Last week was a busy one for us with regards to theatre & dance photography: we had three different productions to photograph in less than a week!
The first of these was Spamalot which was staged at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre by the Coventry Musical Theatre Society. A few weeks previously we were booked to photograph one of their rehearsals where we took their company photograph along with a handful of actors’ head-shots for inclusion in the programme.
Last week we had the great pleasure of photographing the production itself – and what an epic production it was too.
When photographing productions on stage we prefer, where possible, to photograph the final dress rehearsal. This means that we can roam freely throughout the auditorium without causing disruption to the paying audience.
If time permits, we also try to the technical rehearsal too as it allows us to work out the key moments in the production – a rehearsal for the rehearsal if you will….
The week before the show we invested in a new camera – a Nikon D5 – which works extremely well in low light making it ideal for working in the theatre. I have to say that it really lived up to the hype and is a stunning camera.
The second show was for Fiery Feet Dance Studios where we photographed their annual dance show at the Spa Centre in Leamington. Again, we worked during the dress rehearsal for this show and again the D5 proved it’s worth under challenging lighting conditions. Nothing causes more fear for a stage photographer than an act lit solely by solid red lights!
Our final theatre-based shoot of the week was for Three Spires Musical Society who are in the middle of rehearsing “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” which runs at the Warwick Arts Centre between the 13th & 18th June 2017.
Three Spires needed a full cast shot, plus head-shots and rehearsal photographs to help publicise their production.
We will also be there for the technical and dress rehearsals to capture the production for the company.