[JMitchell]

I am going to be shooting my school's production of Grease on Thrusday and Saturday, will have real lighting etc. (ie: Proper lighting rig etc.), any tips? (Do not say, "buy a new lens that has a fast aperture" please)


Thanks,

Jack M

[ChrisRabior]

Get used to shooting without a flash. Chances are, you won't be able to use one anyways. It's a distraction to the performers.

You've already demonstrated enough by your lens comment to show that you know you should be shooting as wide open as possible.. so grab whatever your best lens is and get moving.

I cover a lot of concerts, and one of the first things I usually look for is a hot spot on the stage that seems to get more lighting than other areas. You'll usually get a lot more in theater productions. Try to catch people while they're passing through that part of the stage.

Shoot in RAW, consider Neat Image or Noise Ninja to clean up your higher ISO shots after post processing.

Hopefully you've got some good seats and can get up close enough to the action. Good luck =)

[Dave Canon]

It is sometime since I tackled a Theatre. You will find that, unlike a television studio which has even lighting, theatre lighting is very uneven. The difference in different parts of the stage is proably more than you would think as the brain tends to compensate but your camera will not. So taking wide areas of the stage is a problem but close ups on well lit areas is good. As already suggested, using RAW will help enormously in coping with high contrast but you will have to do some post processing to benefit. You will also need to use a fairly high ISO setting. If you use RAW then set the White Balance to auto. While the setting does not affect the raw file, the auto WB figure will be set as the default in the Raw Converter and it will be a good starting point. I do not think you need to achieve a perfect WB. If the pictures look a little warm under the theatre lights, it is still OK and often looks better than a correctly balanced shot as it is obvious the pictures are in a theatre. Best of Luck and takes lots of pics!

[JMitchell]

Thanks, I will. With regards to seats, I will be at the back I think, but it's not too bad cos it's only a school hall and it is quite small....I get to do it cos I go to the school , but would like to produce the best results, thanks for the tips


Jack M