According to the Facebook page for the competition, this year’s New Jersey State Open will be the biggest yet! It has been a lot of fun to cover this event for many reasons. The first being the many teachers and students that come to dance over the weekend. They support our photography, and talk with us about how they are using our photos as memories of the event, and to help them with their dancing. Second, the organizers are very accommodating to us – we always have a nice space to setup a booth, and we get lots of flexibility to setup our equipment around the room.
They have some unique qualities at this event that keeps the audience involved in the show, and I know they will run another smooth competition this year. Third, the venue is very well suited for ballroom dance competition. The Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, NJ has a very large ballroom that is completely open with plenty of room for a full floor and tables for the audience. Just out of the ballroom is a large space for the vendors for dresses, shoes, and accessories. We really look forward to attending this competition – October 24 – 27, 2013.
The large ballroom does allow for many options for lighting for photos. I have tried many different setups for the flashes, and all of them have worked well. It is nice to go back to familiar venues so that fine tuning of lighting is possible even before the dancing begins. Here are some of my favorites from last year’s event. See you in AC!
Please note about events expiring today! The 2012 New Jersey State Open and the 2012 Paragon Open photos will be expiring from the proofing website. At this time the photos will be removed from viewing today. Afterwards they will placed into the archive. You will be able to still access the photos, but it is a $30 charge to retrieve the files, and re-upload them to the website. There were some great photos from this event, so if you want to have any prints or digital downloads, please visit the website today!
Here are some photos from the 2012 New Jersey State Open held on this occasion at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, NJ. Their website is currently being updated, but this year’s event is scheduled to be October 24-27, 2013. We plan to be their official photographer again this year, and hope to see all of you there!
Here are some of my favorites from the Paragon Open held in Whippany, NJ. For this time, I had an associate photographer, Mario, cover this event for us, and he did a great job! Of course I wish I could shoot every event but it is nice to be friends with other professionals that can cover for me. I’m especially glad that many of you purchased copies of your favorites to keep. We hope to be invited back again this year. Enjoy!
Life takes a strange winding road. Looking back, my wanting to be in something creative led me to photography. Although I love music, and had studied piano from 4 until college, my attempt at becoming a pianist, a-cappella music director, or recording engineer was just not sustainable. I had an amazing time doing these things, but I always seem to come up a bit short when challenged. Much like in my science career at the time, I was adequate, but not special. However, I may have gotten lucky at the Bally’s casino/hotel in Atlantic City.
Dance-o-rama
Bally’s in Atlantic City, NJ
When dancing in at the 2007 Arthur Murray Dance-o-rama, I photographed my fellow students, and instructors from the Arthur Murray dance center in Tysons Corner, VA. Throughout the weekend, I found that ballroom dance was a terrific subject for photos! Additionally it was a fun challenge to capture. There were different types of dances, and different costumes for each type of dance. Also lots of personalities that could be captured from facial expressions, body movement, and moments in between dances. I pushed my camera and 70-200mm lens as far as they would go. It was necessary to try to get better photographs during each heat.
Professional Dance Competition
Open Professional Rhythm Competitors
Overall the goal was to catch dancers in their dramatic lines that were well-practiced, and perfected leading up to the competition. Comparatively, i tried to catch students performing at their best in front of the judges! Likewise it was an ice breaker to interact with students from other studios. With a cheering crowd, and encouraging friends I felt that I really wanted to capture the mood. It was not every day that you see an event of this kind.
Open Professional Rhythm Competitors
Now, three years later, the thrill of that first big competition is still with me. With this in mind, I will again go to the Bally’s Atlantic City for the 2010 New Jersey State Open. It was the same room that I made my first ballroom dance photographs. I still get caught up in the excitement when the music starts. Moreover there is another set of friends, instructors, and dancers start to cheer! My hope is that I can capture not only the anxious, excited mood of the event but the months and years of work the dancers have invested.
Bally’s Atlantic City
Pro-Am dancers at the Arthur Murray Dance-o-rama in Atlantic City, NJ
There are so many I need to thank for helping me along this journey – Steve Theiss for giving my first opportunity to photograph dancers and who really helped open the door to more events, to my first subjects at this dance event who sucked my laptop’s battery dry on the ride home to view all the photos, and lastly to my wife Bryony who has gone to EVERY event I have photographed doing everything behind the scenes from downloading cards, editing images, and talking with dancers about our photography. I am really behind on the blog, but I promise to get more of our 2010 events up here very soon!
