MTI's Peter Pan Production photos - BCCA (BC Christian Academy) : Sneak Peek at Rochelle Elise Photography

This blog post is a sneak peek of the photos I took for BC Christian Academy's production by MTI of Peter Pan There are many more available at the low price of $20 per person that can be order at rochelleelisephotography@gmail.com (e transfer $20 to this email address)

What an absolute JOY! this production was, and how amazing it felt getting to create these memories in a special production photoshoot for students, staff and parents, and of course the director and teacher my precious sister Karlisa Hiebert and assistant Natasha Kosak, who poured themselves tirelessly into this production. We had some real challenges in this theatre with the lighting. The theatre had a new technician and the equipment to light the stage was lacking. So through the use of editing software (Topaz AI noise reduction) and making many editing adjustments I did my best to bring these photos to match the beauty and quality of this school production of Peter Pan.

How to take quality theatre Production Photography

Theatre production photography is tough with fast moving subjects, constant changes in lighting and generally a lower lighting scenario. And with this particular theatre the lighting was way too dim and digital backdrops were poorly projected compared to other productions I have photographed. The cast was large also making the need for more light to bring everyone into focus. So what I did is shoot fairly wide open, aperture f2.8 ISO 3600 keeping my shutter speed generally above 1/800th of a sec (I primarily used a 50mm F1.4 lens and a !35mm f2.0. I focused on different characters on stage at different times so the shallow depth of field wasn't an issue. I also stood very close to the stage which also increases resolution. I used manual settings some of the time and aperture priority the rest of the time when things were changing fast. Then I had the choreographer Natasha pose each main cast groupings(Pirates, Lost Boys and Brave Girls) . into a great static pose prior to the production doors opening to get a few group shots where all were sharp and not moving as seen below. I adapted the backdrops digitally in some photos, to how they should have looked if the theatre tech was better quality.