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Behind
The Scenes
By
TV Smith
5th
June 2004
The upcoming musical Above Full Moon
(www.musicalonstage.com)
is to be staged at the Putra Indoor Stadium,
Bukit Jalil, sometime early July. It is
a lavish local production featuring stylish
choreography, elaborate costumes and top-notch
singing.
With
the pre-production in full swing, I went
behind the scenes to photograph this energetic
and talented group over several rehearsals,
including a full-dress preview.
From
a photographer’s point of view, the
main challenge was documenting the scenes
with the existing or available light. To
preserve the ambience, no additional lighting
or flash was used throughout.
The
rehearsal place, a dance studio, was under
lit and the fluorescent lighting required
manual white balance adjustments on the
camera. Working with low light and fast
moving subjects required planning. For most
of the pictures, I resorted to using the
camera’s (Olympus C8080) highest ISO
rating of 400. At that setting, it was still
relatively noise-free but the “useable”
shutter speed was still not fast enough
for the action scenes due to the inadequate
ambient illumination. With the camera at
the widest aperture setting, the depth of
field was also drastically reduced.
With
those limitations in mind, I spent some
time observing and studying the movement
of the dancers, before shooting. By familiarising
myself with each scene, I was able to position
myself for those few moments
where light and action blended well.
A
documentary style approach also meant looking
out for candid shots where the players interacted
with each other during breaks or rest time.
By not using a flash, the subjects appeared
more natural and the photographer less intrusive.
 |
|
 |
| Want
to preserve the ambience but stuck with
a slow shutter speed? Explain the situation
to the director. The cast helped out
by holding their positions a little
longer. ISO 100, f2.5, 1/20 sec. |
|
A
break during rehearsal. A miniature
tripod comes in handy during candid
moments like this as it allows you to
shoot with a slower shutter and from
floor level. ISO 400, f3.5, 1/15 sec. |
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|
 |
|
Look out for humourous moments. Bloopers
and other unintended action reflect
the fun and camaraderie behind the scenes.
ISO 400, f2.5, 1/20 sec. |
|
Flash
freezes the action but kills the ambience
and is unflattering on the stage design.
The picture appears flat with shadows
falling here and there. ISO 200, f2.4,
1/30 sec. |
See
also main featured pic: ABOVE
FULL MOON
Above
article appeared in the print and online
version of The
Star Weekend 05/06/04.
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