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Dance Photography & Light Graffiti Evaluation

Dance Shoot

In the dance shoot we used one main camera, the DSLR Nikon D80 in order to capture the dancers in their prime movement. We also used a wireless control unit attached to the hotshot point on the camera and infrared light trigger to capture the form of the dancer through the use of a flash photography. The flash lights we used were Gemini Bowen flash lights and we used two, one to light up the background of the dancer, which was a white sheet, this minimized the appearance of shadows., the other to light the dancer, the lights also flashed enough to create a pin sharp image and get rid of the blurriness as a dancer may strike a moving pose. If the lights were not used you would have an extremely blurry image that wouldn't capture the dancer well enough. In order to capture the poses that all of the dancers created on our camera's using the large flash that they produced we counted to three whilst we held down the shutter with the camera on BULB setting, then once the lights had flashed we let go of the shutter to let a surge of light in. This allowed us to capture the dancers on a keep point in their move, however any lag meant that we missed the light and sometimes weren't able to capture the flash of light and the dancer in their key point of their own movement or pose.  We then took our images to Lightroom to adjust and edit them. 

Light Graffiti Shoot: 

In order to do light graffiti we had to get a light of some kind of flashlight, torch or glow stick, anything that provides light. Then we went to a really dark room and used a tripod to hold the camera steady, any movement would create a blur and ruin the image creating a blurred effect due to the inhumane ability to keep a camera steady. This meant that in retrospective I was able to realise that the use of the light meant that any movement of a person other than the light would become a slight blur. The studio had to be completely dark, in order to make the light stand out and contrast the background enabling our figures not to be visible. By setting the DSLR to BULB Mode it allows the shutter to stay open for as long as the trigger is pushed. The longer the shutter is pressed the longer it allows the light to go through the lens. We set the ISO to 100 or 200, due to the rooms brightness. We set the aperture to a low setting at about f/5.6 in order to let more light into the lens. It then allowed us to release the shutter to see our finished image. We then took to Lightroom to adjust and edit our images. 

With these following images I edited them in Lightroom, I used the main camera for these images and found it challenging to time the dancer in the midst of the jump, I then cut these dancer out and duplicated the layer. Then I changed the opacity so that it appeared like so, and gave the background  a gradient. We also used a lasolite hi light background for this shoot. 

Changing the gradients different colours reminded me of the Campbell's Soup Art work, by Andy Warhol. This is because of the varied changes in colour that display the differences between them.

Personally I prefer the images without the use of gradient background changes because it allows the viewer to focus on the pose that the dancer is creating in the air. This repeated identical pose reminds me of Chris Nash' photograph that has a varied amount of people striking the same pose, this is shown through my gradual use of transparency with the girl, as it seems that the perspective has changed so that she is much further behind him. 

The black and white contrast adds simplicity and reinforces the idea that the pose is more valued than the distractions that the colours bring. 

I also believe that this variation of the image gives a misty and dark feel to this image and looks apparently sad and gloomy from the absence of colour and vibrancy. The reduction of the shadows also make the shading on the girls body more prominent and professional similar to Almeida's work, from the smooth blank canvas of the under water that she shoots within.

This also resembles that of Chris Nash' photography due to the fact that he enjoyed using black and white schemes of colour.

you used Lightroom, and the settings such as the White balance, temp, clarity, etc (

Using Lightroom I developed this image by correcting the white balance, using the adjuster because artificial lights have may different colour temperatures and if the colour temperature of the lighting doesn't match the colour temperature of the lighting we shot with, the rest of the colour in the picture will become distorted. I used clarity and liked the use of her the dancer twisting the cloth below her and so creating interesting folds and creases in the image. So I sharpened the image and gave the dancer a soft tone to her skin in comparison with the back drop. I also increased the saturation of the image to give an interesting golden glow to her skin and a vitality to the colour of her leotard. The interesting architecture and shape that the back drop offers contrasts Chris Nash' use of clear, clean cut flooring and blank canvas backdrops found in many of his images. 

