Dancers have a great understanding of movement and how to move their bodies. My Idea was to use big flowing dresses with loose material that would show movement from either the model or assisted from a wind machine.

Composite

I watch a lot of America’s next top model and at the end of the show one of the models gets voted off with their picture deleted off the main picture. This gave me the idea to use more than one frame in the final image. The hardest part is getting the light to look consistent across all the pictures so the main light had to stay in the same position with the girls having a mark to perform the moves.

Dance photography posing

I asked the girls to create strong shapes but to remember to either face the camera or turn to the main light source; otherwise the face would be in shadow.  If I found a move that I like, I had the model repeat it a few times until I thought I had the “shot”. After watching a program on the Olympics they showed some gymnasts with a rod and ribbon. I liked the way that the ribbon created shapes as it flowed in the air. This gave me the idea of giving the girls some material to hold to add to the movement of the dresses.

The amazing dresses were provided by Sue from Cargo Clothing. I’ve worked with Sue on a couple of other projects and knew that some of her prom/cocktail dresses would be perfect for the shoot.

The images were shown in the Lander Gallery in Truro with the exhibition entitled “Focus”. It was a pleasure to work with the dancers and I look forward to some more dance photography projects.

If you are considering some dance photography, or wedding photography then please do not hesitate to contact me.