My first theatre-shots, how to?

<p>I will have the opportunity to take pictures in a smaller theater during the play and this will be the first time ever for me. I plan to carry my Nikon D700 and bring some lenses such as the 80-200 2.8 and the 50/1.4 to do free hand shots.<br>

My plan ist to meter the light once (spot metering to the actor), work in manual mode and set the ISO such that I obtain reasonable exposure times and f-stops (say, 125/5.6 or so). Is this a good approach or would you suggest to go with A-mode? Would the light be enough to work with around 2000 Iso?<br>

Thanks for any hints!</p>

<p>I am not sure if working on manual mode would be a good idea; for me, I would rather work on Aperture Priority and use the Auto Exposure lock. I find that method much faster especially when there is a change in lighting condition.</p>

<p>Whether ISO 2000 is suffice would really depend on the kind of play that you are watching. I have watched some where it gets reallt pretty challenging as the lights get pretty dim but have watched some where the lights are darn bright.</p>

<p>For the D700, I think you should not need to worry too much about the ISO as you can easily shoot at around 6400 without much worry.</p>

<p>As long as you are not shooting really close to the face or details, the 1/125s is a pretty good bet; but of course, try to strive for as high a speed and as small an aperture.</p>

<p>The lighting may change from scene to scene, or even within each scene. You may have to meter more than once.</p>

<p>1) Lighting changes all the time in most theatre productions. I always shoot in A mode at an aperture that gives me reasonable shutter speed.</p>

<p>2) Lights often have gels that a camera's white balance compensation can't handle. Shoot in RAW and use a RAW converter that has a lot of range in the WB control.</p>

<p>3) Nobody can predict what aperture/shutter/ISO settings will work without a lot more information about the lighting. </p>

<p>4) You can read <a href="../learn/digital-photography-workflow/overview/event-photography/">my article here at photo.net</a> about post-processing for this kind of shooting since that can make a big difference in what kind of results you obtain.</p>

<p>Set auto ISO to give you a minimum shutter speed and prop it up on a chair or something. Either use program and change compensation or use manual. I don't trust matrix meters on spotlight performances.</p>

<p>I think your only option is the "check the lcd for color" method. Make sure the faces look like normal skintones and not blown out.</p>

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<p>I don't trust matrix meters on spotlight performances.</p>

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<p>I shoot this stuff professionally, typically one or two times a week, and have had no problems with matrix metering. I use a Canon 1D3 most of the time, but I don't think there is any significant difference in metering capability between brands.</p>

<p>I find matrix metering to work well in a threatre environment until a spot light comes on. I find that with my D3 I have to set the exposure compensation to -1 or 1 1/2 stops and reset it to normal when the spot light is turned off.</p>

<p>You should do fine shooting at ISOs up to 4000 and even higher if needed to keep your shutter speed high enough to properly shoot moving subjects. Although lower ISO is genereally preferred, a blurred image at low ISO is useless compared to a higher ISO sharp image.</p>

<p>Another tip... I generally set my camera on manual mode selecting the aperture and shutter speed I want to shoot with and then let the camera decide the ISO (having Auto ISO turned on). It works great for many shooting environments such as the one your are describing.</p>

<p>Use auto iso from 200 till 3200 iso and lower that during the event till the value necessary Set the max shutter speed om 1/200 an go lower during the event. Use spotmetering then you measure the exposure on the spot where you focus.Check the histograms, check the histograms over and over till you knowit works Learn to listen to your shutter,onmyD200 I could hear when I came in the longer shuter speeds and on my D300 is is coming slowly.</p>

<p>I've been shooting live theatre events for my wife and her friends for 20 years--starting with a Ricoh SLR in manual mode shooting on T-320 slide film. :-) The last 4 years I've used a D70 for theatre; I *love* the 50mm and 85mm f/1.8 lenses for that. I set my D70 to underexpose by 2/3d stop because I've found that my own D70 loves to burn out highlights. I leave the camera in auto-ISO mode and matrix metering, and never worry about it--IMO it works great. There are always times the light is just too low ... but most of the time I compose and shoot and never give a thought to what ISO the camera has set itself at or what exposure it's picking. Works for me! :-)<br>

http://www.duke.edu/~kuzen001/theatre1.htm</p>

 

<p>I have been doing this type of photography for years and highly recommend the Aperture Priority mode. I shoot with either a D70 or D2x and a f2.8 70-200 mm, AP mode and usually either 800-1600 ISO. Be sure to use a monopod or tripod as well. I tend to move around a lot, even getting on stage behind the actors and shoot into the spots, so a monopod works best for me.<br>

