{"id":45395,"date":"2018-06-30T14:41:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T18:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=45395"},"modified":"2024-01-22T00:50:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T04:50:38","slug":"outdoor-photo-session-with-a-dancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/outdoor-photo-session-with-a-dancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor photo session with a dancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Outdoor photo session with a dancer – Ella<\/h1>\n

An additional challenge when photographing dancers in movement, is the exact timing. That fleeting pose in mid-air needs to be captured at the exact moment when their feet, hands and the entire body is positioned in ideal way. Some advice about this was given in a previous article on photographing dancers – tips on photographing dancers and ballerinas<\/a> – but much of it relies on constantly conferring with the dancer, who will know exactly what they want.<\/p>\n

Ella is a dancer, with a delightfully confident personality – especially so for someone who is only 12 years old. Ella and her mom were visiting New York for a dance contest, and at the same time, wanted photos of Ella with New York as the setting. The Brooklyn Waterfront immediately came to mind – lots of space to shoot in (which is rare in Manhattan), and there is the magnificent view of the Manhattan Skyline.<\/p>\n

To make the most of the photo session, we steadily worked according to a plan I had as we roamed around the Waterfront area. I didn’t want the photo session to feel rushed, but there also had to be a certain efficiency.<\/p>\n

In terms of the photography, there were certain techniques that just made sense:<\/p>\n

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Lighting:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I had to work with Ella’s schedule, so we had a time slot of 9am – 12pm on this semi-cloudy day. With that, the light changed as the clouds slowly moved in and out. To punch up the overcast light, or to help balance the harder sunlight, I relied on my workhorse lighting setup: \u00a0Profoto B1\u00a0TTL\u00a0flash<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>), with a 36″ octabox – the\u00a0the Westcott Rapid Box 36″ Octabox<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(B&H<\/a> \/ Amazon<\/a><\/em>). I like how the octabox collapses and sets up quickly. And of course, the Profoto B1 flash has enough juice to give me high-speed flash sync in bright light, while using a softbox. A speedlight just can’t match that.<\/p>\n

Of course, I positioned the light in the direction that Ella wanted to do her movement. But I also had to be cognizant of the light when the sun broke through. Lighting is seldom a static decision when working on location.<\/p>\n

The camera settings for the photos on the boardwalk ranged around: \u00a01\/1250 @ f\/3.5 @ 100 ISO, depending on the cloud cover or the sun.<\/p>\n

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Composition:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For the photos on the dock here, I mostly worked with the 70-200mm lens, at 200mm (or thereabouts), to really compress the perspective. For these long shots, I also lay down on the boardwalk so that I reduced the amount of “floor” in the photo, accentuating more of the background. It is important to note that I mostly shot these by zooming to 200mm, and then<\/strong> step back to find my composition.
\n– \u00a0Nikon D810<\/a>\u00a0with the Nikon 70-200mm f\/2.8 VR II<\/a><\/p>\n

For the other images shown here, where we used more of the scene to show context, I used a 24-70mm lens.
\n– \u00a0Nikon D5<\/a>\u00a0 with the\u00a0Nikon 24-70mm f\/2.8E\u00a0VR<\/a><\/p>\n

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Posing:<\/h3>\n

As mentioned at the start of the article, the decision on the movement and posing was up to Ella and her mom. Then I had to concentrate on the timing – not to trip the shot too late or too early. I would pre-focus on a spot, and then lock the focus. The timing is too crucial to wait for the camera to first respond by focusing.<\/p>\n

In a sense the posing was a collaboration between Ella and myself, depending on the location and the lighting … and what she needed photographs of, with the actual pose depending on her.<\/p>\n

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Camera settings and photo gear used<\/h2>\n