Stage photography - Post 2

[oskiper]

Hi everyone!

I´m writing this post as I need feedback to improve my stage photography skills given the gear I have, let me paste what I said on my first post:

"I`m getting started at stage photography in Buenos Aires covering theatre plays for a friend`s art review site.

As these are my very begginings I`m on a really tight budget so please bare in mind my gear when you see my photos. One of the problems I had to solve is the lightning issue, as you may know, stage photography has a very low light condition which get even worse if you have in mind I only have an old Canon 1100D with a 18-55 and a 50-250 lenses EFS lenses.

Therefore, I'm forced to work under high ISO sensibility (6400 ISO most of the times). Please feel free to look at my photos and provide feedback. You can be as mean as you want as I only want to improve so I won´t mind

You'll notice a lot of space in some of my photos as the plays producers asks me to provide some space for text so they can use my photos for online flyers."

These are some of my first stage photos:

 

[xenskhe]

You'll notice a lot of space in some of my photos as the plays producers asks me to provide some space for text so they can use my photos for online flyers."

Well the I think 3 and 4 work quite well and 4 is the better one. And 5 is a good promo type picture. 5 and 4 are the better pictures imo.

 

[xenskhe]

The sepia rendering of 1 is rather oddball and doesn't go with the others. I like the candid moment in 2 a lot but the framing is awkward. 6 is framed maybe a bit too tight and the picture is a little dark. The figure in 6 could be dodged to give him more emphasis and some contrast.

 

[oskiper]

You'll notice a lot of space in some of my photos as the plays producers asks me to provide some space for text so they can use my photos for online flyers."

Well the I think 3 and 4 work quite well and 4 is the better one. And 5 is a good promo type picture. 5 and 4 are the better pictures imo.

If by number 5 you mean the b&w one with the father and his daughter, that´s a shot from a version of "My name is Sam", the film from Sean Penn, a great theatre play. It didn{t work out for the producer tho... He preferred to go with another picture from a colleage. Picture number four (couple with the baby) is form the play called "Compaññero del alma" (soul mate). just loved that play, I took over 200 pictures that night LOL. Thanks for your feedback!

 

[oskiper]

The sepia rendering of 1 is rather oddball and doesn't go with the others. I like the candid moment in 2 a lot but the framing is awkward. 6 is framed maybe a bit too tight and the picture is a little dark. The figure in 6 could be dodged to give him more emphasis and some contrast.

NOOOOW I´m getting some of the feedback I was looking for. THANKS!. I{m not familiar with sepia, I was playing with it to see what happened. Is from a separate session, How would you improve that one? The framing on picture 2 was an advice from a friend, you say I shouldn´t use that? With number 6 I had some issues due to a veeeery low lightning, increasing expo on PS created a lot of noise and i didn't want to lose that as I believe it was a good image to summarize the meaning of the play. I{ll try to re-edit it to see whta happens. Thanks again!

 

[xenskhe]

If by number 5 you mean the b&w one with the father and his daughter, that´s a shot from a version of "My name is Sam", the film from Sean Penn, a great theatre play.

It's beautifully lit.

My thoughts on the selects are that it's helpful to see these as pictures can be framed in-camera too tightly, instead of cropping later. With resolution at a premium in budget or older cameras. Do you know FastStone Image Viewer? it has a capability to upsize 8mp-12mp 200% into the 35mp-50mp range quickly, using Mitchell resampling. This is plenty to work with. (Mitchell upsize, Lanczos3 downsize).

 

[oskiper]

If by number 5 you mean the b&w one with the father and his daughter, that´s a shot from a version of "My name is Sam", the film from Sean Penn, a great theatre play.

It's beautifully lit.

My thoughts on the selects are that it's helpful to see these as pictures can be framed in-camera too tightly, instead of cropping later. With resolution at a premium in budget or older cameras. Do you know FastStone Image Viewer? it has a capability to upsize 8mp-12mp 200% into the 35mp-50mp range quickly, using Mitchell resampling. This is plenty to work with. (Mitchell upsize, Lanczos3 downsize).

Ummm, I don't have an idea of what you're taling about mate lol... Do you have a link to get more info on that?

 

[xenskhe]

The framing on picture 2 was an advice from a friend, you say I shouldn´t use that?

Maybe if it cropped to exclude the woman on the left and you cloned out the salon illuminated sign. It's dramatic, it's got energy. If 2,4,5 were the all same format and color balanced in the same way, it could a good inclusion. Not sure it communicates enough on its own.

 

[xenskhe]

Ummm, I don't have an idea of what you're taling about mate lol... Do you have a link to get more info on that?

More information on their website
FastStone Image Viewer - Powerful and Intuitive Photo Viewer, Editor and Batch Converter

 

[xenskhe]

With number 6 I had some issues due to a veeeery low lightning,

Could you use a monopod?

 

[oskiper]

I use Photoshop and Lightroom, just that lol

 

[oskiper]

With number 6 I had some issues due to a veeeery low lightning,

Could you use a monopod?

Not a chance, I have to be almost invisible... No flash, no noise, no tripods or monopods... I even have to use a home made sound blimp out of a piece of cloth lol

 

[oskiper]

If by number 5 you mean the b&w one with the father and his daughter, that´s a shot from a version of "My name is Sam", the film from Sean Penn, a great theatre play.

It's beautifully lit.

My thoughts on the selects are that it's helpful to see these as pictures can be framed in-camera too tightly, instead of cropping later. With resolution at a premium in budget or older cameras. Do you know FastStone Image Viewer? it has a capability to upsize 8mp-12mp 200% into the 35mp-50mp range quickly, using Mitchell resampling. This is plenty to work with. (Mitchell upsize, Lanczos3 downsize).

Just to get you into perspective... both actors ans audience don't want me there... The beautifull sound of my shutter is awful for them... So I have to go ninja on their asses using a home-made sound blimp made out of a piece of cloth, I can´t move or take many pictures... Just around 30 per play so I can get 15 final photos.. It's a rough environment.

 

[xenskhe]

Just to get you into perspective... both actors ans audience don't want me there... The beautifull sound of my shutter is awful for them... So I have to go ninja on their asses using a home-made sound blimp made out of a piece of cloth, I can´t move or take many pictures... Just around 30 per play so I can get 15 final photos.. It's a rough environment.

Who requests your services then? or is it a self-assignment? You need a digital camera with an electronic shutter.

 

[oskiper]

The framing on picture 2 was an advice from a friend, you say I shouldn´t use that?

Maybe if it cropped to exclude the woman on the left and you cloned out the salon illuminated sign. It's dramatic, it's got energy. If 2,4,5 were the all same format and color balanced in the same way, it could a good inclusion. Not sure it communicates enough on its own.

Something like this?

Just to get you into perspective... both actors ans audience don't want me there... The beautifull sound of my shutter is awful for them... So I have to go ninja on their asses using a home-made sound blimp made out of a piece of cloth, I can´t move or take many pictures... Just around 30 per play so I can get 15 final photos.. It's a rough environment.

Who requests your services then? or is it a self-assignment? You need a digital camera with an electronic shutter.

The press agents are the ones who hire us... This year we are starting to receive calls from directors and actors because they´ve seen our work. But it stil represents only the 40% of the cases (we´re currently covering around 7 plays a week)

Can you recommend a camera with an electronic shutter? A friend once lend me his 6D, I had no problems that time becaouse it´s very quiet. My 1100D instead sounds like a huge guillotine in the middle of the room.