Those of you who were here a little earlier this week may remember out quick little visit to Chez Paul. For those who don't, a good friend of mine put together a little fundraiser to help people dealing with Aphasia. She put together a little theater show in the form of a cabaret. The fictional location for this was the Pub Chez Paul. It was a musical show with lots of songs, both current and old, and I was given the fun job of photographing it all. Unlike previous theater shows I've photographed, I wasn't able to show up for a dress rehearsal shoot where I could stand right in front of the stage and shoot away. Instead, I was shooting from the crowd. In the wings of
the stands and also at the very back of the room at the very top of the seating area. I'll admit, there were several times that I wished I could have just jumped in front of everyone in order to get a shot with some nice spotlight effects, but the limited shooting locations also offered me a different challenge. Trying to get some nice shots, all while not being a distraction for those who were watching the show. The lack of certain shots was made up for by the fact that afterwards I was told that I hadn't been noticed at all during the show. I suppose I can take some of the credit by having limited my movements, but I think that also had a lot to do with the quality of the 
show that was taking place up on the stage. While putting together a CD of photographs from the show, I decided to try making a few of them black and white. I thought that doing so would add an old time pub feel to the images. I was happy with the way that they turned out. There are lots of photographs here to look at, so we might as well get started. The first photograph was taken at f/5, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 135mm. The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm. Here are several more photographs that I took during the show.
the stands and also at the very back of the room at the very top of the seating area. I'll admit, there were several times that I wished I could have just jumped in front of everyone in order to get a shot with some nice spotlight effects, but the limited shooting locations also offered me a different challenge. Trying to get some nice shots, all while not being a distraction for those who were watching the show. The lack of certain shots was made up for by the fact that afterwards I was told that I hadn't been noticed at all during the show. I suppose I can take some of the credit by having limited my movements, but I think that also had a lot to do with the quality of the 
show that was taking place up on the stage. While putting together a CD of photographs from the show, I decided to try making a few of them black and white. I thought that doing so would add an old time pub feel to the images. I was happy with the way that they turned out. There are lots of photographs here to look at, so we might as well get started. The first photograph was taken at f/5, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 135mm. The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm. Here are several more photographs that I took during the show.
f/3.5, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm
f/4.5, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm
f/4.5, 1/50sec, ISO 3200 at 115mm
f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 135mm
f/5, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 27mm
f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 62mm
f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 43mm
f/3.5, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm
f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 180mm
f/4.5, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 140mm
f/4, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 142mm
I was juggling between two lenses over the course of the show. Alternating between a 70-200mm telephoto lens for the shots from the back for the room and a 24-70 wide-angle lens when I was getting as close as I could. Now I know why the pros usually shoot these shows with two camera bodies. With the low light, I was also trying to time the movements of the dancers. Watching the first part of the songs so I could time the breaks and then shooting when the chorus and dance moves would be repeated. It was a great photographic exercise, and more importantly, it was great fun for a great cause.
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