Dance Redux

We had a second photographer at the Dance Ensemble show last week: Lauren Grose, a sophomore journalism major with a minor in English/professional writing. She was using an Canon XSi with a Canon 85 mm f/1.8. I like her photos at least as well as mine, maybe better.  Click on any image to make it larger.

The Dance Ensemble: A view from stage right

One of my favorite things to photograph each year is the Dance Ensemble show. It's big. A lot of people come to watch. It's a great example of our students doing something for themselves ... the ensemble is student organized, student run, in a lot of cases, student taught. The range of styles includes R&B, tap, ballet, gymnastics, latin-ballroom. You never know what you're going to get.

Technically, there are a LOT of challenges. The students like to play around with light, colored gels, dramatic effects, and frankly, there's not always a lot of it to work with. You find yourself juggling the three variables, ISO, aperture, shutter speed ... and it's always a compromise.

Like all modern DSLRs, the Canon 7 has amazing low light performance compared to the film of years past. But this is the sort of assignment that really tests the out limits of performance and there are better cameras.

I'm not sure I choose the best compromise this year. ISO was 1600, shutter speeds range from about 1/125 to 1/80. Two lenses were used. The Canon 50 f/1.4 and the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8. For the 50, aperture was generally at about f/2. For the Tokina, f/2.8. 

But there are some fun and interesting photos here. Post processing was done quickly for the web. They've been downsized, a sharpened fairly hard for web viewing. A good bit more might be pulled from these files.

A lot of shooting was done from the wings stage right. The other location I used a lot was in front of stage left.

I had a student worker do a lot of shooting at the event ... backstage of preparations, and from the wings stage right and in the front stage right. She was using a Canon 85 f/1.8. So there should be a different perspective when she gets her photos in. (I'll update this entry with a link then.)

Click on any image to see them larger.
Some youtube videos of this year's event.

A place of business

Bloomsburg's renovated Sutliff Hall is in the process of reopening and it's gorgeous. Formerly, it was a low-slung building without a clear entrance that looked like an afterthought.

Now, besides being one floor taller, the building has a very clear visual structure that I think will help it function better as well. The interior is just as striking as the exterior.

One thing that sticks with you after a walk-though ... the geometry of the spaces is visually interesting, and also, I think inviting. Hallways have destinations, openning into public areas that can be used.

Most, if not all, of these photographs, were taken with the Tokina 11-16 with a variety of camera settings. The lens is unique in the speed of it's aperture and the manageable levels of distortion compared to lenses with a similar focal length. You will however, see elongation of foreground objects at the edge of the frame.


The campus has had a number of major additions and renovations over the past several years: including Hartline Science Center, Centennial Hall and McCormick Center. Each one is different, but they all work and the all complement each other. IMHO the university's planning and construction staff who work with the architects and contractors have really nailed them all.

From top to bottom: The exterior on a February afternoon at about 5:30 p.m.; blue data wires snake through the hall in front of the trading floor lab before being installed; the public space on the second floor; arched desktops in a tiered classroom smile at you.

— EGF

Click on any image to see it larger.