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June 2014 archive

Ballroom Dance, Event, Photography, Portrait | 0 comment

Headshots Friday

Tysons, Virginia

It will be a busy weekend for me – two large shoots are on the schedule. Tonight, I will be photographing headshots for the University of Maryland University College Alumni Association. They will be having a awards dinner and I will be setup to make updated headshots for those attending. With social media networks for both personal and professional uses, it is important to have a great profile photo. It is the first impression that you are making on prospective clients or employers. Let me know if you or your office have portraits that need refreshing for this use.

Headshot portrait - ©TimeLine Media
Headshot portrait – ©TimeLine Media

Also, I am excited to be photographing more dancing in Rockville, MD. There is another great event planned for Bachata Masters this weekend including workshops and a party with showcases. I have been invited to photograph a few of these, and they are always awesome events for some photos. The enthusiastic audience is so close to the performers, so the connection they make with their audiences is very intimate and exciting as they have been working with each other throughout the day. With the showcase performances, I try to do something different with the lighting to add something to the images. Some ideas are going around in my head, and I will definitely share them on the blog sometime soon.

Bachata Showcase - ©TimeLine Media
Bachata Showcase – ©TimeLine Media

Also, as far as the proofing website goes, the early-bird photo sale from the DC Area Arthur Murray Summer Showcase is ending on Monday, June 23. Also on Monday, the photos from the USA Dance Mid-Atlantic Championships are expiring. This will be the last day to view and purchase photos from this event before they are removed from the website to make room for new events. Thanks to everyone for visiting my websites, and be sure to follow me on Twitter or Instagram for updates throughout the weekend.

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Photography, Portrait, Technology | 0 comment

Light Modifier Reflections – Tech Thursday

Musician Portraits

I have been doing a lot of great portraits lately! Luckily for me, the people that have been in front of the lens have been great subjects. It seems like it would be easier to have a person giving you all the attention for the photograph. Compared to event or dance photos where it is more up to me to catch a great image. Making portraits is a different challenge. It is a true collaboration with your subject that needs input from the photographer to make it happen.

Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box - ©TimeLine Media
Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box light modifier – ©TimeLine Media

Studio Portrait

This setup on a black background was at the suggestion of the subject. The easiest way to have the most control over the light is to use a strobe to light a subject with the dark material as a backdrop. For this, I used a Nikon Speedlight firing through a Westcott Rapid Box Octa. The flash was triggered with the FlexTT5 from PocketWizard. The great thing about these triggers is that they use the TTL ability built into the Nikon camera body. Thus the computer in the flash will set the power. This is different from shooting with moonlight strobes that I typically use as those are set manually. But for this, the TTL worked very well as I setup the flashes, so I kept using them so that we could change backgrounds, and setups quickly as needed.

Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box - ©TimeLine Media
Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box light modifier – ©TimeLine Media

When photographing people with clear eyeglasses, it is not typical that you would want to have the light reflected from the glass. With sunglasses, and the kind of photos we were making here, the reflection actually turned out to be a nice element to the face!

Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box - ©TimeLine Media
Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box – ©TimeLine Media

I did make images that also did not have the reflection so that the subject would have options. In case the later use of these images would not work with the octagonal light reflection, we had both in the can. My favorite, was when he just moved the glasses above his eyes so we could see underneath – this was the best of the session in my opinion.

Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box - ©TimeLine Media
Portrait with Nikon D4, SB-910, Westcott Rapid Box – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Ballroom Dance, Event, Photography | 0 comment

That’s Dancing Summer Showcase

Jessup, Maryland

Summer is undoubtedly in full swing in the DC metro area! We are starting to see more hot and humid days after a long winter. This past weekend, I was invited to photograph the Summer Showcase for That’s Dancing Ballroom and Dancesport Center. With regards to their scheduling, it seems like they could not be on more opposite ends of the scale! The last time I photographed their students and staff, we were worried about a winter storm canceling the event altogether. Last Saturday night, though, was a really nice evening, and I moving all my equipment in was much easier than last December!

That's Dancing Showcase - ©TimeLine Media
That’s Dancing Showcase – ©TimeLine Media

At this time, the studio was specially decorated for the occasion. As with all their Showcases, they had a theme to tie in all the décor, music, food, and dress for the performers. The theme this time was “Dancing through the Decades”. There were trivia questions about pop music over the years, and popular food stuffs that evolved from Chex Mix to microwavable popcorn. The studio was decorated with nice shimmering backgrounds which created some nice backgrounds for the photos!

Dance Showcase

That's Dancing Showcase - ©TimeLine Media
That’s Dancing Showcase – ©TimeLine Media

Carlos always has his students ready to perform, and I have a great time seeing their new routines! The variety in the dances is fun to see – from newcomers to more experienced dancers, Rhythm, Ballroom, Latin styles, and they usually have a staff formation where larger group performs a dance at one time. The photos have all been edited, and they are uploading to the proofing site now. To access all of them, please click the link below:

http://proofs.timelinedc.com
That's Dancing Showcase - ©TimeLine Media
That’s Dancing Showcase – ©TimeLine Media

Carlos and Marielle always treat their vendors and staff so well! It is no wonder that they have such great events. In addition to these Showcases, they organize the upcoming Northcoast Ballroom Championships and the Baltimore Dancesport Challenge. I hope you enjoy the photos!

That's Dancing Summer Showcase - ©TimeLine Media
That’s Dancing Summer Showcase – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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