Four Skills of Stage Photography

Lead: In the stage performance, lighting engineers will use different light sources to create different atmospheres according to the needs of different rhythms. The color composition of light is not only varied, but also bright and dark, which is very difficult to capture. This is a great challenge to the shooting work. If it is not handled well, it is easy to have a bright subject and a dark background. This is a great test for photographers.

Four tips of stage photography: photometry and exposure of stage photography

In order to get a relatively accurate exposure value, it is best to use spot metering or partial metering to measure the subject, so as to narrow the metering range and reduce the influence of point light source on exposure value. Because the lights on the stage will change with the plot, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, and the movements of the characters are always in a dynamic state. Therefore, using the central key metering mode combined with automatic exposure functions such as aperture priority or shutter priority can save frequent measurement and adjustment, thus greatly improving the shooting success rate. In order to avoid mistakes, you can take pictures by peripheral exposure and choose pictures with relatively accurate exposure.

▲ Aperture F5.6, shutter 1/250s, focal length 400mm, ISO 400.

When taking stage photos, try to choose people as the reference point for metering.

Use live lighting to show real effects.

Since the performance venues are mostly spectators, we should try our best to avoid affecting the rights and interests of the audience because of shooting. It should also be noted that flash is usually prohibited on the stage, because the instantaneous highlight of flash will affect the performance of actors. In fact, the flash has lost its use significance because of its long shooting distance, but it will destroy the scene lighting atmosphere on the stage, so it is generally shot by using the scene lighting of the stage and theater. In most cases, the scene light is complicated, so it is difficult to expose. If the lighting at the scene is bright and uniform, the camera's metering system can get a relatively accurate exposure value. If the light intensity and background of the subject are too dark, you should measure the light against the subject, otherwise the subject will be overexposed. If possible, shooting with a camera with a little metering function and metering with a telephoto lens can reduce the metering error. When shooting, we should take the main characters as the exposure standard, pay attention to the changes of scene lighting at any time, and adjust the aperture and shutter value in time. While using spotlight, we should also pay attention to the adjustment of the white balance of the camera. Incandescent lamps or spotlights are generally used for stage lighting, and the corresponding white balance mode should be selected. Improper use of white balance will also weaken the sense of scene and even change the color expression of the picture.

▲ Aperture F5, shutter 1/30s, focal length 235 mm, ISO 400. The natural effect of live lighting shooting.

Shutter adjustment of stage photography

When taking stage photos, you should control the shutter speed according to your shooting intention and the intensity of the light on the scene. Shutter speed plays an important role in grasping the movements of characters on the stage. We can not only freeze the scene on the stage at a fast speed, but also express an illusory feeling with a slow shutter, creating a visual effect combining virtual reality and dynamics. When the shutter speed is controlled at about 1/60s, the subject presented on the stage can move or remain static, so that the photos taken not only have a clear subject image, but also make the picture feel flowing. In order to achieve different shooting effects, we should choose different shutter speeds. Compared with traditional cameras, digital cameras have certain advantages in shutter speed. Because the sensitivity of a digital camera can be adjusted, it can be improved when a higher shutter speed is needed, and vice versa.

▲ Aperture F5.6, shutter 1/8s, focal length 285mm, ISO 400. Slow blurred image.

Application of tripod

The lights on the stage are colorful, but they are often low brightness, so it is difficult to stabilize the hand-held camera when shooting. Sometimes, in order to pursue the combination of moving and static pictures, a slow shutter is used to shoot, so a tripod is essential in stage photography.

If you just shoot the stage effect, you can fix the tripod in a certain position. At present, the carbon tripod is very stable and light, and it is very convenient to move if the shooting angle needs to be changed.

▲ Aperture F5.6, shutter 1/30s, focal length 275mm, ISO 400.

Shooting with a tripod is also a guarantee of picture quality.