Capturing Story, Emotion, and Vision
On Wednesday the 29th of October 2025, I was delighted to return to Leslie Town Hall to photograph Leslie Drama’s production of Blood Brothers - this time the play version, rather than the musical. While I know the story well from its musical adaptation, the straight play was no less powerful, delivering the same emotional punch through strong performances and storytelling.
A Powerful Performance
The entire cast did a sterling job, bringing the characters and their relationships to life with honesty and intensity. Blood Brothers relies so heavily on emotion, tension, and connection between characters, and that made it a particularly rewarding show to photograph. Every scene offered moments that felt intimate, raw, and deeply human.
Photographing Digital Set Design
Like many theatre companies working hard to manage costs, this production made use of digital screens as part of the set design. While these look fantastic to the audience, they can present real challenges for photography - colours on screens often appear very differently in-camera compared to how our eyes perceive them.
To tackle this, I set both of my Canon R5 cameras to their fastest burst mode, ensuring that every press of the shutter captured multiple frames. This approach gave me a range of options for each moment, greatly increasing the chances that at least one image would accurately reflect the colours and atmosphere the director intended. Thankfully, this worked really well throughout the show.
Telling the Story Through Images
With every theatre production I photograph, my priority is always the same: to capture the story and the relationships between characters, while staying true to the director’s vision. Theatre photography isn’t just about documenting what’s happening on stage - it’s about preserving the emotional journey of the audience and the performers alike.
I’m really pleased that Leslie Drama felt this came across in the final images, as they’ve already asked me back to photograph their production next year - something I’m incredibly grateful for.
It was a pleasure to return to Leslie Town Hall and work with such a committed and talented company once again, and I’m already looking forward to what they bring to the stage next.
If your theatre company is looking for professional production photography that captures emotion, narrative, and creative intent, I’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch via my contact page.
