A Theater Shoot (no Disney content)

[boBQuincy]

I had the opportunity to photograph a dress rehearsal of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" for a local theater group last week. The lighting was simple, two sets of four lights and one spotlight in the middle. The stage was small so I went with the 50mm f/1.8 (on a Canon 30D), figuring I wouldn't need to zoom. This strategy did keep me moving around a lot, sneaker zoom I believe it is called.

The lighting was sufficient to allow ISO 400 and shooting at f/2 or so gave good delineation between the main subject and the background. It was fun using the 50mm all evening, the small size & weight were welcome since I shot about 400 images in a couple hours. Even the inexpensive f/1.8 focuses quickly and accurately but if I do this again I might spring for the f/1.4 or maybe a 28mm f/1.8.

http://www.suzieandbob.com/caryplayers/yagmcb/

 

[bnorm27]

CARY = Containment Area for Relocated Yankees!

 

[boBQuincy]

CARY = Containment Area for Relocated Yankees!

Clayton = Cary-Like Area Yankees Trying Out Now

 

[alan]

You did good, Bob! Eitehr the lighting was kind to you or you have done a great job in post-processing.

I do quite a lot of this kind of stuff (I even run a small website at http://www.stagepics.co.uk) and know how hard it can be. That moment you wanted to capture can disappear so quickly, and the nicely posed static scene goes away in an instant when the crash blackout occurs. So well done!

As for equipment, I am still on a lowly 350D (Rebel XT, I think). I'd love a 40D (or a 50D), but this summer's adventure to Disneyworld is going to cost around US$15k so I don't think that it's going to be possible to spring for that.

But for lenses, I wonder if you absolutely need such a fast lens. Both the lenses I use (24-105mm and 70-200mm) have an f/4.0 widest aperture and I find that they do the job fairly nicely. At f/1.8 on an 85mm your DoF is going to be razor thin. And stage lights are normally fairly bright.

My difficulty is how to deal with the last show where the chorus was lit in a gently red light, and the spotlight on the principal had a green gel. Either he looked okay and the chorus was lost in a sea of red, or the chorus looked good and he looked as if he were about to be sick!)

regards,
/alan

 

[MICKEY88]

My difficulty is how to deal with the last show where the chorus was lit in a gently red light, and the spotlight on the principal had a green gel. Either he looked okay and the chorus was lost in a sea of red, or the chorus looked good and he looked as if he were about to be sick!)

regards,
/alan

couldn't you use layers in post processing to color correct each..

 

[boBQuincy]

You did good, Bob! Eitehr the lighting was kind to you or you have done a great job in post-processing.

Thanks Alan! The lighting was kind, only a couple of the images have any post-processing at all.
As for a "lowly" Rebel, I just switched over from my 30D to a Rebel Xsi. I like it so far.

 

[jann1033]

nice bob, was this the rebel? ( have to redownload my exif software)

 

[alan]

couldn't you use layers in post processing to color correct each..

I suspect I could, though it would be hard work because of the "spill" of the spotlight onto the dancers behind the principal.

However, the main thing was the pressure of time, trying to get a CD containing over 200 processed images to the cast members in under a week (while still doing my day job and helping my wife to run the house & look after the kids).

It may well be something I'll return to as a learning exercise, however!

regards,
/alan