This image reminds me of the 2nd Chris Nash photograph that I looked at, due to the similar shape and pose of the dancer as well as the harsh contrast between the colours and shadows of the creases of the backdrop similar to his t-shirt. I like this image due to its stimulating and exaggerated use of colour that reminds me of Maya Almeida's work as she likes her underwater dancers to have striking colours that make them stand out. I used saturation and sharpening tools to make this happen on Lightroom and found that this gave the backdrop a yellowish hue that injected some vitality into the image. The gradual use of colour due to my use of brightness and whiteness reflects that of Chris Nash's second photo as the backdrop contains a gradient from black to white and this one contains a gradient from bright white to a dirtier gold.

I like the snippet of grey in the image as it reflects his Nash's work as the dancers are hovered upward leaving a bar of coloured flooring sneaking beneath them. This adds another dimension to the photograph I believe and the shape of her pose reflects something similar to many of Chris Nash' work, with her long limbs stretched out and exposed. I corrected the white balance in this image and sharpened it up, I wanted to give it an industrial feel, and keep it as minimalistic as possible using little saturation and colour enhancing editing.

This image parallels that of Chris Nash' as he likes to include several images of dancers in mid air, the minimalistic and brushed out shadows on the backdrop makes the dancer the central point of focus as I had completed this through the use of heightening the white and although there still is shadow I think it adds to the sense of height and gazelle like quality to the dancers' movement. It is awfully difficult to get the correct shot of the dancer in the air due to the fact that you had to get the right angle of the dancer and the camera, as well as the correct timing and the dancers satisfaction with her form and posture, it displayed to me the wealth of time, patience and skill both photographer and dancer both need in shoots such as these.

I like the angle used for this image as it makes the dancer look incredibly high and the use of gradient in the corner gives an interesting effect and adds dimension to the image. The increased whiteness makes his black silhouette very central to the image and the shadows of his muscles give it added definition and sharpness, the pose is similar to several in the air Chris Nash images and the fact that he is looking away from the camera parallels this also. I immediately think that the black and white editing in Lightroom gives the photo a sleek and minimalist feel and that the light used to capture the dancer sharply was enhanced through my use of the Sharpening tool also.

I like this photo because of its similarities to the third Chris Nash image I analysed and I believe that the similar striking poses give a nice symmetry to the picture and make it so much so that it appears professional. The blank canvas background allows the viewer to focus on the striking and busy poses that both of these dancers are striking.

I believe that this image is interesting as it includes an prop that parallels that of Maya Almeida's work, through her use of cloth and fabric underwater. This image gives an interesting silhouette as you are able to see the scarf as an extension of her arm, creating a nice and flowing flick, I believe that it adds a layer of sophisticated and artistic flare to the image. The minimal creases included and the use of black and white editing helps the viewer to focus on the pose and shapes created in the picture and so making it the central point of focus. 

I like this image as the dancer is executing her pose excellently, I possibly believe that in order to improve this image her legs would be less blurred and more pin sharp and focussed. However I still quite like the focus on her upper body and the contrast between them both. I have given the backdrop a blue hue to it in post production to give an impression of the sky and saturated the colours o bring an element of vibrancy to the image. 

I like this image as we used the multicoloured stick to highlight a silhouette and present  a disco vibe to the piece. The structured posing makes this image angular and opposes the soft lies from the glowing of the light. In post production I edited and enhanced the vibrancy to produce a much more intense colour. The placement of the light was important also and the difficulty we found was making sure that we had covered all the areas behind the model.

This image was particularly hard to create because it didn't allow us to write conventionally, writing backwards meant that we sacrificed the possibility of having neater and more clear handwriting. It took many goes and so it meant that the writers head tustve been in shot and so it smudgily ruined the picture slightly. In order to improve this we may have to place the writer in a more efficient and hidden position. In post production I increased the hue so as to make it more pinky purple because initially it was just a white brightness. 

Analysis of Maya Almeida Photography

Maya Almeida

"Maya has spent over a decade photographing movement - in and out of water. Her inspiration comes from living in place of limitless possibility. As an photographer she hopes to take the viewer with her on a Journey that is far from reality."

