photographing dance classes

I was asked if I wanted to photograph a primary school dance class - well thirteen of them actually , to be photographed on a Saturday morning at a school in inner-city Sydney over 4.5 hours. I thought of all the boring photos that I had seen of ballet classes and thought why not give it a go- I decided to make the shoot exceptional by energising the kids and lighting them beautifully.

The kids were energised by one of the parents, Zoe, whose energy levels were contagious - she really sparked up the kids.

I provided the lighting - two Elinchrom remote controlled softboxes, lights large enough to allow the kids fairly large leeway as to where they wanted to stand. Since the lights were wirelessly triggered, it was safe for me, Zoe and the kids to move around. The lights were also 'fast' enough to freeze the kids in action.

The lights were bright enough to illuminate all the kids, not just those in front.

As for the individual shots, the kids choose what they wanted and that was fine because the lights were flexible - one girl wanted to do the splits on the floor, which meant the lights had to cover her - no problem - another girl wanted to leap into the air - again, the lights could easily deal with this.

Little fairies will always be little fairies!

Or rappers!

Or posed.

Or thoughtful!

In short, with today's lights, dance photography no longer has to remain stuck in the 1970's so if you want good dance photos, drop me a line.