Robert, have you considered on camera fill flash to reduce the high contrast of the deep shadows?
Thanks Will. If I were after that type of look, I might consider fill flash - not something that I am unfamiliar with from my Pro day…
… although it would be both weak and harsh from my location of 30 feet away for most shots I was taking from my lawn chair in the audience, and probably would introduce shadows on the subjects, background, white tent ceiling from light stands and cables and gear.
In particular the reason I chose to shoot with the Grainy Black and White Filter on my Olympus camera, was to have a look of extreme contrast and heavy grain similar to pushed TriX out of camera. The colour images as well have punched up contrast in post processing.
Then there is the side where I am a casual observer in a casual setting and carry a small pocketable camera to shoot discretely, precluding carrying extra gear or adding things like flash to my camera. For this situation anyway.
