their audience and glory. When you take pictures, a lot of what's good comes from them not you. Don't deprive them of what's rightfully theirs.
Seek approval from the artistic director of the company before posting. It took me a while to learn this, but believe it or not, the artistic director knows what s/he is doing and will help you pick the very best shots. Moreover, at least at Boston Ballet, it turns out they are very fussy about the technique shown in pictures. Things I wouldn't have noticed are crucially important to good ballet form. An awkward shoulder, not quite on point, the group slightly out of sync, a dancer caught "between movements". So after you edit your shoot down to a few dozen (tops) shots, submit them for approval.

Beyond that, my other advice holds. As for shooting from the wings, you'll get a few effective shots doing this, but they are novelties. You don't have to shoot from exactly the same place I do, but think of it this way: It's really about batting average. Unless you know the production very well and have planned your shots in advance, you want to find a place that works best most of the time and stay there. You loose shots moving around and you annoy the company (at rehearsals. At performances, of course, you are stuck way back there.)

Boston Ballet / New Visions / 28 March 2007

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