ABSTRACT
When shooting in thrust and in-the-round spaces, quite often photographer find the best composition of performers is framed against the seating, or worse, against part of the seating and part of the set. In order for backlight, cyclight, and other lighting angles upstage of the performers to be perceived by the camera, the levels are usually set very high. Opera is very much like theatre or musical theatre; in that it is usually staged in a typical theatre space, so the only thing photographer has to consider that may be a bit different is the band. If the band is in the pit, and not visible, by all means send them home before photographer shoot the photo-call. After looking at the shots on the screen, the author could have been down one or two rows, and lost the columns without losing the sense of the space, and the angle to the performers' faces would have been much better.
