Originally Posted By: DWallach
I would (naïvely) assume that your 7' banners can use photos that you've carefully posed with more control over the lighting. Under such circumstances, you can turn the lights up or bring in big strobes. You can also bring in a large format camera, giving you far more resolution than any digital camera could ever hope to provide.

Since the 7' banners are an advertisement for the theatre, we want to use photos from actual shows. We don't have a special photo-shoot just to get a shot for the banner, so what I shoot during the live dress rehearsals over the course of the year(s) is what we have to work with. Obviously, changing or augmenting the stage lighting is a no-go, as it can totally destroy the very essence of what you're trying to capture. Although some stage photographers will do posed (or semi-posed) photos of key moments, I dislike doing that. I find the actors have much better in-the-moment emotional responses during an unhindered performance than when doing a static pose, or even when repeating a portion of a scene for the umpteenth time. Especially when working with non-professional actors. I like the end results better, when shooting this way, and sometimes the most dramatic shots end up being from scenes (or portions of a scene) I would not necessarily have chosen for a posed photo.

It's much like wedding photography during the ceremony and reception -- what you get is what you get, and there are no do-overs. There's no interrupting the priest with an "I'm sorry, can you re-do the 'you may now kiss the bride' part?" I do, at least, get to shoot multiple dress rehearsals for a show.

edit -- tl;dr: my approach to stage photography is a photojournalism style