mborn Loc: Massachusetts

In wide angle to short telephoto lenses fast means a f stop of 2.8 0r less. In Long telephoto it is usually and f/4 lens though there are some long telephoto lenses that are f/2.8

ole sarg Loc: south florida

1600 is plenty of ISO.

Get a nifty 50 or one like it that fits your camera. It has a 1.8 f stop. If you can, get on stage and get some light readings off of the palm of your hand with the meter on spot. take a note or two and set your camera to speed and leave the f stop at 1.8. You will be amazed there is often more light than you think.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

1600 is plenty of ISO.

Get a nifty 50 or one like it that fits your camera. It has a 1.8 f stop. If you can, get on stage and get some light readings off of the palm of your hand with the meter on spot. take a note or two and set your camera to speed and leave the f stop at 1.8. You will be amazed there is often more light than you think.

photeach Loc: beautiful Kansas

I take photos of our high school's musical. I use a 50mm lens and take photos at dress rehearsal so I can stand where I want to and move around. No flash, and settings to use the stage lights for illumination.I can't remember my settings, but I set the ISO at 400 to preserve nice looking faces. Also, check out the white balance to get rid of yellowish light from stage lights. Try to work it out with the director to shoot on a non-performance night.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

Phototeach often did the same. Shot dress rehearsals for University Plays. The student actors wanted them for their books to present to directors when going for a job. Paid for my Canon fPQL with money earned.

jims pics

I have had some experience in shooting in an auditorium and the suggestions listed are right on. But what I have found is that the closer you can get (like the front row) the better. And if at all possible if you can take pictures of the same event more than once, you will able to ascertain the best location to shoot and become your own best critic.

edieeason

WOW! Thank you all for you wonderful suggestions. I am really getting excited about trying them out! You are all better teachers than MY teacher! (Hope she is not listening)! :)

lensartphoto

As both a photographer and a theatre person I'd first warn you to check the license for the production rights of the play that the producing organization has signed. Many of those restrict photography of a play during a production in their copyright agreement. In those cases, you need to do the photography during a separate session, which is great because then the lighting technician can usually help you out by raising the lighting levels.

prestonphoto Loc: Bath, NY

I have an XTi and use 1600 ISO for low light-night time shots with an f8 and the camera speed at 1/20 but this might have to be adjusted to get the correct setting depending on how much light there is. If you can try shooting in your home at night with just the light coming in from another room. That might help you get an idea of shooting in low light.

DK Loc: SD

I do the same for my grandchildren's plays, proms and programs. The higher ISO's do the job.

edieeason

Thanks, DK. I just tried my camera out in the auditorium that I will be shooting in. I had my camera (Canon EOS Rebel T2i) set on ISO 6400, T5.6 (that is as low as it will go) at about 1/20 using a Cannon lens EFS 18-55mm. These settings seemed to take pretty good pxs with just low stage lighting and very dim house lights. I will try it during the real production where the lighting will most certainly change. Are there any cool tricks I should try after I get the setting working for me?

Michael O' Loc: Midwest right now

Only "big glass" and do what you have to with the ISO and shutter speed.

DK Loc: SD

You have to be kind of careful about the white balance. The lighting can make people's skin appear red, so you might experiment with that. It can be corrected somewhat in PP. It depends on the lighting. My grandson's prom was a nightmare because they had spotlights on the locations where couples stopped for photos, but they were aimed too low, so you had the spotlight on part of the couple and low auditorium lighting on the rest of them which included their face. I should have done more work with the white balance, but until you see the results, it is hard because the couples move through so fast that you don't have a lot of time to adjust and can't do it ahead of time because the full auditorium lights are on. Whoever designs proms doesn't think about photographers. It probably doesn't matter to most of the parents etc, but if you are into photography, it presents a problem. People with point and shoots with automatic flash probably didn't get anything because they were too far away for the flash to light up the couples. Anyhow, good luck with your shoot.

AUminer Loc: Brandon, Ms

Nightski, the smaller the F-stop number on a lens, the faster the lens is and the higher the cost. The thing to remember is that the smaller the F-stop number, the wider the lens is opened when the shot is made.