Shooting a Stage Production in Very Bright Light

ginS

I am trying to shoot my daughter's theater production in Auto mode and I'm very unhappy with the results. I need to be able to turn my flash off, so I've been using the Sports and Landscape settings, but most pictures are coming out overly exposed (way too bright) because of the stage lighting being so bright. I am shooting a lot of action, so the manual setting was giving me better results, but also blurred images with movement. How can I improve my results (remember, I am a novice)?

PBked

Hi @ginS,
Photographing theatre can always be tricky, but here are a few tips.
1) Make sure you have auto lighting optimiser disabled.
2) Follow the grey card tutorial on the 60D forum to set a custom white balance.
3) Use Av (aperture priority) set to f/5.6 minimum to ensure you get good depth of field.
4) Use auto ISO to ensure your shutter is fast enough to prevent blur. You do not say which lens you will be using, but for standard lenses 1/100th is the minimum you want to go.
5) Press the Av button and rotate the command dial to increase or decrease your exposure compensation. Take some test shots until you are happy with the results.
6) Of course, steps 3-5 can be achieved by using the CA (creative auto) mode.
7) If you can use a tripod on the stage then do so, but switch off IS on the lens if you have it.
Best regards and happy shooting, PBked