CHRIS HUTCHESON, PHOTOGRAPHER

Photographing Performances at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre

2013, CHRIS HUTCHESON

C HRIS H UTCHESON , P HOTOGRAPHER

Photographing Performances at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre

There are some challenges to making photographs in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Most of these are specific to the enormous wall of glass on University Avenue. It backlights everything and can easily turn performers into silhouettes. Heres my approach. Its helped me ensure performers are well lit, and that the audience, venue and surrounding area are effectively integrated in my images.

S ECTION 1

Camera Settings & Lighting

The great thing about the Free Concert Series is that its an opportunity to photograph an incredibly diverse range of performers in a terrific setting. Day or night, the venue looks lovely, is professionally lit, and has several great vantage points. At the same time, the RBA presents some challenges from a photographic perspective, most notably: The Wall of Glass - from pretty well any angle youll be shooting into or along it. Its a dramatic backdrop when captured well. The Wall of Glass can visually overwhelm performers, though, particularly if theyre dressed in dark clothes, and/or have darker complexions. Sunny days can provide some nice accents, and cloudy days have less shadows, but the backlighting pretty well always washes out everything if you dont compensate as you shoot, and in post-production. Using a flash isnt an option. Positioning - Youll mostly be shooting from stage left, close to or in the middle of audience seating if you decide to reserve a space there, slightly diagonally from the edge of the audience or on the landing at stage left. You might also decide to shoot above the space on the fourth level, up the stairs (at stage left), or from the back of the performance space (again, usually at stage left or the center of level 4.) This means the Wall of Glass will always be in your images. These positions can also make it difficult to photograph pianists, as theyll be obscured by the piano. Performers may also be partially obscured by music stands.
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G OALS FOR THE SHOOT 1. Document the performance in a way that shows engaged performers at their best, in a top tier facility. 2. Integrate the venue and surrounding area into the images. 3. Include the audience - show that there are actually people in the venue, and that theyre enjoying the event. 4. Produce images that can be used in a variety of ways including social media, web, and print applications. 5. Do steps 1 - 4 without unduly interfering with the performance or disturbing patrons.

As far as lighting is concerned the setup below works well for me, at least as a starting point for daytime shooting. Your mileage may vary, depending on your camera. I shoot everything with my (Nikon) camera set to manual so that I have full control.
CAMERA FEATURE SETTING NOTES Youll get the best results with this type of camera, as it typically has more functionality and better lenses that can handle a variety of shooting situations. A high end point and shoot would be an alternative, particularly if it has the ability to manually set shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings. These will let you get wide shots of the venue with audience and close up shots of performers. An 18-200mm lens is a good overall choice. Most cameras give you a choice between Adobe 1998 and sRGB. Adobe has the wider colour range, so that should be your choice. RAW format files are larger, but they capture significantly more image data than JPEG and provide considerable flexibility in post processing. You can do a lot more to salvage a lousy RAW while you might not be able to fix a JPEG file. Results will vary depending on your camera, but can always be adjusted in post processing. Ive used Vivid as well, but find it can create overly warm yellowish colours. Standard is a little flat, but can be adjusted in post processing. This provides a good balance between light and shade. This combination is good enough to freeze motion in an average music performance while illuminating performers adequately. While the Wall of Glass is slightly blown out, it can usually be adjusted in post processing as long as your file type is set to RAW. The downside is that colours may be slightly flat. That can be adjusted in post processing. This will give depth of field that is sharp for performers who are relatively close together, as well as keeping the background in focus. If theyre far enough apart so that some appear soft in focus, adjust your aperture to somewhere between f8 and f11. Id increase the ISO to maintain image brightness and avoid reducing shutter speed, to avoid the risk of motion blur. Higher ISO settings might introduce some grain into your images, particularly on older cameras. You can usually fix this in post processing. Also, since most images are used at fairly small sizes in print and web applications, it may not be as apparent as at full size.

Camera Type

Digital Single Lens Reflex - with interchangeable lenses

Lenses

Wide angle and a zoom lens, preferably up to about 200mm Adobe 1998

Colour space

Image Quality

RAW format

White Balance Picture Control Active D-Lighting Shutter Speed Aperture

Automatic Standard Automatic 1/160 - 1/200 5.6

ISO

800

Here are some images from performances over the 2013 season, with camera setting information.

Ballet Creole - Shutter Speed - 1/200 Aperture - 5.6 ISO - 800

Ballet Jorgen - Shutter Speed - 1/400 Aperture - 2.8 ISO - 500 Here, I wanted to freeze motion and have a softer background.

Myriad 3 Shutter Speed - 1/200 Aperture - 5.6 ISO - 1250 We were in the shadow of the new hotel across the street, so I boosted the ISO to lighten the image without risking motion blur
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Hip Hop Shutter Speed - 1/640 Aperture - 5.6 ISO - 3200 Here, I wanted to be absolutely sure I could freeze the motion, so I upped the ISO to 3200 to keep the image well exposed at 1/640th of a second. Its slightly grainy full size, but not enough to be a problem, particularly at smaller sizes.

The default settings of 1/200 second, 5.6 and 800 ISO wouldve worked well as far as getting the light for any of these images, but varying the settings will allow you to include everyone and the venue, emphasize certain aspects of an image, and/or freeze motion. Your ability to flex these settings will also rely on your camera. Im using a high-end pro camera and lenses that are purpose-built for these kind of situations. Your mileage will vary depending on what gear you use. With most cameras, though, the only image that might give you trouble using the settings you see in these examples would be the one above, as the rest are pretty well in the range of most single lens reflex cameras made over the past few years. More current models shouldnt have a problem with any of these.
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The Artist Himself, looking out to see...

Images Front Cover - Sasha Djihanian, soprano/Jenna Douglas, piano - Shutter Speed - 1/320 Aperture - 4.0 ISO - 800 Introduction page - Ballet Creole - Shutter Speed - 1/200 Aperture - 5.6 ISO - 800