Archive of ‘Photography’ category

Throwback Thursday – Dance Photography

After every dance event that we photograph, there are people that request photos from an event that we may have covered years ago. It is really interesting to go back and retrieve these old images! This is obviously nothing new. That is the magic of #TBT, Throwback Thursday, and photography in general. It is a new process for me as a professional photographer. These photos are not just snapshots of family, or places I have visited. For the most part, I do not know these people. They are dancers that we saw at only this event. Or maybe they stopped dancing soon after this competition.

Sometimes, though, there are people that have stayed with dancing, and still show up in our collections today! They are much better dancers, they have much better dresses, or costumes, and are now seasoned veterans to dancesport competitions. It is so much fun to find these connections in looking through old images!

Ballroom-dance-2008-©TimeLine-Media
Ballroom-dance-2008-©TimeLine-Media

From behind the camera, it is interesting to see my own changes. Just like the dancers improving their steps, there is an evolution in how I am capturing images. Yes, there are some technical changes as camera bodies are changed, but I like the more creative changes. I shift my lighting setup, I move my perspective to the dance floor, and I stylistically change my compositions in how I like to capture dancers.

Ballroom-dance-2011-©TimeLine-Media
Ballroom-dance-2011-©TimeLine-Media

Sometimes, I have gone back to some old techniques when I review these. Maybe some tweaks are added here and there, but it is a cool part of the process of really concentrating on making images. There is still so much I want to learn and improve on with my photos! it is a struggle to be sure, but looking back really helps me to see how I have already improved, and pushes me to find the next level with an upcoming opportunity.

Ballroom-dance-2014-©TimeLine-Media
Ballroom-dance-2014-©TimeLine-Media
Leisa-Joe-Howard-2008-©TimeLine-Media
Leisa-Joe-Howard-2008-©TimeLine-Media

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

DC Dance Challenge | Dancesport Photographer

Washington, DC

This must be the season for ballroom dancing. We just finished one big event, but we have a couple more right around the corner! On October 5, we are going to be in downtown Washington, DC for the DC Dance Challenge. We always enjoy covering this event because of the great dancing, and of course the familiar faces! It is great to connect with so many local dance enthusiasts and professionals.

Professional-Show-©TimeLine-Media

Professional-Show-©TimeLine-Media

The venues that the organizers choose for this event has always been great for photos! In previous years, the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo served as the backdrop, but they have switched to the beautiful Atrium Ballroom at the Ronald Reagan Building. If you have driven around the large Federal buildings in DC, you no doubt have seen this imposing structure in the Federal Triangle area. Right off the main atrium of the building is the large ballroom that is perfect for holding dancesport events. We had a great time shooting in the space that held a great showcase for the dancers and their talents.

DC-Dance-Challenge-©TimeLine-Media
DC-Dance-Challenge-©TimeLine-Media
Salsa-Formation-©TimeLine-Media
Salsa-Formation-©TimeLine-Media

Looking at the website for this year’s competition, it looks like it will be another great event! In the evening, they have some great professional shows where there are lots of exciting photos to be made. My favorite from the day is the Dancing with the DC Stars Showcase competition where the dancers get to hear directly from the judges right after their performance, and with the audience watching. There is a lot of nervous tension in the air, but it really pushed the dancers to do their best, and the audience gets a great show! If you are in the area in a few weekends, try and make it – the organizers and attendees are some of the friendliest around, and you will enjoy a great showcase.

Dancing-with-the-DC-Stars-©TimeLine-Media
Dancing-with-the-DC-Stars-©TimeLine-Media

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

Content Aware Photoshop | Tech Tuesday

Outdoor Photos

It has been a busy week for putting in print orders – Thank you!! Some were talking to us about photos at the last ballroom dance event and had questions about dimensions of photos. This is an old discussion that photographers have been having for years. The cameras that most consumers use create images that have dimensions that are 2 x 3 natively. That means that to get the entire images onto a piece of paper without any borders or cropping, the size of the photos has to be 4” x 6”, 6” x 9” or 8” x 12”. Notice that the popular 5” x 7” or 8’ X 10” dimensions are not listed!

Initial-image-prior-to-editing-©TimeLine-Media
Initial-image-prior-to-editing-©TimeLine-Media

Photoshop Editing

In order to create those, some cropping is needed for these sizes. For the most part it means that something will get cut off in the frame. Please do not worry about this! As part of the editing process (that week where I am off social media and blogging after a big event) I am looking at each photo. With this in mind, I am cropping them down from their original state out of the camera to make sure the subjects are more prominent in the frame, and that they are placed better in the frame. This means that there are lots of cases where there is extra room where if you need an 8×10 print, I can redo the cropping to ensure nothing gets cut off, and all the important parts of the frame will still be in your photo before you receive it in the mail.

New Functionality

For extreme examples, I may have to do some Photoshop tricks to get things to work. At this point, this is where “Content Aware” functions do their magic. Using this example of my nephew riding a motorbike, you can see that the composition is not quite right. In fact, he is too far on the left of the frame riding out. A better composition would be for him to be more on the right with “room” to go through the frame. To move him back, I select an area around him with the Lasso tool: Select-subject-with-Lasso-tool


Then I click the “Content Aware Move” tool from the toolbar:

Select-content-aware-move-tool
Select-content-aware-move-tool


Then I just click the selected area, and move it down the frame – Photoshop will fill in the space that I cut him out with surrounding content.

Move-subject-in-frame
Move-subject-in-frame


In that way, I can move subjects around a frame, and put them in a place that is easier for cropping images. Not every case is as easy as this one, but if you have a specific request, please know that there are lots of options to get the final photo that you need in a specific frame dimension.

Final-edited-photo-©TimeLine-Media
Final-edited-photo-©TimeLine-Media

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

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