my friend laura kay is trying out for another dance company and needed some more pictures taken. we went to the dance studio last night and while the results were kinda disappointing (she wasn't really specific in what she needed) i got some fun ones too.
lessons learned:
- ask more questions. make sure you know exactly what the client wants. i got some decent pictures, but they weren't what she needed.
- if someone is short, get down on their level or lower to make them look taller. (and she said something about needing to see her feet better, so it helps that too.)
- contrast your subject with the background - the black blended in way too much with the dark red curtain
- do something artsy with every shoot. even if the person needs something bland and boring, take the time to shoot the last few frames doing something creative. while she needs body shots to apply to dance companies, i needed the motion shots for my own artistic pursuits. (and if you're doing it for free, you've got a good excuse to say, "hey, try this for me.")
hmm faster shutter speed and with a grand jete across the floor with perhaps most of her body in focus except for the trailing part of her body would have been cool...and yeah i agree you should have gotten down on your tummy to shoot her feet...(it's all about perspective)...if you want to see some great dance shots, watch center stage or the company for inspiration. haha amazing films with many cinematic factors!!!
ReplyDeleteyeah, next time i'll play around with the flash AND shutter speed. i forget what it's called (something about "curtains"), but i know my camera will fire it at the beginning of the frame (you would have been able to see her on the right of the frame, then it would have blurred as she moved from there) as well as at the end (would have been blurry until she was about to land). it's funny how much you learn after the fact when you've had time to think about it. we have to shoot again, so i'll play with it then
ReplyDeleteand panning. panning is good.
ReplyDelete