Two Shaws in a row!  My friends Sal and Miriam Brienik’s company, Standard Bear Productions is presenting Shaw’s Arms and the Man at the Secret Theatre in Queens.  Yet again a Shaw play I’ve never gotten around to reading or seeing.  These photography gigs are definitely making me a more well rounded theatre person!

It’s tough when a show is technically coming in just under the wire.  This was the final dress and due to challenges beyond their control, they were short a costume or two, which meant I had to consider the shots I was taking to try to keep the anachronistic street clothes out of the shot.  I was mostly blessed with good lighting — except for the first scene in Raina’s bedroom — but even then, for the most part, I was able to keep my exposure triangle at reasonable levels.

Standard Bear also asked me to help them out with some staged photos for them a couple weeks prior to the dress for marketing and for use in the show, itself.  That was my first foray into portraiture (aside from some headshots for family) and I was reminded that it is really SO much a different beast.  I need to invest in some off-camera light gear and start practicing with it.  Shooting a show is wonderful because there is someone who has considered the lighting for you and made it pretty.  But in situations like this, it’s up to you and available light off-stage is a very different and unruly beast.  Time to start controlling it with my own light!