I recently shot my first show at Riverland Community College in Austin, MN. It was their production of The Fantasticks, a show I hadn’t seen before. I shot the show during their final dress rehearsal. It’s interesting to see a show like this and recognize songs that I never knew were associated with a show (Try to Remember, for instance). It was well done and had intesting staging using a thrust stage with the actors walking into the house at times. Lindsey Williams, their new director, did a great job.
The thrust stage gave me a chance to move all around the players to get my shots.
It’s a fun story with a set-up premise of applying reverse psychology to your children taken to an extreme.
Similar to shows I’ve seen at RCTC, there is an interesting mix of ages in the cast, not just what you might traditionally consider community college age. It’s a great thing about theatre in general, where folks from all ages and backgrounds come together, work as a team, make their production together.
Photographing a show presents some challenges, but it also provides some terrific opportunities to express yourself as a photographer, work with interesting lighting, and just make some good photos. As I’ve said many times, I really love shooting moody light. And I find myself looking for shots that place the main character in the moment front and sharp with others behind providing visual support not unlike the dramatic support they provide during the play.
Riverland’s theatre has a stadium-seating layout. Combined with the thrust stage, I had many different angles available. That gave me lots of flexibility to find an angle that works for each shot.
I finished up with a cast and crew shot. I enjoyed the show and the shoot. Today, we’ll be attending the final performance. I’m looking forward to seeing it again and without having my brain in photographer mode. (Although, truthfully, it is in that mode much more often than when I have a camera in my hands!)
I hope the cast and crew enjoy the photos.
[P.S. I’ve been putting show photos up in my Events gallery if you’d like to see all of them.]
