Today’s post is from the Arthur Murray 2013 Summer Showcase. These photos were from the professional show by the Gaithersburg studio. As long as we have been attending DC area dance events, we have seen Jonathan on the dance floor. Whenever he is out there, I am inspired by his dancing. As can be seen, he has incredible balance, and control of his movement. On this occasion, the dance was a Bolero. Overall, it was an athletic performance with lots of lifts and dips to excite the crowd.
I love this photo showing the enthusiastic supporters from Gaithersburg screaming for their instructors, and ready with their cameras! This was the second performance from their studio at this event, and they should be proud of the reception they received from the audience. Even though the crowd is so close to the dance floor, I do not consider them as much when concentrating on the performers. So in any photo if you catch a nice crowd reaction, it was likely a happy accident. We can’t wait to see what they come up with for the next event!
When sharing photographs today, it is increasingly evident that people want to share their photos digitally, online, in their social networks. But I still receive many requests to have photos printed on paper. These prints can be passed around when shared, or mailed across continents to give as gifts, and some make it into frames to hang in offices or living rooms. My favorite, though, is when people ask about making albums. This is a service I have been doing for a few years now, and I have received lots of good feedback from clients that liked how it turned out!
Photo Albums
The albums are printed onto photographic paper, mounted onto a solid backing, and bound into a black leather cover. This protects photos, and makes them easier to pass around, and share at home or take with you to share anywhere you like. There is a design element too that is easier to produce in book form. When you open the pages to the book, it is possible to make a horizontal image more panoramic in its display by having the image span two pages. Using this, it seems like the images are even more enlarged, and pop off the page. Here are two examples of how it can be done with a landscape image, and a ballroom dance image:
My wife came up with the idea for the names for the brag books. There are three sizes – the standard size being 5×7 – the “Ballroom Brag Book”. With this book you can span landscape images to one 7×10 image across 2 facing pages. The smallest book is the 4×6 or “Baby Ballroom Brag Book”. The largest of the books is a beautiful 10×10 book where you can make 20×10 spanning images on facing pages. This is what I use to demonstrate the books when we travel to events. It is called the “Brilliant Ballroom Brag Book”.
Album Design
These albums can be made from photos at any event we have photographed. Between 12 and 20 images will display best in these books. If you have that number of images, it can actually be cheaper to have them put in books than individual prints! I will put together a draft of the layout for you. Afterwards, I will send you a pdf copy for you to look at an approve before the book is printed. It is delivered in a nice case for storing the album. If this is something that you wondered about when you went through the site I hope this helps. Please email me or call with any questions about them. These are great for sharing, and I actually have fun putting the layouts together!
It was exciting to learn that a few of our photos from the 2013 American Star Ball appeared in the latest issue of Dance Beat magazine! This is a great resource for the latest in ballroom dance competitions. There are write ups on the competitors, the results, and the overall event after it has taken place.
We were more than happy to provide some of our photos to the organizers to submit along with the article. It is always nice to be published, and I hope to be getting a copy of the issue soon. All the photos from this weekend are still available to view on the proofing website.
Of course, the professional dance competitions were packed with beautiful photos. However, all weekend was full of great dancing. On this occasion, the ballroom was setup very nicely with saturated curtains as a background. It really makes the subjects pop off the page. Here are more of my favorites from the event. Enjoy!
