So my good friend and screenwriter of ‘I Did’ Chris Billingham has been starring in a play called ‘Foxfinder’ by Dawn King with the New Era Players in Newbury. I’ve been able to record a few performances with them – but this one surprised the life out of me.
A totalitarian society in the grips of believing that the common Fox is to blame for all of life’s problems. There was murder, past traumas and a rape scene. All in Newbury.
Going along to film these shows often gives me the chance to try out new kit that I would otherwise be unable to do in the field. In this case I was testing out my new Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS lens. Its so lovely, there is no other way to describe it. The images are so sharp that it puts all of my other lenses to shame.
Below are two images from two different plays. Both of them are shot on a Canon 6D but one of them is using the Canon 70-200 and one of them is using my Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 VC.
Did you guess which way round? Well inevitably I’m going to tell you. The bottom one is the Canon 70-200mm. The level of sharpness between the two lenses is remarkable. Yes it is a very expensive lens, but you get what you pay for. I do miss the reach of that extra range on my 70-300mm sometimes, but very rarely.
Plus the added bonus with the 70-200 is the f-stop of 2.8. Fantastic for lowlight (and there was a lot of it in this play!).
If you ever get the chance to do some theatre photography, please do go and do it. Whether its a little local theatre or some am dram, it gives you a chance to experiment and try out new things. For god’s sake though, take the shots during the tech rehearsal and not a performance night – audiences don’t appreciate you being there (learnt hat one the hard way!)
Until next time, Twitter is where you can find me