I’ve been photographing a dress rehearsal again. Don’t worry, I have permission to post these photos.
Up front, these are from Indian Creek School’s performance of Frozen Jr. which will be performed on their campus on February 22, 23, 25 and 26. I strongly encourage you to check out their website for more information on how to get tickets to check out their show – you are in for a great performance if you do.
Or just click here: https://indiancreekschool.ludus.com/index.php?show_id=200433386
Anyway, when photographing stuff going on stage, I try to focus on 3 things.
1) Emotion.
2) Interaction.
3) Space.
Emotion is obvious. All performances are different, but if you take the time to learn the material ahead of time or at least watch the movie before the dress rehearsal you can have a pretty good idea what emotions will be happening and a general idea of when they will occur. Be ready and photograph those emotions. Keep in mind the performers may be speaking or singing while showing the emotion so be ready.
Interaction is also obvious but can be easy to lose if you become too focused on individual characters. Look for the character interactions and photograph that. It isn’t often that you can get someone getting hit with ice magic or photograph someone having a sword being swung at them but you can in plays. But also go for the regular character interactions or dancing.
Finally, for space, look for ways to give your subjects space. In musicals, especially during solo parts, I enjoy giving the subject space to sing into. This especially works well if they are using their arms in the performance.
Bonus tip: bring step stools if you have the audience section to yourself during the dress rehearsal.