The Strut

[Shadowman]

This short series brought to mind two recent threads, one on to PP or to not PP. PP or no PP - A point of view.

and the other on obstructions, either man made or human. There were at least three photographers and they prowled the stage taking shots, at times interfering with the performance. I as a spectator considered the needs of the audience and tried to position myself at areas not interfering with the audiences enjoyment. If it wasn't the other photographers getting in the way it was the lighting equipment resulting in cropped feet.


A long yet very good telecast with Olympic sports photographers, especially the conversation at 1:03:06 about the interfering fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9MhZhRXZlw


I thought about the gum incident as this photographer stationed himself in front of the stage and did not move during the whole performance.

[Shadowman]

Another annoying photographer.

[IzzieK]

In my (Bill's) last event last month, my problem was lack of cooperation between me and the audience at the front. They just wouldn't move so I can take proper shots of the winners during the awards night so all my shots I could have binned. They all have heads on them. Anyway, the first one needs a pp badly because of the light, the second one, the photographer will be hard to remove. If you have another shot of the foot he is covering it is easier to transplant it digitally. The last is easily remove. I am not against digital editing. Even in film this was done in the wet room. Anyway, without that iphone photographer, the shot is very nice and timely...and the eye contact with your camera is superb.

[Shadowman]

In my (Bill's) last event last month, my problem was lack of cooperation between me and the audience at the front. They just wouldn't move so I can take proper shots of the winners during the awards night so all my shots I could have binned. They all have heads on them. Anyway, the first one needs a pp badly because of the light, the second one, the photographer will be hard to remove. If you have another shot of the foot he is covering it is easier to transplant it digitally. The last is easily remove. I am not against digital editing. Even in film this was done in the wet room. Anyway, without that iphone photographer, the shot is very nice and timely...and the eye contact with your camera is superb.

Hi Izzie,

It seems that the taller the audience member is the closer they feel they need to be to the stage. Thanks for the comments and suggestions, agree about the light and potential editing remedies.

[John 2]

The third shot is a great bit of timing John. Stands well as is and I guess you could crop out the photographer if you wanted to. The difference is that the two resulting shots would in effect tell different stories. Well caught.

[Shadowman]

The third shot is a great bit of timing John. Stands well as is and I guess you could crop out the photographer if you wanted to. The difference is that the two resulting shots would in effect tell different stories. Well caught.

Hi John,

Thanks for comments.

[Shadowman]

Heavily cropped to remove all the other distractions.

[John 2]

That's a nice study John. Might be tempted to lose a little of the LHS. BTW, I see you have featured the "Strut" this time.

[Shadowman]

That's a nice study John. Might be tempted to lose a little of the LHS. BTW, I see you have featured the "Strut" this time.

Hi John,

Thanks for comments and suggestions. Whenever I see 1920s dancing and costuming I immediately think of the Strut.

[chauncey]

FWIW, I shot a stage show...once. Checked out the venue the day before and decided to go with
long glass and sat in the topmost tier using tripod and only shot solo acts which made things easier.

[Shadowman]

FWIW, I shot a stage show...once. Checked out the venue the day before and decided to go with
long glass and sat in the topmost tier using tripod and only shot solo acts which made things easier.

I pretty much knew the layout and the highest vantage point was a boulder three inches off the ground, didn't do me much good as I needed a step stool at least to get over the obstacles. I know what you mean, I changed position twice but the first position was really the best, the second position got me "The Look" so not a total lost. Plus, the dance troupe is performing at another festival in a month so I'll have a chance for another session.

[IzzieK]

Look at those muscles! Looks to me like she does a bit of body building... If and when you gett o shoot these performers again, be sure to be early to get to the vantage point...so we can have those ooohhhhsss! and aaahhhhsss!

Heavily cropped to remove all the other distractions.

[Shadowman]

Look at those muscles! Looks to me like she does a bit of body building... If and when you gett o shoot these performers again, be sure to be early to get to the vantage point...so we can have those ooohhhhsss! and aaahhhhsss!

Hi Izzie,

I will try. Thanks for commenting.

[bnnrcn]

Nice images John. My fav is #3

[Shadowman]

Nice images John. My fav is #3

Hi Binnur,

Thanks for commenting.

[Shanghai Steve]

I've only shot a concert three times; once at my school, where I was allowed latitude, once in a nightclub that had a live act which loved the attention and once at a gig where the stage hands actually allowed me to step up onto the wings and shoot from behind the curtain. He could see I wasn't just faffing about and was very kind and an audience member actually kept a space for me and waived me into front and centre. I didn't take her up on this offer as I suspected alterior motives. But if it's a free-for-all, a long lens and small stepladder are very helpful! If there is a lot of action onstage, it can be very difficult to get isolation. In this circumstance, I personally feel there is even less 'ethical correctness' in simply deleting other performers who have spent years learning their craft to be deemed "irrelevant" by some photographer. Rather, I feel it is better to try to anticipate a moment of interaction.

[Shadowman]

I've only shot a concert three times; once at my school, where I was allowed latitude, once in a nightclub that had a live act which loved the attention and once at a gig where the stage hands actually allowed me to step up onto the wings and shoot from behind the curtain. He could see I wasn't just faffing about and was very kind and an audience member actually kept a space for me and waived me into front and centre. I didn't take her up on this offer as I suspected alterior motives. But if it's a free-for-all, a long lens and small stepladder are very helpful! If there is a lot of action onstage, it can be very difficult to get isolation. In this circumstance, I personally feel there is even less 'ethical correctness' in simply deleting other performers who have spent years learning their craft to be deemed "irrelevant" by some photographer. Rather, I feel it is better to try to anticipate a moment of interaction.

Hi Steve,

I too would prefer to either isolate the performer or crop out any unnecessary limbs, however I would perhaps try to clone out a distracting piece of stage equipment; but only if the edit wasn't too painful.

[rpcrowe]

John, some of the images (especially 1&2) are not quite as sharp as #3... I think that I would have boosted my ISO higher in order to use a faster shutter speed...

[Manfred M]

I personally feel there is even less 'ethical correctness' in simply deleting other performers who have spent years learning their craft to be deemed "irrelevant" by some photographer.

This suggests to me that you would find that it is ethically correct to frame your image or shoot in such a way that the performers are not included in the shot, using lighting and a narrow field of view, whereas achieving the same result using post processing is not?

Sorry Steve, I find your argument rather unpersuasive. Both approaches would have the same result, but the tools and approach to achieve this result is different.

If I pushed your version of "ethics", I would expect that the only acceptable image would include everyone on stage who spent years perfecting their craft included in the image. What about the people that built the sets, the director, the lighting people, the stage hands. They all had a hand in pulling off a successful production; should they not be in the image as well?

In reality, this has nothing to do with ethics, but rather your particular point of view that you are trying to bolster with the "ethics" argument. I have no issues at all if you choose to shoot and post images that are SOOC. but I do have an issue if you suggest to others that not doing so is somehow wrong.

[Shadowman]

John, some of the images (especially 1&2) are not quite as sharp as #3... I think that I would have boosted my ISO higher in order to use a faster shutter speed...

Hi Richard,

I was playing with shutter speed on some, trying to shoot with low ISO on others. By the end of the performance I settled on a faster shutter speed. Thanks for commenting.