Photographing a Summer Arts Festival
2025 SAC Summer Arts Festival Line-up
I haven’t made a blog post in almost a month, and that’s because I’ve been busy shooting the Springfield Summer Arts Festival for the Springfield Arts Council (SAC). This was the 59th annual production of the FREE series of events that take place from June 12th thru July 12th in Veterans Park in Springfield, Ohio.
Springfield has an amazing focus on the arts, with several organizations supporting music, the arts, theater, and concerts. For me, SAC is at the top of the list of groups. The fact that you can show up with a lawn chair and watch an entire month of great, diverse acts for free is amazing. Now of course, SAC is also trying to raise funds for their organization and events, so at intermissions, attendees are encouraged to donate what they can during the “pass the hat” sessions.
SAC hired me to shoot several events during this year’s series to have images to promote this and future Festivals. The events I shot ranged from concerts, to dance performances, to musicals. It was a diverse collection of events that both showcased and challenged my skills!!
One of the biggest challenges I faced was the weather. Being in an outdoor venue meant that I had to deal with whatever Mother Nature threw at us. Rain, storms, heat, humidity. You name it, we had it. Even when the weather is great, the changing light conditions of a show that starts before sunset and ends after sunset means constantly changing my settings and ways of shooting as the show goes on.
Here are some of my favorite shots from some of the concerts I shot at the Festival this year. Click on the first image to open in a larger window and scroll through.
I shot two musicals at the Festival this year - Legally Blonde Jr. and Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Both were great! I’ve shot Legally Blonde before, but the full version. I must say, I think I like the abbreviated “Junior” version a little better. The YAA kids brought such enthusiasm to their roles and it just felt somehow more “fun”. Below are some of my favorites from both shows. Click on the first image to open in a larger window and scroll through.
Dancing Around the World. This was the dance performance that I shot for the Festival, and to be frank, it was the one event I was most worried about from a technical aspect. Actors moving around slowly on stage is easy, even when the light starts to get bad like it does after the sun goes down. But dancers moving around quickly? That means a much higher shutter speed and even higher ISO’s. Thankfully it went off without a hitch for me. I was able to find a balance, and when necessary, crank the ISO and depend on noise reduction in the editing process.
Below are some of my favorites from the show. Click on the first image to open in a larger window and scroll through.
All in all it was a great summer series, and I was honored to capture images for SAC. It was a bit of a whirlwind and I lost track of what day it was at one point. I can only image what it was like for the SAC employees and volunteers that were there for EVERY event, from set-up to tear-down. Springfield has an amazing gift in the Summer Arts Festival, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for their 60th year.
As always, thanks for reading.
Jeremy