Shooting in dark theaters

I am starting to regularly shoot live music and dance performances in dark theater settings. Many clubs

limit the use of flash. I shoot with a Canon 30D, a Tamron DI II 18-200, 3.5-5.6 and Canon EFS IS

17-85,4-5.6 tele's, and a Canon 420Ex flash. All of this works great together. Can I get some insight as

to what changes I need make to shoot without the flash in let's say, dark Edwardian Irish bars with low

ceilings as well as dark art deco theaters with high ceilings?

Thanks,

Danny

No way.

 

Sorry to be a party pooper, Daniel, but no way are you going to get useable photos without

adequate light. Some laws of nature still apply.

You can use available light- which means maybe f/1.2 or f/1 lens, whatever you can afford, with B&W film- can get up to ISO 10,000 that way.

 

You can use IR flash. Way back when, I think it was Weegee that did this- famous shot of his shows viewers in a 3D movie. Not sure of the best way to do this- try digital camera with IR filter removed, or film camera, whatever works for that speed. Lee makes IR filters that are fairly cheap that can be used on flashes- would obviously take some experimenting. I know a flash is visible, but not especially distracting, through a #87 filter.

 

Or you could use a tripod and deal with the blur.

Some 50mm lenses get very low f stops. Bump up the ISO and print them all black and white grainy works well for these traditional bars.

 

Spend a long hours with a camera in Irish bars using a 50mm and resting it on a jumper (where is me jumper?)

 

The smaller lenses work better as well from a fear factor.

What are you photographing? If it is someone on stage then there will be some level of stage lighting. It may still be very dark but it is doable (barely) provided they are not moving too quickly. I shoot at ISO 1600 at f2 using 35/2, 50/1.8, and 85/1.8 in a jazz club with very low light and a black ceiling. With good timing and a dose of luck I can stop heads but you normally see movement from hands.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=554620

 

If you cannot freeze an artist then take some slow shots to capture a sense of movement.

 

If you are interested in photographing the venue itself then all you need is a tripod.

 

For now I would say spend $70 on a 50/1.8 and try using it wide open with high ISO.

Don't sample too much of the Irish whiskey or Beamish or you will find that your photography goes to pot. I put away the camera after the second beer (or the first if it is a pint of Kwak) ;)

With your current setup I would use the Canon with IS, and then use the maximum ISO and then try to brace yourself and the camera, you can use a person's head as a monopod if you like, and use a self timer or remote to trigger the camera.

 

The other option is to add a fast lens like a 1.8, 1.4 or a 1.2 while bumping up the ISO up to it's maximum.

 

You can get IR light sources which is invisible to the naked eye.

 

http://maxmax.com/aXNiteFlashlight.htm

 

But as stated you have to either use IR film or get a camera converted to be more sensitive to IR.

Bump up the iso to 1600 or higher and use lenses with a minimum of f/1.8 or faster (f/1.4, 1.2 of even f/1.0) will do the trick.

Hello Daniel:

 

 

I suggest two lenses 85'' f1.8 and 70-200 f2.8, My recommendation is based on the photos that you have in the folder ''Music'' Take a look of my folder ''Teatro''

 

JC-Mexico City

Yes, fast prime lenses are a must for these kinds of shots. Anything slower than, say, f/2 will not make you happy in super-low-light situations. If your subject has strong light on it, you simply need "fast" shutter speeds or you will get very visible motion blur, <abbr title="Image Stabilizer">IS</abbr> or not. When the subject is not moving much, I sometimes shoot with slower ISO and use mirror lock-up while handholding (and hope for accurate focus). And I have noise reduction on.<div></div>

Although they appear to be "dark" if they are lighting for stage productions (AKA "plays") the Lighting Designer should have enough light up there to take some shots and have them come out pretty well. I just did both. Lit the show, then took some shots for my portfolio.

Bands in a tiny "dark" pub can be a different story. Get there either before the band starts and ask the guy at the light board if he can bring up what might be a typical Q (or "look"), and meter off that. Or, if you frequent the same place often either do the same thing, or shoot some test shots before they open. Most of the time if you are there for a reason, and are nice about it, you shouldn't have any problems getting your shots to come out fine. Good luck!

Tamron 18 - 200mm? Very slow lens. This was either a 50 mm / 1.4, or a 28 mm / 1.8, wide open at ISO 1600 at a very slow speed probably 1/15 or less. It's doable, but needs practice (and fast lenses).

 

-Ian<div></div>

What you could also try is shooting in continuous shooting mode... not only does it help getting 'the decisive moment' at times, but also allows you to shoot handheld at far lower shutter speeds than you otherwise could.<p>

 

This works because of the basic premise that the act of depressing the shutter will cause some camera shake. This is mitigated in continuous shooting mode owing to the fact that having depressed the shutter, you keep it depressed for several frames. Chances are that at least one of the several shots that you take in this fashion will be crisp.<p>

 

Having taken a series of shots in this fashion, download the images on your pc, and view them at 100%. Discard the ones which are obviously blurry, retain the sharpest ones.<p>

 

I use this technique very often during my travels, when situations demand it. Works like a charm. Using IS or VR lenses, bracing yourself against a wall or corner, shooting at wider angles... all these help. In addition, continuous shooting mode can help you go to even lower shutter speeds in conjunction with the techniques listed above. <p>

 

I've shot at as low as 1/4th of a second handheld using my 20-35 lens (non IS) at the 24mm setting on my 5D. I've shot images at 1/8th of a second handheld using my 28-105 (again non-IS) at the 28mm setting on my 10D (works out to an effective focal length of almost 49mm), again with great results. As a matter of fact, this tip is one of the most highly rated ones by participants on my workshops. Some of the images that are a result of this technique can be viewed in my <a href="http://www.nevillebulsara.com/ladakh-photo-gallery.htm">Ladakh Photo Gallery</a> - look out for the images shot in the kitchens.<p>

 

Hope that helps,<p>

 

Neville Bulsara<br>

Spot meter of the face of the subject. Set your camera to manual and then ignore that your camera is telling you, that you are 4 or 5 stops under exposed. (Just watch out a little if the stage lights change a lot as part of the performance.

 

Your lenses are a litte slow. However get permission to use a tripod from the venue managers first and you may have a chance, waiting for pauses in the movement etc.

 

Also being slow lenses will make focusing harder too.

 

The flash will spoil any ambience so leave that at home.

 

See if you can afford any prime lenses they often have a better max aperture and a 135mm f2.8 will probably be quite affordable and give you a short telephoto effect that will be useful for indoor performance. A 50 mm 1.4 works nicely too This is one I use exactly for this purpose when I can get near to the action.