‘Tis the season for performances of every kind! Choirs, bands, piano recitals, dance recitals and the annual visit to the ballet to watch the Nutcracker. There are so many special events in December to commemorate.

Be sure to get pictures of kids in costumes, dancers receiving flowers and pianists with their sheet music.

There are some tricks to getting great performance shots, especially without using a flash.

* Get comfortable with manual mode. Practice taking some low light shots around your house and get comfortable with your camera’s settings.

* Don’t be afraid of a high ISO. If you need to bump up the ISO on your camera, that’s okay. You can shoot at an ISO 800 or 1600 and eliminate the flash. Of course, ithe stage lighting is great, you may be able to shoot at ISO 400. Take some test shots and adjust as necessary.

* Sometimes with a high ISO photos will come out grainy. Don’t distress! Go Black & White. The grain will add a nice texture to your photo, so instead of being a distraction, the noise becomes a feature.

* Don’t use a shutter speed lower than the length of your lens. If you have a 50mm lens, don’t use a shutter speed lower than 1/50 and so on.

* Open up your aperture to allow more light in.

* Use a tripod or monopod if allowed, remembering to avoid blocking exits and major walkways. If you can’t use these, rest your camera on a seat back or lean against a wall for stability and to minimize camera shake.

* Watch for lulls in the performance when the action slows a bit. Motion blur can be appropriate for some shots, so you may not want to eliminate it completely.

* Attend a dress rehearsal. I know the lighting at some of my kids performances won’t be great, so I attend the dress rehearsal where the house lights will be on. I don’t have to rely on only stage lighting for my shots and usually get multiple opportunities at every scene. Plus, I don’t have to worry about moving around and disturbing other guests.

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