Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/02/10

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Subject: [Leica] IMG - Totally OT
From: leica at rcmckee.com (R. Clayton McKee)
Date: Sat Feb 10 18:51:01 2007
References: <45CCE4EA.32020.17C88F@leica.rcmckee.com>, <682746EE-6B3E-4C54-80ED-F1A4CCF79137@triad.rr.com>

Quoth the William Ravenel :

> Exposure is a constant struggle with changing stage lighting and I 
> was most successful with a Nikon F5 and 80-200 lense. 

Several things worked well together here; the lighting was fixed, no 
follow spots and only very minor changes between groups, and because 
this WAS a final dress rehearsal I could move around as much as I 
needed to and get close when I wanted; for a couple of these I was 
actually standing on stage.  (Can't do that for performances...)

> The other challenge that you've obviously mastered is 
> timing. There are natural pause points in dance and theatre where the 
> best shots are made. Being familiar with the production helps a lot. 
> I used to watch the choreography as it developed and then wait for 
> the moments during dress rehearsals. Even then I missed more than I'd 
> have liked.

Oh, believe me, there are a LOT of misses. I think I shot ...  
(mumble, mumble, carry the two...)  close to 200 frames on this one, 
which for me is pretty heavy.  But that 20D just ROCKS at EI 3200 and 
that 24-70 focuses very nicely.  (And RAW covers a multitude of 
mistakes and overblown contrasts).

I'd never seen any of these pieces before, though flamenco always 
follows a pattern and I know the work of a couple of the other 
choreographers so I was able to guess the patterns a bit... still it 
was hugely challenging; I was just very much ON that afternoon.  
Always helps.

(And I've done a fair bit of dance photography over the years from 
having a couple of friends who do it for a living and don't make 
enough to hire anyone...)

--


R. Clayton McKee                           http://www.rcmckee.com
Photojournalist                               rcmckee@rcmckee.com
P O Box 571900                           voice/fax   713/783-3502
Houston, TX 77257-1900                   cell phone #  on request


In reply to: Message from leica at rcmckee.com (R. Clayton McKee) ([Leica] IMG - Totally OT)
Message from wmrav at triad.rr.com (William Ravenel) ([Leica] IMG - Totally OT)