A.D. Drumm Images, LLC – Landscape, Portrait, and Fine Art Photography in Rochester MN Photography

November 20, 2011

Shooting Lately

Filed under: General photography,Portraits,Rochester Civic Theatre — Tony Drumm @ 12:00 pm

It’s been a couple weeks since my last post. There have been plenty of happenings around here, and I’ve been able to do some shooting, too. Did a nice head-shot portrait session with Lisa. I’m still working on editing the shots, but I’m happy with the results so far. I think Lisa will be, also. She looks great and has a wonderful smile.

I shot a few photos using more of a glamour lighting setup. It’s interesting how much that changes the look.

On Tuesday, I shot Riverland Community College’s latest production, Be Aggressive. It’s a show about adolescence and loss and cheer-leading. Shooting during a performance, there are some fine points to the story that I’m sure I miss since my focus is more on the visual part of the show. Still, I enjoyed the show and its poignancy.

Looking through my shots, I noticed that the vast majority of the scenes involve exactly two people. There are a few with one or three, and the group cheer-leading scenes. But most of the play concerns interactions of two people – friends, sisters, father/daughter, a mother and an unrelated daughter.

It was interesting – not something I’ve noticed in any other show. I didn’t realize that as I was shooting, and I’m not sure I’d have noticed had I been just watching from the audience. The show did feel intimate, and I suppose this is one reason. We can easily consume art without digging into it, understanding it, studying it. But I think it’s fascinating to delve into the artist’s brain and try to understand and to participate more fully. Study the lighting in a photograph, the blocking of father, mother, and son at the staircase in Rebel Without a Cause, the dynamics and intricacies of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the nuances of Rembrandt.

I was back at RCT on Friday night to grab some promo shots for the upcoming reprise of White Christmas. There are many familiar faces from the production last year, but other new players. It’s a great cast with many great voices. I’m sure it will be a terrific show. The theatre had to turn folks away last year. I hear ticket sales are going briskly already. Christmas seems to be a time in Rochester when folks are looking to relax and be entertained. Live musical theatre is a great venue for that.

And now the holidays are nearly upon us. I hope everyone can enjoy some family time at Thanksgiving with great food, perhaps some wine, and plenty of love.

November 5, 2011

Halloween Shoots

Filed under: General photography,Rochester,Rochester Civic Theatre — Tony Drumm @ 7:21 pm

I shot a couple Halloween events this year. First up was the Fright Farm presented by Rochester Horror. These same folks dressed up their house in previous years each time adding more and more. But they’ve really outgrown the house. This year, they were out at the Olmsted County Historical Center where they had lots of room.

Shooting a haunted event poses some challenges as you might imagine beginning with lighting. Or lack thereof. My solution is to use a flash appropriately gel’d. I like a blue gel which evokes night and dark. For the Fright Farm, I had the flash on a cord, so it could be aimed anywhere. Lynne helped out. With a zoom lens, it is often a three-hand operation.

Where there are already colored lights – which is often – I try to keep my Speedlite from spoiling that mood, using it more to fill in the shadows a bit. It’s a balancing act and definitely a place to use eTTL with the flash exposure compensation dialed down. And ISO dialed up.

The other big issue is focus. This was especially true with the flash out on a cord. It will fire a red/IR beam the camera can use to help focus, but with it out on a cord, it’s tough to get it aimed at the proper subject. Manual focus isn’t a lot better since, well, there’s no light!

My son never liked clowns. I think they all looked like this to him.

We were walking along with one of the tours of paying customers, so I tried to stay out of their way and not overly flash the scenes. That usually means hanging back. That also allowed us to have the actors recreate something I missed because of the crowd.

The next night, Halloween night, I shot some photos at Rochester Civic Theatre’s Haunted Theatre. This was a single night event providing a tour of the theatre backstage, green room, and dressing area where various creatures, zombies, and other frights were found. For this tour, Lynne was busy handing out treats (one of our best years at the house), so I slapped the flash onto the camera and swung it around, up, or down to bounce the light. Blue gel again.

I was able to make a couple walk-throughs with the guides before the action began for real. It was a good help. I actually did some DSLR video on one walk-through. There are some usable bits, but it was really, really dark for much of the tour.

The theatre has some nice props which were used well. I think I’ve seen this casket before. In Dracula perhaps?

Out in the lobby, I grabbed a shot of a couple of our hosts. It’s fun to watch folks truly immerse themselves in a role if just for one night. I enjoy working with theatre people – in case that hasn’t been apparent!

If you’re going to take Halloween photos, you have to have a good zombie photo. This was mine, taken at the Fright Farm. I collected a few zombies and asked them to pose in the graveyard. I took a few shots before my battery died. I was prepared with a backup, but no need. I had the shot. This one warranted a little work in post to give it the effect I wanted. I think it works.

November 1, 2011

Home Games

Filed under: Rochester Civic Theatre — Tony Drumm @ 6:07 pm

Last Saturday, I took photos for Home Games, RCT’s latest production. This is a fast-paced play yet sort of intimate with a cast of only three actors. Those three have their work cut out for them, carrying the whole show. They do a wonderful job. When I saw the show on opening night, I was amazed at how quickly the first act was over.

RCT has the big production, well-known musicals like the upcoming encore of White Christmas. They also produce non-musicals that are widely known like those of Tennessee Williams.

Fortunately, they don’t rely only on those famous (and, now, somewhat aging) shows to fill their schedule. They also bring us some fabulous shows that we haven’t all heard of. And that’s good for theatre-goers. There’s a world of theatre and drama out there to be enjoyed and to broaden our vision and ourselves.

Shooting a show like Home Games with a box set and pretty minimal lighting effects is a bit straightforward. We still need to find good angles, especially as the director, Greg, likes to use the full stage for his blocking. It’s often brilliant blocking, but can challenge me in trying to tell a story with a still image.

Depth of field can be a friend helping to pull the main characters out from the background while still letting the person standing in the background, whose presence in the moment is in many ways no less important, exist in the shot. Visually, still present yet the relationship is evident.

Congratulations to the cast and crew (and Lynne who is stage managing the show)! It runs for one more weekend – there are still four opportunities to see it.

I’m happy again to be able to meld my art with theatre. Very fun!

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