Orchestra Rehearsal

The beat goes on with the OperaLancaster photo project. (See my earlier post.) A week from today is the world premier. Dress rehearsals are on Monday and Tuesday. Final performances are from Wednesday through Sunday. Very exciting. 

Last evening was the first rehearsal with the orchestra. The entire cast met at the Hempfield Senior High School in Landisville, PA using the small, but well equipped auditorium. I loved it. I didn't have to climb three flights of stairs as I did at the regular rehearsal venue and the lighting was great. No worrying about flicker rates and weak light fixtures. The lighting was even and fairly strong. I could shoot at ISO 1600 with ease. 

I loved having an orchestra to photograph. This was their first run through and everyone was basically sight reading the score. It was relaxed and a little laid back. From what I heard, I think everyone will be ready for opening night. 

I loved being able to shoot close-ups of the musicians and their instruments. I was using two lenses. I started with the Nikkor 24-70 to get establishing shots and then switched to the 70-200 f2.8 to move in close. I was shooting from a tripod which helped a great deal. My shutter speeds were anywhere from 1/80 to 1/200 of a second with a narrow depth of field. The stabilization of the tripod was indispensable. 

I should be able to use the tripod through the dress rehearsals. For the performances, I will have to be a bit less obtrusive so I will switch to a monopod. Last night I was able to get very close to the action and the performers were not focusing on me at all which is always a good thing for candid shooting. 

This was the first set of images that I processed in color. All the previous rehearsals ended up as B&W. The lighting and the new venue influenced my decision. The auditorium was lit from high intensity fluorescent lights (pretty near daylight balanced) from fixtures on the ceiling (40 feet give or take). As you can see from the images the light was soft and even. 
 

The next challenge will be the stage lighting. I will be checking out the performance venue tomorrow morning and will be talking with the theater's lighting technician. They won't be hanging the lights until Sunday so I may go out then to check what's going on. Monday is the first dress rehearsal and all the lighting will be set. We have two dress rehearsals which should be enough for me to get my camera settings right for the final performances. 

By the way, the production (Georgia O'Keeffe - A Woman on Paper) is excellent. Music, lyrics, everything. You can check out the show information at http://www.operalancaster.com/okeeffe/. I am hoping that the production will be good enough to travel on from Lancaster, PA to the Big Apple. I think that it is good enough.