Theater Photography

Saw the play from start to finish 3 times now, one dressed. Next week will be done on the stage with proper lights !! Tonight it was the first time with the band.

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Very good - I don't know what you were worried about. Only difference is doing it as a pro you don't get the luxury of seeing it three times before the shoot. :)
 
You havent done the actual shoot yet have you? Looks like its going to be good lighting conditions though..

I did a play last week.. local at a proper theatre.. One bright spotlight in middle of room.. two lesser spots at wings and that was it.. If actors stood at front of stage they where out of light..


It was only a small production..sometime I had 2 charactors on stage only.. one in bright spotlight and one in dark shadows..

and all the time a very very bright spotlight on center stage.. but not front center..
hard work :(

you can see the bright light center even though i did a lot of PP .. had to make some B/W that i couldnt rescue colour..
http://hyndburn.fotopic.net/c1770489.html
 
Thanks. :)

I guess its because I have never done it before, or even seen much of photos of threatre photography. You only get to see them on posters or the programme and I have only ever been to 1 play in my life. So in practice i have no idea what is good theatre pics and what's bad.
 
Kipax, that lighting looks pretty bad but you coped very well. Poor lighting at amateur shows is sadly all too common.

Raymond Lin - no different to lots of other sorts of photography really :) - Glad it's getting you into a theatre too - you might get to like it!
 
Well, I am still not sure of the lighting on the stage yet...so fingers crossed !

I am hoping its well lit though as a lot of the times there seem to be a lot of actors on stage at the same time so I don't imagine being many single spotlight moments.
 
well the theatre you're going to seemed to be well equiped - so all should be well - just enjoy it!
 
I'll let you guys how it went and show you guys after the show has finished it's run (1 week), agreed that I will not post any online until the run is over. :)
 
I wonder why they don't want you to post until the run is over? Are you going to supply some to the press so they might use them with a crit?
 
awp said:
I wonder why they don't want you to post until the run is over? Are you going to supply some to the press so they might use them with a crit?
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The Director didn't want to give anything away he said. Not going to supply the pics to the press but the cast wants to buy prints and this is what it's for mainly.
 
its okay to post these as they are not dressed, the lighting wasn't right half the time lol

More from the theatre tonight, dressed rehearsal is Wednesday !

and Christ oh mighty it is/was dark !!!

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it is looking good - look forward to seeing more.
 
I did learn one thing about my camera...when the spot light is red, or when the stage is lit with red light = bad news. I can't seem to get a sharp picture, the metering suggest it is a LOT lower lit than with a regular light and due to the 70-200 (longer focal length), camera shake is very evident !

Also, due to the constant (i mean constant) light changes, i am resorted to shoot at constant 3200 ISO, in Av...and hope the shutter speed can get high enough most of the time to get the shot. Manual is too slow, not enough time to worry about positioning myself, composition, metering and then shoot.
 
Even with the D3 I've noticed that it's very difficult to get a good clean shot when the light is bright red. The sensor seems less able to cope with saturated red than other colour.
 
awp said:
Even with the D3 I've noticed that it's very difficult to get a good clean shot when the light is bright red. The sensor seems less able to cope with saturated red than other colour.
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I noticed that too, i was even thinking it was misfocusing? Blue light is fine, but red light, after about 3 mins of trying to get a shot in the red light i just gave up. And even when i DID get a shot in the red light, it looks crap in photos anyway.
 
Here's an example - this is 5000 ISO 1/80th @ f/3.2 !!

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yup, its just a mess, no details and everything looked mashed together, even with no camera shake it looks out of focus.
 
I PP mine to black/white when the colour has overtaken me and I cant rescue it. Both your examples look like you ahve proper lighting direction as in the lights point to the subject or the subject goes in the light.. even if its poor light..

My recent one was poor stage direction (would that be the term) where I had two people talking.. one would be under a spotlight and the other in near darkness... I think this is down to only having the technical night the day before dress rehersal...
 
KIPAX said:
My recent one was poor stage direction (would that be the term) where I had two people talking.. one would be under a spotlight and the other in near darkness... I think this is down to only having the technical night the day before dress rehersal...
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Could be poor stage direction - or poor lighting - or - actors have a habit of finding the dark spots - even some pro actors! LOL
 
I find personally, in the play i am doing, dialogue scenes are fine, they are lit with spot lights, but the dance numbers....god help me. They move around, lit by red light...I have almost given up on those, when looking through the viewfinder to see 200mm 1/15th, red light, they are moving quickly...no chance.
 
In very difficult situations - or just sometimes from choice - production pictures are taken at 'staged' moments - where the cast run a couple of lines/bars and freeze for the pic. Maybe the director would go with that if you spoke to him and he is keen to get a record of the show - as most companies are. Just a thought.
 
2nd one would be nice if not overblown .. i would certainly reccomend getting off AV mode and use manual..
 
i like the 3rd..but positionin has included some extra heads...can you clone...i mean do you know how to on pshop?

i do like the atmosphere..reminds me of the ones i took of school musicals
 
Shot some on ISO 4000 (not these)....my 30D would die if i try to do that....in fact, it can't.

The cast doing vocal warm up, taken at the back of the stage prior to final rehearsal.



Dressing room

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KIPAX said:
2nd one would be nice if not overblown .. i would certainly reccomend getting off AV mode and use manual..
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Well, I've done the odd show here and there, and very rarely shoot manual, it's too hard to keep up with the varying light around the stage in my humble opinion, especially at most dress rehearsals where they're setting lighting as they go. Very often use TV during dance numbers, and AV if I'm after a specific look to the picture.

A few key points to work to :-

1) Try and get to know the show before you go.
2) ALWAYS speak to the director before you start as a matter of courtesy, ask them to tell you if you're getting in the way and if there's anywhere out of bounds.
3) NEVER try and do backstage stuff during the show.....too many things going on as it is, and stage crew/wardrobe/cast etc. NEED to concentrate on the show without distraction at DR, it's the only chance they get to practice with a full show.
4) Make sure you get every cast member on the pictures, easy with digital these days.

Tons more, which I'll put on when I remember!
 
The pictures been changed since I wrote the post your quoting ...

Dont the different bright lights fool your semi auto modes into giving you exposures you dont want?.. You have obviously done more stage photography than me ... so I ask in seriousness not in doubt :)
 
The play's run has ended !!! I got to say, i have learn a LOT about photography during this, both about my camera, and about shooting technique in almost complete darkness!

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May I be the first to say - they're great - very well done!
 
Really nice shots there Raymondo. I'm thinking of touting for this type of work, though I haven't done it yet (I mainly do corporate and editorial, but want to branch out).
What's the best way to approach 'the theatres'? (Apologies but haven't read through the whole thread yet :) )
 
Hi Dangleman, I was asked by a friend who is a member of this musical company to shoot this mainly because their regular guy is on holiday, the Director did say at the end that he expect me to return as my photos are better than the other guy lol. So I guess it's who you know more than what you know.
 
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