Maya has assisted and trained with Chris Nash in London , she also learned lots from Lois Greenfield in New York. 

Her dance images have been exhibited at City Hall in London during the Cultural Olympyiad 2012, toured the UK including the Metal Culture venue in Chalkwell Hall. 

Her ocean work was chosen for a multi-media installation at the Arles Salon in France in 2012 and her latest 'Underwater Dance' series was selected as one of only two UK photographers for the Shanghai International Invitational Exhibition, 2014.

I like this first image that Almeida has created as it displays an interesting posture for the dancer underwater, this wouldn't have been able to be captured if it wasn't for the dancers ability to bend backward into a very flexible position. Almeida captures the image in such a way that both the surface of the water and the dancers draped cloth are both in frame, the interesting use of light shining in from above the surface really captures interesting and diffused rays of light across the pool.

Almeida's equally interesting studio work displays two men, one in mid air and the other in a distorted position on the floor, I like the use of lighting shining directly onto the front of one man and the back of the man in front, this really confuses the eye and creates an interesting optical illusion as you are almost unable to justify whether or not they are directly above each other or if someone is behind the other. The clarity and sharpness of the image displays every single part of the body and the use of shadow and light really helps this also. The minimalist clothing and background focusses the eyes on the shape being created by the dancer. 

In this image Maya really uses the interest of the draped cloth to create a very interesting and contrasting image. The use of the dark background in the water and the light shone from directly above the dancer causes interesting shadows and creases onto the cloth and the colour works against the colour of the watery background, The surface of the waters reflection creates an interesting shape due to the diffraction of the light and the lime green colour creates an interesting intensity. The interesting idea of symmetry that is displayed onto the top of the surface and so it creates a surreal feel to the image. 

In this image Maya uses two dancers to create an idea of depth into the image. The sharp focus of the image shows even the most minute detail of the bubbles. The use of flowing cloth against the strong and dense muscles of the dancer as well as the blurry water background. The use of light shining in from various directions creates interesting shadow and also gives a very surreal atmosphere to the image. 

Analysis of Chris Nash Photography

Chris Nash

Chris Nash is a London based photographer who splits his time between commercial assignments, fine art photography and teaching. 

After graduating with a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths.

 Chris built a reputation as 'one of the most creative photographers of his generation'  and has held over 60 exhibitions of his Dance photographs in 18 different countries. His work has had such an impact on contemporary dance in England that he is the recipient of a Dance Umbrella/Time Out Award.

Aside from his dance photography, Chris Nash pictures can be found on advertising billboards, in fashion catalogues and on album and book covers. 

This first image created by Chris Nash exposes his use of light in his images and  by having the studio light coming in from the the right hand side it enables the photograph to capture the shadows that have been cast across their bodies and from their rippling muscles to be seen clearly also, rather than washing it all out from a bright front flash. Chris Nash has also explored the idea of timing being of extreme importance, as both women seem to be utterly synchronised in their body language and positioning. Everything appears to be in focus, as he has captured it in a thousandth of a second, even the ruffles on the dress seem to be pin sharp and clear. This is effective because you are able to freeze the motion in time and examine the mood and emotion being expressed in the image easily. 

In this image Chris Nash has used black and white colouring to draw attention to the varying shades and harshness of the white light and creating a distorting silhouette of the dances body as it juxtaposes the light grey background immensely. The light is shone from the top of the studio giving an interesting pool of light beneath the dancer, and anything the is directly underneath the light. The angular positioning of the dancer is easily displayed and the creases in his clothing is highlighted by the lighting and creates quite a surreal and unrealistic position. 

















In this image Nash has arranged his dancers in such a way that they are existing up in the air at the same point in time and they are all captured sharing the same pose. This is interesting as it displays many different people communally sharing a pose together in the air, the flash used enables this image to be in focus and appear pin sharp. The interesting foreground interest of the woman placed directly in the centre of the image makes this the focal point and the use of thirds making the floor less of an interesting section of the image and enables you to focus on the dancers at the top.