Gypsum Creek Middle Band Concert

My son Nathan is a 7th grader at GSMS. This past Thursday they had their 7th and 8th grade band concerts.

3 shot pano ISO 3200, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/160sec

Because I knew the lighting would be dim in the school so I would need to use a fast lens that I could also zoom, and also because I love my 70-200mm f/2.8….., I chose to use this lens to capture images.

These next two images are a testament to the clarity of the 70-200 and to the high ISO capabilities of the D800.

ISO 2000, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec

ISO 3200, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/160sec

Because you want consistency and control over the shutter speed, I will usually shoot in manual exposure mode in these situations. My thought process first goes to what shutter speed do I need to get a clear image? When shooting people, the shutter speed is usually 1/125th of a second or faster. I then adjust the ISO and aperture to obtain a good exposure. It then becomes a balance between a how much depth of field I need and the acceptability of the grain from the higher ISOs. So not much depth of field needed? Use an aperture of 2.8 and a lower ISO. More depth of field needed for a group shot? Smaller aperture like 5.6 and a much higher ISO to compensate.