Studio Alegria - Image Fusion Studio Blog

One of the most difficult event photography assignments that a professional photographer gets is live performance photography. The photographer is often faced with challenges ranging from poor lighting to impossible vantage points. As a professional we have to deliver great photographs under some of the most trying conditions.

In my opinion, the most difficult performance photography assignments is dance photography and fashion shows. These two types of events are going to stretch the photographer and the equipment to the limit to deal with the conditions at the venue.

Most venues are not lit with photography in mind. The lighting normally is set to convey a mood or atmosphere for the event. This is understandable. The event is not necessarily put on for the benefit of the pro photographer. It is put on for the enjoyment of the patrons. As a professional the photographer has to adapt to the conditions that are presented.

Usually the single biggest challenge is lighting. Some event promoters, especially in the dance world, mistakenly believe that to create a “dramatic” stage they must lower the lighting. Some take the starvation of stage lighting so far that patrons in the back of the house can not clearly see the performer. But they do have a “dramatic stage”

To be totally fair, a close friend of mine, Jessica Dawn, who is a trained and very capable stage manager said in reply to a post that I had made on a similar subject over at Tribe.net said that “Theater is not a photo shoot. Theater is about creating mystery and well, drama. So it’s two different animals”

She is totally correct ! But drama is created more effectively and truly more dramatically with the addition of light not the removal of light. But I digress The bottom line is we have to deal with the conditions presented.

How to deal with light starved stage conditions you may ask?

Many photographers first inclination is to break out the trusty speed light and a new set of Energizers and hope for the best. Or worst pop up that 3/4 of an inch wide flash on their camera.

To my way of thinking flash at a performance is a option of last resort, total hopelessness and complete despair. Why?

1. Shadows - ugly and out of place shadows. Remember the smaller the lighting source the harsher the shadow … so the on camera pop up thingie is going to deliver some real intense shadowing. Even with larger more powerful speed lights the shadowing is going to be impressive unless tou get that flash off tof the camera and control it some way. (the Strobist solution)
2. Health - I actually had a event promoter ask not to use a flash during a event because a couple of the performers were epileptic and the repeated flash could be harmful to them. Not something that I ever thought about but a concern that has to be taken into account.
3. Being a pain in the butt. On a live show I normally shoot between 400 and 600 images with that many flashes the venue would start looking like Studio 54. And I surely will be dis-invited to their next event !

So unless you have been gifted with a Nikon D3 how are you going to cope ?

1. Kill the flash - it is evil
2. Crank up the iso. I very rarely shoot above 1000iso (unless I can avoid it) Most of the time … surprisingly you can usually get away with 1K unless the stage is lit by a 150 watt light bulb.
3. Accept movement - You are going to be shooting at slower that normal shutter speeds sometimes in the 1/30 to 1/60 range. Time your shots so they are at the peak of motion. But know that you will get some motion blur.
4. Don’t make motion pictures- It is almost a waste of time to fire off 30 frames a second to attempt to get the “killer” shot . Watch the performer, listen to the music , the shot will come. Here is a big hint. LISTEN TO THE BEATS. For most dance forms the best motion will be on a 8 or 4 count.
5. Expose properly - get off of p-mode (it doesn’t stand for professional) It is evil and it lies to you. Stage lighting by its very nature is contrasty and never even. Your camera’s auto modes are going to attempt to average your exposure to create an acceptable image. What the auto exposure modes will do normally is to produce a grossly over exposed image. Here is a novel idea … shoot Manual - Find a exposure that is acceptable for the dominant lighting on the stage and go from there making quick adjustments as the performer moves around. You will get dramatic images!
6. Set the white balance. Don’t trust Auto White Balance. Stage lighting is normally around 2600K and 3300K right around the Tungsten range. Unless you have measured a custom white balance your tungsten setting should be safe.
7. Shoot RAW - RAW mode will give you the latitude to correct in post for WB and the lighting variances a lot easier than JPG. Also you avoid the error that will surely come with the in-camera jpg processor due to the contrasty lighting.
   

If you keep these essential items in mind, you can capture great looking images in really crappy lighting conditions!

Have Fun and Good Shooting !