Dance Photography: Open Shoot Reax, Pt. 1

Last Friday saw the first in a series of Open Shoots I’m hosting to photograph dancers and their movement, and it was a blast. I had three goals: showcase a few of my favorite dancers, experiment with my new Strobist-inspired lighting gear, and enjoy the creative, kinetic energy of a photo shoot with no deadlines, no pressure, and an improvisational format. It was a success on all counts.

This post is for enthusing about what went right – I’ll save the critique for a second post – and showing a few selects. Check them out after the jump…

The positive: First, I am blessed with talented dancers as friends. Rebecca Breau was joined by Jennifer Roit and Justina Gaddy, co-founders of Degree Dance Collective, and all three gave me excellent movement to capture. This was a new format for me and they all performed jumps and technical movements over and over while I tried to get the perfect shot. Fact: studio floors are unforgiving. I have them to thank.

Second, my gear performed flawlessly. Everything except my Nikon and my lenses was new and I was prepared for gear failures. There were none. The Cactus v4 wireless flash trigger only misfired twice in three hours of shooting. I also had fun playing with different umbrella configurations. For example, Justina’s skin responded well to the harsher silver umbrella, which brought out nuanced tones, while I used a shoot-through white umbrella to give Jen softer light.

Finally, photo shoots are fun, or they should be. We had a sense of play and spontaneity throughout, and most of my favorite shots came from an idea that grew out of something that wasn’t working, or when one of the dancers was improvising during a break. I also noticed that several of the best shots were the first of a particular pose, as if I wasn’t yet over-thinking it and the shot came naturally, without trying. Music was important, too, and the movement from electronica to the Beach Boys to rock continually refreshed the energy. In all, great fun.

Friend me on Facebook if you’re a dancer and you want to be included in the next Open Shoot on December 11. It’s free and a chance show off your stuff while meeting other professionals.