Reading: Photographing Dancers April 30, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Dance, Influence, Reading.Tags: Dance, dancers, dancing, photocritic, photography, technique
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There’s a good article on photographing dancers on the Photocritic site! It’s good to know that even the pros find it damn hard to do:
“Ballroom dancing is the hardest photographic challenge I have personally come across. It seems everything is set up to make it hard, and nothing makes it easy. Everyone moves too fast, the lighting is horrible, and getting a spot to stand can be a challenge in itself.” –Laurie Young
Practice: “Tapestry” April 25, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Available Light, Contains Images, Indoor, Night, Portraiture, Practice.Tags: band, Dance, music, Night, photography, portrait, singer, singing, tapestry
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One of my many hobbies apart from photography is dancing. Every Friday night my friends from dance go out to a different club in our area – many of which put on live bands on Friday and Saturday nights – and dance the night away. Last night a duo called “Tapestry” was playing; the guitarist was trying to get a video of them playing together with his digital compact and I volunteered to take some photos and get some video of them.
I tried doing some flash shots early in the session but I hated them – they looked lifeless, as if they were practising in a well-lit room rather than performing on stage… so I switched the flash off and used available light. This posed some of its own problems: the flashing, changing, multicoloured stage lights made it impossible to “set up” any shots properly as the light was always changing (and of course the performers were always moving). I basically had to try to find good angles, make sure I had my subject in focus, and just wait for the lighting and pose to come together every now and then, to capture those fleeting moments! A challenging session, but I quite like the moody, atmospheric results…
Practice: The Stomp April 5, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Available Light, Contains Images, Dance, Indoor, Night, Practice, Speedlite.Tags: action, charity, Dance, event, fast, Flash, Night, photography, stomp
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“The Stomp” is a “non-denominational” (all styles) dance party held a few times every year. Supported by Rotary, it has raised over $40,000 for needy charities since the first “Stomp” was run in support of tsunami victims back in 2005 (I was a member of the organising committee 2005-2006 and continue to attend whenever I can!).
The latest Stomp was held last night, entitled “Cirque de Stomp” – a circus theme. Although I spent most of the night dancing, I brought the camera along to take pictures while I was resting between sets. Here are some of my favourites, all shot with my trusty Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM.
In My Arms: Speedlite bounced right off wall, ISO800 1/125s f/1.4 +2/3EV:
Gotcha!: Speedlite bounced left off wall, ISO800 1/125s f/1.4 +2/3EV
Crossfire: A freaky one-in-a-thousand chance shot: I used a Speedlite bounced behind to the right… but another photographer happened to take a flash shot from the other side of the room at exactly the same moment. As a result the frame was overexposed, but the effect is quite striking due to the dancers’ poses – as if they’re being pushed back by the light.
