Theatre Photography

[Paul Jordan]

Next week I am doing a shoot at a stage play in theatre for some friends, never done this type of shoot before so looking for any help and advice you may have to offer.

It is a small theatre so was thinking of using the 50mm 1.4 or the 28-135IS 3.5,5.6

Hoping not to use flash, just available stage lighting, probably at iso800. Wondered what settings to use and mode and white balance?

Any help much appreciated.

[randyk]

I think you can get either to work. I recently shot at f4.5 from very close, got excellent results with the 50 1.4. No flash, ISO 800, very little noise and quite sharp at this aperture.

Here is a link to 3 pictures. Spot lighting on the stage is surprisingly bright. I saw no need to shoot wider than 4.5 and I think it paid off in sharper pictures. My 50 1.4 can struggle with focus in really bad light when wide open which led me to stop these down.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=383431

[CoolToolGuy]

I just completed a project to shoot a high school production, and I learned a lot. Some random notes:

-Forget flash if you can. Many productions will not allow it because of distractions to the performers. You would have to be awfully close (20 feet or so) or have a big flash like a 550EX. And you lose any lighting effects.

-I used ISO 200, and got excellent results - even with some adjustments in post-processing. I used ISO 1600 to shoot candids of the pit, and it gave me very little latitude after the fact - the noise was really noticeable in the black outfits.

-If you can stick with your prime lenses, you will be much better off. I started out using the 24-70 2.8 'L', and between the weight and the speed I found myself switching to the 50mm 1.8 and the 85mm 1.8 to get the speed. The 28-135 is slower yet.

-A monopod is highly recommended. I used it for rehearsals, and I was in the pit for the performances. It gave me enough stability, as even with the fast lenses and the ISO shift, I was still below 1/100 for many shots, and the movements of the cast make it worse.

-I set the white balance to incandesant (the light bulb setting), and it was very natural.

Hope this helps
Have Fun
Rick 8)

[Tom W]

From my limited experience, I'd recommend using the fastest lens you have - the 50/1.4. You may not need to shoot wide open, but depending on the lighting, you will probably want at least f/2.8 so that you can get your shutter speed up enough to freeze action.

Using flash will not make the performers happy.

If the stage is really well lit, you might get away with the slower zoom.

Try to get a seat or vantage point that allows you to get decent composition with that lens, if possible.

[CyberDyneSystems]

YOU CAN'T USE FLASH!!

Even if some oddball company lets you,. you shouldn't.. by doing so you are ruining the performance for anyone watching,. and distracting the performers in such a way that you are (again) ruining the performance.

//O-kay,. rant mode off,. this is coming from someone who has spent his entire life in theatre... which has a sanctity of it's own. :roll:



You can try the zoom,. but I think you will end up working with the f/1.4 for avaialble light. Look to get 1/125 shutter times, and time your shots for the pauses.. especially of your shutter times have to dip due to lack of light.

If lighting remains consistant color wise,. try to do a custom white balance.

[defordphoto]

Also, get there early and set a custom white balance. It will make post processing so, so much easier.