I also use spot metering and for white balance, I use auto most of the time. For shots taken with high ISO, I run through through Noise Ninja, which is a noise reduction program. <br>

Hope this helps. You can check out some of my shots at <a href="http://www.fosterfoto.us">http://www.fosterfoto.us</a> </p><div></div>

<p>For those of you who shoot theater. Do most shoot with the 70-200 or 80-200? I generally don't want to bring a tripod/monopod because I'm afraid I'm being too distractive. I am still suffering from lens envy despite buying a 24-70 and am looking for something longer. The only fast glass I have is the 105 VR, 24-70 and 50 1.8. I find that I wish I had something longer and my 18-200 looks very bad compared to my 24-70 which is all I shoot with now. Especially since it drops down to 5.6 quickly and then my shutter speed becomes pretty slow. In any event, is the 80-200 fine for shutter speeds around 1/30-1/60 at 200mm without monopod? I use a D90, thanks.</p>

<p>Michael</p>

<p>"My plan ist to meter the light once (spot metering to the actor), work in manual mode and set the ISO such that I obtain reasonable exposure times and f-stops (say, 125/5.6 or so)."</p>

<p> You've had some great advice, but the one thing I will add is don't even think of using an aperture of 5.6, you have fast glass use it wide open. There is no reason to use the 80-200 at anything less than wide open or close to it remember that's what it's designed for. You will lose more shots because of too slow a shutter speed than lack of depth of field.<br>

good luck<br>

Steve</p>

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<p>I'm entirely wth Elliot on that. Work in manual mode and Auto ISO. Why? Because you can set a given shutter speed according to focal length and the need to freeze the action (say, 1/125th.) and let Auto ISO adjust EV according to light changes and/or aperture changes. You have complete control. If you use A mode, you'll have to keep checking the shutter speed and then quickly adjust the aperture if it gets too slow. The minimum speed set in Auto ISO settings does not guarantee that your shutter speed will not go slower, only that the ISO will change when you get to that minimum speed. If the lighting goes real dim and your max ISO is reached as well as your max. aperture, then the shutter speed WILL go down, and you will have movement blur. Also, I guess CW is less risky than Matrix, IF you meter from the right place. The stage is a maximum contrast and unhealthy place, photography-wise.</p>

<p>One other thing: if you shoot from the audience during a pubic performance, I strongly advise against the D700. It's too noisy, and you will badly annoy the spectators. They will eventually shut you up. I know I would. So, it's either during a dress rehearsal or from the wings (where you will still irritate the actors.) Believe me, I've been in the professional theater all my life.</p>

<p>Richard, 1/60s is probably going to show some shake on the 80-200mm and 1/30s is likely to be worse. Also, in theatres, the actors and actresses are constantly moving so 1/30s is really pushing it (even with the 70-200mm VR).</p>

<p>That is why a number of us are recommending increasing the ISO to as high as possible as you really need all the light and speed you can get.</p>

<p>Of course, I meant «public performance.» Interesting slip of the keyboard, though. Sorry about that :)</p>

<p>I have taken pictures from my seat quite a few times when my kids were in plays at there school. Each theatre will having different lighting and it can vary from play to play..I just used a 50mm f1.8 lens and sat up close in about the third row...Since the performance was with my kids I would go and see all of the performances..I have a D200 and the ISO at 1600 is bunk so I just shot at ISO 800..My average settings were, RAW, ISO 800, 50mm at f2.8, manual shutter speeds of 1/60th and occasionally 1/30th. I would set the WB setting in camera anyway so that my screen would give me some information and also so that I would not have to adjust WB in photoshop very much. I would take a few tests shots right away to see how they look. The camera was in matrix metering but I did not pay much attention to it. Rather then fiddle with spot metering I concentrated on taking the picture at moments where the movement would stop for a second, also when their was applause, or singing on stage because it overpowered the sound of my camera. Since our theatre was to dark for faster shutter speeds then 1/60th I did not even bother taking a longer lens. My interest was limited to taking pictures of my own kids. Sometimes a parent would ask me to snap a couple of their kids and I would do that also. Before I had a digital camera I used to shoot film. I had a very hard time with that. I usually would do a color to B/W conversion because of the white balance being so poor. Color correction filters needed 1 or 2 stops of light that I just did not have. It's all behind me now. Everyone is off to college and I don't go to any of the plays any longer.</p>