Theatre Photography : Mamma Mia

Theatre Photography : Mamma Mia

Join us as we show you how a professional theatre production can be captured in Dress Rehearsals to support your production later in the week. Henry Street High School has a long standing tradition of great theatre and they delivered a great production of Mamma Mia! this year. Here we go again!

I am looking for the big emotional and physical moments in a play. This is infinitely made harder as I have rarely seen the play and sometimes notes about what to look for are not given. I watch to see where I can see the shots I want to make and often take a series of twenty to just get the right smile, eyes open and touch of nose or sassy look. Practice for them also applies to theatre photography, the more you do the more you know what to look for.

What I loved about the play this year was this black light sequence. It was so seamlessly blended into the story and the choreography was just amazing. It allows more of the ensemble to show off the depth talent at Henry. It was a great storytelling technique for the dream sequence and I was delighted I got some good frames as it’s the definition of “low light”.

When photographing theatre you will be faced with light changes, sometimes from moment to moment, sometimes one side is a different scene than the other. It’s always worth mentioning it to the tech team, sometimes the lights are like in Mamma Mia full of colour and capturing that is on point.

Every now and then a part is so perfect you could not imagine anyone else playing it. Meet Stella who plays Rosie in the production and nailed this part. Her physical comedy is spot on and I laughed, clapped and cheered her on in her pursuit of Bill. Bravo! A dash of her work is below:

I mean with ABBA as the soundtrack and a strong plot there is just not much you can say about this play that would be negative. The performances were amazing, the leads for performance 1 and 2 changed for 3 and 4 so we have tried to show you both casts as much as we could.

Stage Director : Skylar is rarely in front of the camera or on the stage but without her and the team there would be no performance. She guides the performance (her 6th with Henry) with skill and confidence – always smiling and ready to make it happen. We will miss you as you are moving on to post secondary.

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

The Visual Story of Kristine Dandavino

The Visual Story of Kristine Dandavino

Kristine Dandavino is a teacher, an actor and a talented opera voice. She mentors and coaches local talent with her business Oshawa Piano and Voice http://www.oshawapianovoice.com/. When they say those who can’t teach they did not include the likes of a talent such as Kristine.

When she connected to update her headshots we discussed how she would use the images to audition and for social media usage. Acting has very specific needs and over top of that the opera world has it’s own. We crafted her poses and outfits to ensure her looks dovetailed with the types of roles she auditions for, a key component of an actor’s headshot.

Kristine had her makeup done by makeup artist The Many Faces of Beauty’s Stephanie Koktan. We kept our editing in keeping with the industry, maintaining major features so casting directors see the true version of the actor if present in our lighting of the face.

By pairing a tank top with a simple necklace and vegan leather jacket we get a timeless look for this headshot. The key to this shot is the position of the body which welcomes in the viewer to the actor’s portrait.

We finished up the session with a sensational image of Kristine wrapped in raw silk. Shot from a high angle this image is a nod to the Girl with a Pearl Earring. We amped up the volume as Kristine is a joy bringer, a room filler and she needed a portrait that spoke to the voice and beauty inside her. As they say on Tik Tok – I understood the assignment.

To book a session with us: 

https://trinitydesign.ca/connect-2/

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Kirsten McGoey, Visual Storyteller 

 

Actor: Jacob Breedon (age 9)

Actor: Jacob Breedon (age 9)

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Working with actors to create professional headshot photos in Whitby, Ontario in our studio is one of my favourite things to do. Even more favourite are young actors who are already amazing at taking direction.

We worked with Jacob to create his first set of acting headshots. Do not let that first fool you, he is already at age nine an experienced actor with cast credentials on a new television series. Watch for him in the upcoming

When dressing for headshots as an actor bring solid shirts that will allow the focus to stay on your face in your headshot. This shirt has a small pattern which we removed to strengthen the impact of the image. I asked him to give me a stern look and he nailed this look with only that direction. 

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Every actor must update their shots yearly and when younger sometimes even moreso. A full body, half body and a headshot are the first three shots you MUST HAVE in your actor arsenal. We added in some cut off jean shorts and a white t-shirt to play up the converse shoes in this image.

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A professional headshot is markedly different than an actor headshot. We only edit what we need to in acting headshots, removing blemishes. We show the true face and that face must be current. Directors and casting staff need to see what you look like. So editing is minimal and complimentary to how the person looks.

The classic headshot is head and shoulders with a winning smile. It is essential the eyes are in focus for any headshot and anything less will not do for a professional headshot.

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Sometimes I will have clients jump, dance or anything to relax them. In Jacob’s case we did it because it was fun – after all he is nine and fun is the name of the game.

If you need to update your acting headshots we would love to chat.

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Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller | Trinity Design Photography

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