GoodEgg wrote:
Fantastic set of images and amazing stage lighting. The last two seem to have a filter or overlay?
Thanks! Yes there was a scrim in front of the dancers with images being projected onto it. I shoot the dress rehearsal for this ballet company every year, and the stage lighting is always a challenge, but the scrim this year took the cake!
Without knowing anything about the stage, and because the scrim is pretty shabby, I wonder if a very wide shot showing as much downstage surface as possible and as much stage width as possible, even including some of the proscenium, making the dancer smaller in the frame, would be something to look at.
Denny JetTone wrote:
—► Great shooting!
—► Great editing!
Dress reh's are nice.
Without knowing anything about the stage, and because the scrim is pretty shabby, I wonder if a very wide shot showing as much downstage surface as possible and as much stage width as possible, even including some of the proscenium, making the dancer smaller in the frame, would be something to look at.
—Denny
Thanks!
There were two of us shooting, the other photog was out in the audience seating area taking wide shots, while I was walking around right next to the stage which is my preference. To me the wide shots from a fixed position are boring. Plus I like shooting from a position lower than the dancers.
I wasn't suggesting that you shoot very wide from another position, but from the same spots where you shot these — right at the lip of the stage. Camera resting on the stage, angled up only enough.
I wasn't suggesting that you shoot very wide from another position, but from the same spots where you shot these — right at the lip of the stage. Camera resting on the stage, angled up only enough.
Could be interesting.
—Denny
Perhaps, but highly impractical to rest the camera on the stage given that the dancers are moving rapidly all over the stage. Resting the camera on the stage, I would not, for example, be able to capture the split second that a dancer is at the apex of his/her leap in the air with legs outstretched. And the distance from the stage to where I’m holding the camera at chest level isn’t very great, so I’m not sure how different the perspective would be between the two camera positions.
Irwin — forgive me for not explaining myself well enough.
I'm not suggesting that you should shoot any way other than what you normally do to record your expressive and captivating images.
I was suggesting that it might be interesting to see a very wide shot of either of the two images involving the scrim from your position at the edge of the stage which would make sense out of the projection onto the scrim and, perhaps, show the scrim as light and gauzy rather than confusing or distracting.
I don't shoot dance, per se, but I shoot a lot of shows, some of which include dance or other kinds of notable movement on stage. I have used two techniques to capture split-second, wide-angle, dance moves with the camera resting on the stage surface.
♦ Some moments are rowdy enough that I can get to the edge of the stage, usually near a side, without bothering the performers or the audience. Shooting wide (14mm-35mm on FF) with the base of the camera remaining on the stage, I'll hold, angled up, on a frame, or tilt up thru the action, while firing a burst. Almost always get a few options and usable shots for the client. I often get a lot of the stage surface in the foreground in the uncropped frame (which I sometimes edit to make an interesting part of the final image); good stop-action of the principals; and, sometimes, interesting angles of backlighting or downlighting on and above the stage.
♦ When being able to hug the stage for a minute would not have been appropriate to the venue, before the show and with the consent of the performers, I've set up a Gear Glide LayLow - https://glidegear.net/products/glide-gear-ll100-video-photo-laylow-camera-mount - as a fixed platform and controlled shutter release remotely.
Denny JetTone wrote:
Irwin — forgive me for not explaining myself well enough.
I'm not suggesting that you should shoot any way other than what you normally do to record your expressive and captivating images.
I was suggesting that it might be interesting to see a very wide shot of either of the two images involving the scrim from your position at the edge of the stage which would make sense out of the projection onto the scrim and, perhaps, show the scrim as light and gauzy rather than confusing or distracting.
I don't shoot dance, per se, but I shoot a lot of shows, some of which include dance or other kinds of notable movement on stage. I have used two techniques to capture split-second, wide-angle, dance moves with the camera resting on the stage surface.
♦ Some moments are rowdy enough that I can get to the edge of the stage, usually near a side, without bothering the performers or the audience. Shooting wide (14mm-35mm on FF) with the base of the camera remaining on the stage, I'll hold, angled up, on a frame, or tilt up thru the action, while firing a burst. Almost always get a few options and usable shots for the client. I often get a lot of the stage surface in the foreground in the uncropped frame (which I sometimes edit to make an interesting part of the final image); good stop-action of the principals; and, sometimes, interesting angles of backlighting or downlighting on and above the stage.
♦ When being able to hug the stage for a minute would not have been appropriate to the venue, before the show and with the consent of the performers, I've set up a Gear Glide LayLow - https://glidegear.net/products/glide-gear-ll100-video-photo-laylow-camera-mount - as a fixed platform and controlled shutter release remotely.
thanks, appreciate your suggestion. But I'm not so much into wide shots, especially since the artistic director had a photog up in the audience seating doing wide shots and wide videos. I much prefer closer shots where I can capture emotions that I feel I get more than shooting wider.
That said, I did shoot some wider shots for the artistic director (shown below) even though I felt from a photographic/artistic perspective they didn't do much for me. Again, while I appreciate your artistic perspective shooting performances which is perfectly valid, it's just not my thing.
