Completely Newbie Photographer seeking help please :)

M

MrsCherry90

Messages
1
Name
Ellie Close
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello,

I am a very new photographer and I have been asked to shoot my friends theatre show tomorrow! The last time I did this I wasn't sure where I went wrong and ended up with grainy photos. Presumably because of the low light in a theatre. I have a Sony AS7ii. I don't have my lens to hand but (think) it's 18-35mm.

I'm trying to insert the photo but it's not working for some reason. Basically it's just grainy and not crisp. I don't remember the settings I used as it was months ago. I also know I shot RAW as I thought I would be able to fix any issues in post... but apparently not.

I bought this camera as I wanted a good camera in low light for making short films. I haven't used it much and honestly don't know much about photography. I have basic understanding of my f.stops and ISO.

Could anyone help me out with this? Anything I should try? Should I be using a different lens? (I know I'll have to be quite in their face rather than at a distance).

Please be nice to me - I just want to learn. - I'm not being paid for this job - I just want to get her some good images to use for publicity.

Thanks,
 
Hi and welcome to TP

I am only on smartphone right now but s quick Google reveals various pointers to advice/tutorials.

But this one might give you some ready insight and maybe a clearer picture (no pun intended).

https://photo.johanneshjorth.se/tips-for-theatre-photography/

For more support re pictures you are getting you will have to share them on the thread.....of you have a Flickr account you can link them to here as needed.

HTH for now :)
 
OK, the lens you're using is likely far from idea - it's probably the 16-35 either f2.8 (very expensive) or f4 (more likely - better value).

Depending on distance from the stage, you could probably do with something like a 50mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.4. You don't really have much time to get anything different sorted out, but something like the Samyang 50 f1.4 would give you better than 4 times the light gathering power of the 16-35 f4 and allow you to stand a little further back too - it's also (relatively) cheap at around £500 new or £350ish or less used. I've used one and it was good for low light conditions, even staying sharp wide open.

For camera set up, I'd choose centre spot focusing and metering, so that the camera meters directly off the subject you've focused on, rather than being fooled by large areas of dark stage. The other alternative is to set manual exposure if the light levels are fairly even across the stage.

When shooting, I'd probably set the camera in shutter priority and at 1/100th to reduce blur a little in moving subjects. I'd probably also use auto-ISO, to allow the camera to select the sensitivity required to cope with the scene. If not auto-ISO then either 3200 or 6400 depending on how bright things were. The A7SII should have low noise at these sensitivity levels.

Hope it works out. The link posted by BB above looks good too.
 
It's all about the light..

You did mention theatre..

Hard to help without knowing the lighting.. I do some very dodgy theatre groups where the lights patchy all over with a bright spotlight in the center.. I can have one cast member at iso 1600 in blazing light and the other would need ISO 6400 and they are stood together talking :)

As your last attampt produced grainy shots I am guessing your is a darkish hall? So you need the highest ISO you can get away with.. Shooting as wide open as you can (the lower the fstop the wider it is) and whats left is your shutter speed :)

I use a 70-200. Depending on the layout of the theatre anyhting shorter can be hard work if you ahve floor space in front of a high stage... I like to go back and up a few rows... 70-200 perfect.. 35? a bit short unless you can get high and close to the stage.. I am presuming this is a dress rehersal and not a live show your doing?

Again it's very difficult without knowing how much lighting or the positiong ou can get.. I would ignore any advice on exact settings ... Seeing the exif info (shutter, fstp and iso ect) from your last attempt would help ..
 
Last edited:
I agree it is about the light. I have done some theatre photography but it was in a large professional theatre for the final dress rehearsal in all cases. I had to be in the stalls about 2/3 the way back so that with the tiered seating, I could be above the level of the stage and orchestra (it was Gilbert and Sullivan). The camera was firmly on a tripod and I chose to use manual metering though I had to check from time to time as the lighting changed. I used ISO of 1600 which is fine for the 5D2 that I was using then. The shots were all taken with a 70-200 f2.8 Lens but the aperture was mainly around f5.6. The speed varied from 1/25 sec to 1/400 sec according to the lighting at the time. I triggered the camera by remote to ensure no movement. I may have used a little noise reduction in processing and would probably have used LR or a Topaz Plug-in. The current Topaz plug-in's are amazing for removing noise and sharpening. Best of Luck.

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top