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Over the past 2 years, I've been taking pictures of the free concerts at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre for the Canadian Opera Company. Just recently I also shot the dance events at Hamilton24, a great festival in, of course, Hamilton, and prior to that, some of the Winterlude events in Nathan Phillips Square.
I spotted the COC opportunity on the Work in Culture website and thought it would be an interesting way to broaden my focus (so to speak). These concerts take place over the noon hour or from 5.30 to 6.30PM.
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I've had to change my usually laid-back and leisurely shooting approach to accommodate a variety of challenges that aren't presented by trees and buildings. These include rapidly moving performers, a relatively limited set of vantage points, quiet performances, difficult (and sometimes wonderful) lighting situations, time constraints, crowded audiences and the need to be as unobtrusive as possible while trying to get shots that truly capture the essence of the performances. Finally, there was the requirement to provide, at a maximum, 50 images per event from what in several instances was a portfolio of nearly 400 shots. In other words, it was a great way to help me improve my photography skills, while experiencing some terrific and diverse performances. |
By far, the greatest challenge of the series has been the requirement to shoot into natural backlighting during lunchtime performances - a glass wall stretching the full height of the western façade of the building. Because of the way the space is configured and used, this wall appears in most images To add to the challenge, many of the performers dress in black, and may be obscured by music stands, instruments, or other performers.
Having said that, I've also been able to capture a good number of images that work well. I think the best are those that fulfill my objective going in to this project - to show the performer in the context of the venue and overall environment, integrating the Amphitheatre, audience, and University and Queen Streets wherever possible. I saw these not only as an opportunity to accumulate archival images of the event, but also as a way to promote the venue and performance series. In several instances this worked very well, with an example being an image I took of the Sultans of String, which appears on the series web page on the COC website.
Reflecting back on the experience at season's end, I've become more familiar with my cameras, and more effective at making quick adjustments on the fly, particularly in challenging situations. I've also come to appreciate the concept of reading the manuals that came with the cameras.
I've also become adept at simplifying my workflow, in large part thanks to Adobe LIghtroom, and better at critically evaluating images to see how well they met my objectives and quality standards. Not to mention having fun, experiencing great performances, and working with some terrific people at the COC.
