All the world's a stage.

18/07/10

When I’m not photographing weddings or making landscape images I frequently get asked to photograph theatrical and concert performances. I’ve had a close relationship with music theatre for over twenty years both as a performer (usually but not exclusively in the band pit) and also as a photographer. I’m also a working musician with very close ties to the midlands’ music scene. Capturing images in either of these worlds invariably means difficult and changing lighting conditions, moving subjects and ‘one chance only’ opportunities for shots. In many ways I guess the skills and sensibilities I employ when photographing weddings are very similar to those needed in this very different but equally demanding world.

One of the essential criteria for capturing stage images is the preservation of ambient lighting at all costs. Using flash in these instances will inevitably bleach out or at the very least dilute the atmospheric lighting that is a key feature of the very images you are trying to capture. To do so would make about as much sense as bleaching out the rich colours and low angle shadows of a magnificent sunset. One of the obvious issues with this is that this atmospheric light can be at very low levels so ensuring an appropriate combination of ISO, shutter speed and aperture is essential. Trying to designate a ‘magic bullet’ combination makes no sense whatsoever as depending upon the nature of the subject at least two of these three parameters will need to change: e.g. if the subject begins to move more rapidly a slower shutter speed won’t necessarily offer a satisfactory image, while a wide aperture may not offer you the depth of field necessary for images attempting to capture relationships between subjects at different locations on the stage.

Exposure is also an issue when capturing stage images as lighting can alter very quickly and can have massive contrasts from area to area: brightly lit subjects against a jet black background aren’t uncommon. Any kind of automatic exposure is useless in these situations as it is incapable of making sense of the massive disparity between different light levels. Metering must also be as selective as possible as metering broader zones of the image will probably lead to considerable and potentially unrecoverable overexposure of highlights as the camera attempts to provide an exposure value for the average illumination of the scene. Spot metering becomes the order of the day with exposure values locked in and continually re-evaluated in manual exposure mode.

Technical issues aren’t the only consideration for the stage photographer as your work is frequently done in the presence of an audience. Making yourself as invisible as possible is a crucial skill as is learning how to manoeuvre yourself and your equipment between enthusiastic music fans in unseated situations at smaller venues. Musicians (or rather their management representatives) can often impose quite stringent time constraints upon photographers in order that they are captured at their best during the first few numbers of a set rather than looking bedraggled, tired and decidedly damp after working for an hour or more under very hot lighting. In this situation speed and decisiveness is very much of the essence in getting the best results you can from your designated position and within a tight time frame.