A couple weeks ago, I shot show photos for The Crucible at Riverland Community College in Austin, MN. It was written in the 1950s by Arthur Miller and centers on story surrounding the Salem witch trials.
That it was written in the heart of the McCarthyism era is not difficult to see. As with most of my show photo work, I only caught bits and pieces of the dialog, but the symbolism is pretty clear.
The director, Lindsey, mentioned the generally low light level before the rehearsal – and promised the next show would be much brighter! Ha! But lower light levels can mean a lot more interesting and dramatic light, and that was the case for much of this show.
I’m fortunate to have a camera that handles the low light well. Shooting lots of theatre, that is one technical aspect of a camera that I rely on. Especially when shooting a live rehearsal, there aren’t any opportunities to stop and ask for the light to be bumped. Something really more challenging than the level is the mottled light we see sometimes as in the “night” shot above. Faces can go into one of the small dark areas and lose all of the little light that’s there. I’ll usually shoot a few photos and watch for a little movement out of the dark to grab the (hopefully) good shot.
There were other parts of the show in which the lighting was pretty good.
I also didn’t have spots to deal with. There were some hotter areas, but nothing unusual or difficult to handle.
But there were lots of gels – which I like. They help set a mood, which is key for the performance but helps with the still photos, too.
Still, it’s about finding the angles and the compositions that communicate something of the story and something of the feel of what’s happening on stage.
I believe they are now on to rehearsals for their next show. Meanwhile, back here in Rochester, I’ll be heading over to the Civic Theatre to shoot Cabaret this week. It opens Friday – and tickets are going fast! If you make it to opening night, I’ll see you there!
