Theatre Photography - Please Help

Hi All,

I'm pretty new to this, I run my own theatre company with my husband and photos are a hugely important part of our business, however, we can't afford to hire in a professional photographer all the time as we do a lot of performances so need one so often being a small business the costs cripple us , so my dear old Dad has offered to photograph the shows for us, he did photography at school but that was some years ago so I'm just looking for some help and advice really to get the best shots.

The camera we use is Canon EOS 60D and we usually hire in a Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM lens to shoot with - firstly do you think this is the best lens to be using? If not what should we use?

Can anyone suggest the best settings for the camera for low lighting - but fast, high impact dance moves, we tend to get a lot of blurred shots with a lot of noise.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

Depending on how close he can get, he could shoot with a 50mm prime - and the max aperture is good and high, but he won't have much flexibility. What type of theatre would this be in?

A small theatre you could use something like a 24-70 for flexibility and quite a lot of light, but a bigger theatre would probably require something longer ...

General settings, dance is fast, so you need shutter speeds in three figures to minimise the blur, which is why you have to set the ISO so high and get lots of noise - it's not an easy thing to photograph, fast and low light. Depending on the lighting, this can present challenges for the exposure - how is the lighting of your piece? Consistent, flood lighting looks less spectacular but is more predictable to shoot - more contrasted, dramatic lighting is harder to shoot and get the correct exposure, especially at higher ISOs which are more sensitive ...

A bit more information about the piece and where it will be performed and I can try to help you more ...

Thank you for coming back to me, it's being performed at "The Greenwood Theatre" near London Bridge, it's quite a large space with relatively low-level lighting - there will be some LED's in use, we will be able to get up close to the performers as well as longer shots if we wanted as the photos are taken during a final dress run.

I hope that is enough information but if you require any further information please do let me know

You have unfortunately well identified the problem. Although you have been given some advice, and I will give more, the view that such an important marketing tool can be left to, "dear old dad" may be short sighted. I understand finances, but at the end of the day, you will get what you pay for.

Low lighting is unfortunately not enough info. You want the lowest ISO that will allow you to get proper depth of field while stopping the action. It is impossible to recommend settings without seeing the theatre. Not sure why you would use a 50 mm, 1.2. It's primarily a portrait lens. Whether you should use a 24-70, 70-200 or even a 16-35 depends on the goals. Most, would use more than one.

EmmaLou788 wrote in post #16031750
Thank you for coming back to me, it's being performed at "The Greenwood Theatre" near London Bridge, it's quite a large space with relatively low-level lighting - there will be some LED's in use, we will be able to get up close to the performers as well as longer shots if we wanted as the photos are taken during a final dress run.

I hope that is enough information but if you require any further information please do let me know

Relatively low level, will it be consistently low level, or significantly brighter in some spots than in others? If you have a lighting designer, they'll be able to tell you this - if the lighting is being done by the theatre technicians, then it would likely be more consistent, albeit yes - low level, which is usual ...

In any case, you will need a higher ISO (but of course, as low as you can get away with, but it wouldn't be very low) and a high shutter speed. I shoot theatre and dance in Manual mode to manage the exposure as best possible - if your dad can get a test shot before the rehearsal begins, he can get the settings he'll need (more or less) to shoot from there, and keep to those unless the light changes dramatically. I would recommend shooting in RAW - this will help if the exposure does change and there isn't time to react, and if the lights are LED then they may use a lot of coloured light, and you can deal with this much better in RAW than with a JPEG ...

I've found a picture of the theatre via Google ... here. The stage level with regards to where you'd be shooting means that if you were to higher one lens I think you could get away with a 17-55 (f/2.8 IS). You wouldn't get very many single dancer tight crop photographs, but for documenting the show it would be alright and give you the possibility of wider shots and stuff a little bit closer ...

The 50mm 1.2 lets in a lot of light, but the autofocus is intended for portraits in good light, not dance in low light, so something else would be required. If you can stretch to two rented lenses, I think a 17-55 f/2.8 IS and an 85mm f/1.8 would be good on the 60D - the 85mm will be effectively about 120mm (I've lost the knack for doing this calculations in my head now I use full frame) and the 17-55 wide enough for whole stage shots and long enough for something a bit closer, if your dad were able to stand (not sit) at the front during the dress rehearsal, he wouldn't really be in anyone's way and you want a bit of height to avoid photographing everything from below ...

I'm not going to tell you to hire someone, because you've said that you can't ... hopefully this helps you to make the best of the situation you have.

I do a lot of theater photos, usually shooting during one of the final tech rehearsals or we schedule a special photo session before or after a performance. I use a 5D mk 3 which is a great camera for low light situations. I also sometimes use a 60D which is not quite is good.

Lighting designers are crucial to success for theater photography. I have brought in my own lighting on ocasion when lighting designer has not done their work yet and it looks good, but rarely matches what the lighting designer has in mind.

I don't use a 50mm lens, instead I prefer to use a 35mm 1.4L on a full frame. Generally I think the 50 is too long on a crop body for theater, but I'm sure others make it work.

I shoot some theatre, lots of concerts, cheerleading competitions, etc, and usually do it with a 2.8 lens. I use both a 7D and a 1D, so I think you might want to look at minimum shutter speed to stop the action and raise the ISO until you get what you need. After that, your software is critical. If you post files or try to print files straight out of the camera, you will probably not get good results. The 60D and a 1.2 or a 1.4 should do fine, so once again take a look at your processing.

could you ask the lighting and grip crew to turn the lights on higher during the rehearsals? use those as the shots vs the actual performance shots. no one will be able to tell the difference?

Just an idea, but have you considered contacting your local camera club?

Many members relish the opportunity to do something different and take on an interesting shoot, which will add variety to their personal portfolio. A couple of weeks ago, a theatre local to me asked my local photo society for help to shoot the dress rehearsal of "Guys and Dolls".

Four or five of us went along and they were very happy with the results. One benefit is that you get experienced photographers (mostly) who already have suitable equipment and, because you have multiple shooters, the show is covered from various positions and with different lenses, giving a much more varied selection of images to choose from, compared to one shooter, one lens, one position at any given time.

I shoot shows with a 70-200 and a 24-70. Until recently, I shot using a 40D (recently upgraded to a 5D Mark III). Even with the 40D, I found those lenses got everything I needed in houses of all sizes. I'm not a fan of a prime in this circumstance. Getting your framing by trying to run up & down stairs in the dark (which is also changing your angle of view) or climbing over chairs, is not exactly as efficient as a zoom.

If it were me, looking at the picture linked above, I'd probably rely on the 70-200.

As far as settings, it's a balancing act... low aperture and as high an ISO as you need to get to a shutter speed over 100 at least. This is why I moved to the 5Dm3 -- I've shot at an ISO of 10000 and even 25600 in a couple of extreme low light cases and had decent to salvageable images.