As photographer for OU School of Drama, I am required to go shoot the last dress rehearsal of every show. Last show was Young Choreographer's Showcase (MM3), and this time it was Shakespeare's tired old drama Romeo and Juliet. I have to say everyone did a great job. I've seen, as I'm sure you have, many versions and productions of R&J, and this one was quite good. Also, my girlfriend Melissa is the lighting designer for the show, so it had that added meaning to me since this is technically her first full show to design (minus numerous YCS pieces and last year's reading of It's a Wonderful Life).
As far as shooting is concerned, this was pretty much just another shoot. I am quite used to shooting shows, and have almost forgotten how different the shooting style for theatre is for other things, like say basketball. It's actually quite different.
I stayed in WB Incandescent because theatrical lights come out extremely "hot" and "rich" when not careful. Also, I go in and out from Matrix Meter to Spot Meter depending on how the Matrix Meter reads the light. I shoot in Aperture Priority, so I depend on Nikon's world-famous metering system to determine whether the available light is adequate for the shutter speed. The shutter will adjust according to what the meter thinks. If it determines it is too dark, it will slow the shutter and bring in more light. But, since theatrical lighting is what it is, it is difficult for the meter to accurately estimate the light in frame, thereby making my photos blown out and super saturated. Putting it in Spot Meter only meters the light from where my auto focus point is. This is more accurate for my situation, but can sometimes misread the light (again) and make the images too dark. So, I go in and out of the two metering settings. Nikon makes this task extremely easy with the use of a Function button on the front of the camera. All I have to do is hold the button down for Spot Metering while I shoot. Can't do that with Canons!
Anyway, enough techno-talk, here are some pics.
Photos courtesy OU School of Drama.
Happy Shooting
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