Stage Pic

Taken during a dress rehearsal. My first time taking pics like this! They didn't have time for me to stop them, so I had to shoot while they ran the play... made for some fuzzy moments.

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It would be nice if you gave the play name and venue and if they were numbered ... perhaps you could read the FAQ at the top of the list list of threads in Performing Arts. They all look soft to me and perhaps could do with a spot of levels to give them a bit of snap. They also seem cropped a bit tight, cutting off parts of people without really adding to the composition. How are you related to the production?

I don't know what you mean with the term "Numbered", but the play is The House of Yes, and it was help at the Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC.

THey only had 2 days of tech, and I had to shoot while they performed the last one. I didn't want to disrupt them too much, so I limited my moving around and such. That made it neccesary to compromise on framing sometimes.

Numbered means putting a 1. and 2. and 3. before each image. With three images it isn't much of a deal but it does help in referencing them.

You used some very interesting/unexpected settings. in #3 you shot 1/15th second at ISO1600 but used f/7.1. I expect that at f/2.8 of more open you would have dramatically reduced the motion blur of the actors and crisped up the image. It would also have isolated the active characters by blurring the background more. In #2 you shot wide open at f/1.8 but for some reason used ISO 100 and again got a long exposure time allowing the subjects to blur. I'm not sure how you might have saved #1.

We have several members who shoot plays so if you are looking to improve you might want to post more to get feedback. If you are just looking to share them for some reason then please feel free, but putting more information in the title will help.

You won't EVER want to stop the actors/actresses from rolling while you are shooting. If you try, you will not only interrupt their dress rehearsals, which are VERY important for them, but you will get crap shots. Sure, they might be positioned the way you want them, but you won't get the emotion and feeling that is the very thing that makes a good theatre shot.

This pretty much goes for all low light photography IMO, but here are a few tips:
1. Shoot highest ISO available. On the 350D, that means ISO1600. My 350D is my second body, and i use it 1600ISO all the time, and it is COMPLETELY useable.
2. Sacrifice DOF for shutter speed. A f16 shot is no good at 1/4 second shutter speed, but a f2.8 shot at 1/125 is far more likely to be usable. In my experience, solo shots are far better than group shots. Group shots are necessary alot, but i always love solo shots and rarely group shots.
3. Don't cut off fingers, toes, important bits. You will regret it later. You can always crop, but you can't expand on what you don't have.

There are more rules probably, but it is late

Shooting theatre, concerts, and other low light events is not easy. If it was, everyone would do it, and we wouldn't spend so much money buying the best gear money can buy.

You are limited with your gear. Your nifty fifty is about all you can use, but learn to use it well, and you will get some awesome shots.

Practice makes perfect, as well as advice from POTN.

Rob

Good advice...

Thank you for the feedback. I dug out the full exif info for all 3. The short version is that I used Tv mode to limit camera shake, changing it when the exposure would not lock due to lighting conditions in the frame. This isn't really an excuse, but it was pretty rushed, and did not have the time beforehand to set up. Almost every image was over-exposed since so much of the frame is black. Raw saved me there, mostly. Anyway, I hope to get more chances at this, as it was interesting to do. I foresee manual exposure settings....

#1
Make - Canon
Model - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 300.00
YResolution - 300.00
ExposureTime - 1/40 seconds
FNumber - 4
ExposureProgram - Shutter priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 1600
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/40 seconds
ApertureValue - F 4.00
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 50 mm

It will get easier with repetition... Stay at ISO 1250 to 1600 and work with your shutter speed and aperture variables... Shoot lots of pics and sort later...

Theater is a lot of fun and a rewarding experience to photograph... Have fun with it...

[QUOTE=c71clark;337879​7]Thank you for the feedback. I dug out the full exif info for all 3.

There are browser plug-ins that will display the EXIF for an image when it exists which is what I used with your images. You might want to check the FAQ.

Ooh, code toys!

c71clark wrote in post #3384986
Ooh, code toys!

It's actually pretty simple... Cause there are only a very few primary variables we usually deal with... It's nearly always your camera settings like; aperture/ISO/shutter speed, that we discuss till exhaustion...

Not to worry, someone is always here to explain...