vermilye

I shoot quite a bit of theatre - another problem other than those already mentioned with flash is it destroys the work of the designers. They designed the sets & costumes with the lighting in mind; the flash blows that away.

I generally shoot with f 2.8 lenses & auto ISO, limiting the top ISO for a D200 at 800 & the D300 at 1600. The trick is to have watched a couple of rehearsals so you know where the blocking favors long exposures. Most of my rehearsal or production images are made at 1/15 or 1/30 - although VR may help your end, if the actors are moving it won't work. You need to watch for the pauses in the action that let you use slow shutter speeds. If you need to do large groups, try talking the director into a photocall where you can stop the action. This also helps with depth of field. I usually shoot photocalls at f 5.6, with shutter speeds as long as 1 second.

Check http://www.lakeshoreimages.com/theatrepix.html for some of the shows I have shot at SUNY Oswego. The last one (Cabaret) was shot with a D300, they work backwards through a series of Nikon DSLRs, Point & Shoots, and film...

I shoot quite a bit of theatre, both formal photocalls as well as rehearsals &

performances. My problem with the 18 - 200 is that, unless it is a very bright show,

it is too slow, both focus locking & aperture. I generally shoot with a 17 - 35mm 2.8

or the 70 - 200 2.8 VR on either a D200 or D300. I just added a 24 - 70 2.8. I

generally use spot metering and Auto ISO. Most of the time I keep the wider lens

on the D200 & the 70 - 200 on the D300. Samples shot on film as well as a number

of digital cameras are linked at

http://www.lakeshoreimages.com/theatrepix.html.

Cabaret is the 1st shot with the D300.