This photo is one of my favorites from covering the SingStrong DC event. Street Corner Symphony performed there in 2011, and the organizers gave me great access to shoot all around the venue. This was a shot from just back stage during their performance. It gives a different angle from most of the audience. The streaming stage lights give add a nice element to the photo. At this time it breaks up the big black hole for the top 3rd of the frame. Additionally, there is a little view of the audience in the bottom part of the frame. I processed the photo to be a contrasty black and white reminiscent of classic rock musician photos from the 70’s and 80’s.
The coolest thing was that I had the opportunity to see Street Corner Symphony perform again this month at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, VA. Not only were they still as good as they were on the NBC Show, the Sing-Off, but they are still accessible and responsive to their fans. If you ever have the opportunity to see them, definitely take it! There will be more great singing this weekend at SingStrong, and I hope to make more great photos there again.
No password or access code is needed to view the photos. Please share the link with your family and friends that would like to view! We have organized the photos by dancer number so you don’t have to go through thousands of other photos to find yours. If there are any mistakes, please let me know. There were a few that we could not identify, and those have been listed under “unknowns” along with their style. If you have any trouble finding your photos, please contact me directly. I’d be happy to help you find your photos. There is an early-bird sale price for all orders placed until March 11, 2013
Competition Organizers
In the spirit of the Oscars, I have a lot of people to thank for helping to make these great images. First, the organizers from the Mid-Eastern Chapter of USA Dance, Joe, Jack, and Dave that are very helpful to us. They helped us to get setup and organized for the whole weekend. They let me and my photographers have great access to the floor during the Mid-Atlantic Championships.
Next, I’d like to thank Rachel, Shanna, Mario, and Jae for helping me to cover the event by using their photography and stamina skills to shoot many hours of dancing over the course of two days. There were lots of photos, but I think we covered the event as best we could.
Mid-Atlantic Championship Dancers
To the dancers, I admire the work that you put into your dancing through practices, coaching, and rehearsing with your partners. Ballroom dancing is a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of effort and guts to be confident enough to go in front of judges and and audience to show off your skills. Continued luck with your dancing in the future, and I hope to see you again in my camera soon!
Thanks to my wife who worked hard all last weekend to go through photos, and this weekend to go through them again to categorize them by number. We get better every time, but it’s always quite a feat to finish one of these. BRING ON THE NEXT ONE!!
I’ll rest for a bit, but I do have more exciting photos to come this weekend. Stay tuned to the blog for those!
The uploading of the photos is continuing! There are 9780 photos in total, so it does take a while to get on the web, but they will be up there soon! Also, there are many folders going up since we sorted them by the gentleman’s number. Thanks for checking out the blog! All the photos will be posted to the proofing website here-
As can be seen, you can order your images in black and white. Unlike the color images, these monochrome tones can highlight the lines of the dancers. Especially when you have a colorful dress, this can distract from the work you put into your dancing.
From a photographer perspective, black and white is a departure from reality. For the most part, people see in color. With this in mind, changing a photo monochrome starts you on the path to artistic freedom. Taking the image above for example, I darkened the areas surrounding the dancers to make the pop out even more. When the photo was desaturated, I thought that the other dancers, the audience, and the room did not add much to the composition. So I darkened those attempting to make it clearer. How did it work?
