Archive of ‘Ballroom Dance’ category

Arthur Murray – Fall Freestyles next week

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles

It is less than a week until we get back to ballroom dancing! This upcoming Friday and Saturday is the DC Area Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles event being held at the Sheraton Premiere in Tysons Corner, VA. Overall, we are excited to get back to the dance floor after the summer break. There has been a lot of dancing during that time, and we want to make more of our photos to go along with the dancing. When we first stepped into the ballroom world, the Fall Freestyles was the first ballroom dance event we attended. Of course, it can be intimidating if you have never been a part of the scene! There are sparkling, beautiful dresses around the hotel; ladies have makeup and jewels to catch the lights and eyes of the judges; and the loud music gets the audience to cheer on their fellow students and instructors.

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles
Overlooking the Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles from the balcony ©TimeLine Media

We are also going back to a venue that we used to frequent more often. Although it is familiar, the Sheraton in Tysons Corner has undergone a lot of renovations. Not only the guestroom, but the ballroom and reception areas have also changed. We will try to take advantage of the nice balcony that they still have to get overhead views of the event. If you have friends or would like to come to view the event from the mezzanine balcony, contact one of the DC Area Studios. They will gladly give you details on the availability and cost for a seat up there. Not only will you be able to cheer on your friends, but you will have a nice vantage of this fun event. See you next weekend!

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles
©TimeLine Media – Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles

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

Arthur Murray – Back to School Dance

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray - school dance outside the studio

Thursday night parties at the Arthur Murray studio in Tysons Corner is one of the busiest nights on the dance floor! There are group classes just before the party to give students new figures, or to review old figures before they go on their own to practice. With the really nice weather we have been having, it was nice to get outside for an evening before it gets too cold! The staff put together a nice party for everyone just outside the studio this evening. They put a speaker outside, provided some food and drink, then got everyone to dance as usual.

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray - outside the studio
©TimeLine Media – Arthur Murray – school dance outside the studio

The area around the studio has been hopping with new activity. Tysons West right across the street, new restaurants opening, and the Metro Silver Line in full testing for next year’s opening, means that there is a lot to do! The dancing created a lot of attention, and some of the people passing by jumped in when invited to dance!

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray - outside the studio
©TimeLine Media – Arthur Murray – school dance outside the studio
©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray -  outside the studio
©TimeLine Media – Arthur Murray – school dance outside the studio

The energy and loudness of the music outside made it perfect for some line dancing!

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray - school dance outside the studio
©TimeLine Media – Arthur Murray – school dance outside the studio

Carlos can hardly contain his excitement!

©TimeLine Media - Arthur Murray - school dance outside the studio
©TimeLine Media – Arthur Murray – school dance outside the studio

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

White Balance for Skin Tones – Tech Thursday

©TimeLIne Media - people photo with a warmed white balance

Cool. Warm. These descriptive words for temperature is used widely in photography. From looking at other amateur photographers wanting to improve their photos, this is one of the first places I look at this time. Back in the film days, the color temperature of your images would have been built into the film and processing that was used in development of the negatives of slides. Today, however, the temperature of your photos can be set right in the camera, and changed as needed. In your camera settings, you look to the White Balance settings to set the color temp.

Post Processing

There are presets that manufacturers use to separate different light temperature. From cooler to warmer, the presets are usually Incandescent, Tungsten, Daylight, Flash, Cloudy, Shade, but the settings on yours may differ. In some cameras, there is also a “K” setting which stands for Kelvin temperature. With this setting you can finely tune the temperature by selecting the Kelvin setting of the light you are shooting. The scale will go from something in the 2500K range on the cool side, to 10000K on the warm side. Take some example photos, and you can see the changes as the temperature goes up in the frame. Skin tones are where you can see the changes the most:

White Balance Example

©TimeLIne Media - White balance for skin tones
©TimeLine Media – White balance for skin tones

The photo on the left is set to “Auto” in the White Balance setting. For me, the skin tones are too “cool” for my taste. Moreover for anyone that has ever been to a ballroom dance event knows that tanner is better for skin tones! The same is true when editing any portraits or group shots. Skin tones always look better warmer. This is an almost universal rule that I have learned in my photography. People look healthier, and more natural even if the skin tone does not exactly match the tone in real life.

The automatic settings in cameras or software may not give skin tones their best look. Comparatively, observe the variety of photos you come across on social media, or in your own collection, and see how they can magically be improved with adjusting one setting! Let me know how this works for you! Especially let me know if you have any other questions on how to set this on your own cameras or software. Although it is a quick fix in post, it can make a large difference!

©TimeLIne Media - people photo with a warmed white balance
©TimeLine Media – people photo with a warmed white balance

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

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