Guys and Dolls - Les Quennevais School - January 2024.

Every year I get a call to shoot the Les Quennevais musical production. It's always both a mixture of stress and delight. But ultimately I love it.

Stress because I can only shoot the dress rehearsal, so I don't have much of an idea of what will happen next as the production unfolds. Where to stand, what lens to use, responding to constant light changes and most importantly every child wants to see their performance recorded.

Delight because I revel in meeting all of those challenges. Constraints force creativity. I have learned to relax and realise there are going to be duff shots, missed opportunities, bright lights and movement conspire against you and it's impossible to include everyone with a cast of a 134.

I mostly use a 70mm-200mm lens on a Canon 5D mark iii body. Mainly because I need to get in and capture those isolated focused moments that every performer delivers at some point. But there is a compromise when using a long lens. Camera shake, low light levels, movement, all affect how you handle the shots.

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