A.D. Drumm Images, LLC – Landscape, Portrait, and Fine Art Photography in Rochester MN Photography

Last week, I was back to Riverland Community College to photograph their production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. I’ve seen and photographed this musical several times now just in the past three years! RCT did this show in 2010 and 2011.

As stories go, it’s not Pulitzer Prize material. I’m not sure if the movie spawned the theatrical production, but I think so. I remember that Bing Crosby first sang White Christmas in the movie Holiday Inn. I thought it had a more interesting story, but many of the shows in that time period were just loosely plotted to move you from one featured song to the next.

RCT did the show twice consecutively because audiences love it. And, I’m sure what they love is the music and dancing.

Shooting the show live, as I do at Riverland, has its challenges. But this time I knew the show really well which helped me anticipate what was coming and where to be. Even though the direction and blocking are different, it’s still the same show after all. I don’t know if that’s the reason, or maybe because it’s just a musical with a lot of big numbers, but I shot a ton of photos. A ton. A whole lot. Thank goodness for digital.

The great photographer Jay Maisel talks of the three important qualities of photograph: Light, Color, and Gesture. In theatre, we certainly have light – sometimes difficult, but sometimes magical. We have color. Some shows are filled with bold color which can make photographs that just jump out at you. This show had a lot Christmas color as you’ll see below. Some shows are monochromatic, usually for a good reason, and that can be just as effective.

But gesture, I think, is the common theme of good theatre shots. It pulls us in and makes us involved in some way with what was happening. Sometimes it makes us smile, sometimes sigh. But it does promote a reaction, and that’s a wonderful thing when you make a still photo.

For the set in this post, I tried to select shots that demonstrate gesture, at least my version of it. There was plenty of action, so I had a lot from which to choose. But it’s not just about movement. I think of gesture as movement with meaning. Or, as in the photo above, perhaps the gesture of being still with movement about to be.

Sometimes, it’s a reaction that draws me. I’m continuously amazed at the ability of actors to react and express emotion honestly, realistically. It’s a gift and talent, and it’s fun to watch.

It was a fun shoot. I was there for the final dress rehearsal. It runs through tomorrow.

I thought I’d share a few photos I’ve done recently. I had a great head shot session with Lisa. I really enjoy shooting actors. What’s not to like? They take direction, even the move-your-chin-up-slightly kinds of requests. They know how to give a great expression, a great smile. It makes my job easy and makes me look good!

When we were done with the serious part of the shoot, Lynne suggested we do some fun hair-flinging. Lisa was game, and this is one of the shots. I posted another one over on Facebook. I decided to have a little fun in post, too.  I think she looks like she’s just loving life in this photo.

I’m continuing my personal project shooting dancers that I discussed in an earlier post (here). Michaela is quite passionate about dance and offered to be my ballet model. This is an interesting project for me. I have a rough idea going into a shoot of some of what I want, but the session just leads where it wants to go. After the session, I look through the images and select those that talk to me.

After flagging some, one will say “me first!” I’ll make some initial adjustments in Lightroom, then I bring it over to Photoshop and let it guide me. Sometimes I feel color is in the way, dropping the saturation maybe all the way to black and white.

And sometimes I start with a nearly monochrome image and see that bold color is what I want. I have worked on several images from Michaela’s session and have a few still to consider. Some of the images in the series have morphed a few times as I reexamine them. Artistic vision is like that, at least for me. Ever changing, not often satisfied.

A couple weeks ago, I shot the final production of their summer season at Summerset Theatre, Cash on Delivery. It’s a zany British farce, so you know it starts off in high gear and accelerates from there! The general premise is a fellow who has lost his job but found he could collect benefits from the government for made up tenants. Impersonations, crazy stories, it just goes on and on. I managed to keep up with it pretty well, even while photographing it. And that’s saying something!

The show is all in a box set of the living room with the players scrambling in and out various doors. The very bright pastel and white backgrounds, all well lit, are a bit of a challenge for making really good photos. The wife entering in her bright yellow coat and the green door in the shot above work well, though. It’s one of my favorite shots from the night.

There’s lots of activity, people all over the set. I look for ways to prune down the subjects to a smaller group that still evoke some of the action and craziness.

There were opportunities to catch two people interacting. I was happy for the bright, and large, pink bra as it pops form the photos and was a primary subject in two or three.

There are a few tender moments in the show, perhaps to give the audience some time to recover for the next bit of insanity.

And there’s the requisite dead body scenes – and, of course, the body isn’t actually dead.

I found some moments to shoot a few of my favorite type of shots with the foreground subject interacting with someone in the background. I tend to seek these shots out.

Summerset did a fine job with the show, and it’s great to have some theatre choices during the summer. We had just returned from vacation in Door County, Wisconsin a couple days before this shoot. While there, we attended two shows by the Peninsula Players, a long-running professional summer stock theatre. It was a nice addition to the vacation and one I’d recommend.

Lindsey told me the show they’re hoping to produce as the musical next summer for Summerset, and it’s awesome. It sounded like things weren’t all ironed out yet, but if it happens, it should be terrific. Meanwhile, Riverland will be starting classes soon and their new theatre season. And RCT is in rehearsals for The Marvelous Wonderettes. A new theatre season will be here before we know it. And that’s a very good thing!