Posts Tagged ‘Chantilly’

Arthur Murray Chevy Chase – Rumba Professional Show

Rumba Professional Show - ©TimeLine Media

Chantilly, Virginia

Today’s post features photos from a Rumba pro show by the Arthur Murray Chevy Chase studio. Overall this studio consistently has a professional couple perform at the end of these events. It shows that they are supporting each other by helping and observing their practices. Above all, their shows are entertaining for the audiences. This show in particular incorporated steps that are taught in the studios to the students making it accessible and relatable to the audience.

Arthur Murray Chevy Chase, MD - ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray Chevy Chase, MD – ©TimeLine Media

The skill in performing these figures is what separates it from our practice steps! Their swivels, keeping their feet position correct – these subtleties are what makes this a show that you would review as you aspire to improve your dancing. Additionally, I hope to keep such a strong core body position in dancing Rumba. Many of the figures have such similar components that it makes it difficult to lead in a way that the lady can follow easily. In this performance, these two were both strong in keeping their position making for some especially nice lines in the photos.

Professional Show

Rumba - Arthur Murray Chevy Chase, MD - ©TimeLine Media
Rumba – Arthur Murray Chevy Chase, MD – ©TimeLine Media

This weekend we are preparing to take our photography on the road. We are going to make another collection of dance photos, so going through our last event is helping me get into the dance frame-of-mind. I am hoping that we can setup the lighting in similar positions given that I liked the results. The balance between the front and backlighting for these was perfect for the floor this size. Concurrently, the back lighting was not too strong to flare in the camera, and the front lighting was even across the floor. It allowed me to just concentrate on following the dancers, and made the post processing very fast.

Rumba Professional Show - ©TimeLine Media
Rumba Professional Show – ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray Chevy Chase, MD - ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray Chevy Chase, MD – ©TimeLine Media

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

Waltz Professional Show – Spring Freestyles

Ballroom Dance professional show - ©TimeLine Media

Chantilly, Virginia

Happy Friday! After a busy week, I am really trying to get the studio organized. There are some big projects coming up, and I need to clean up a little around here. There is more dancing photos in the future, and we just came back from a dance lesson. Overall, this helps to get the oxygen back into the brain after a day at the computer.

Ballroom Dance Waltz professional show - ©TimeLine Media
Ballroom Dance Waltz professional show – ©TimeLine Media

I think our smooth dancing is getting to be much better and “smoother” (pun intended) and the Waltz is my favorite right now. I feel like I do not have to think as much before starting a new figure, and when things do not line up, we can recover nicely without missing a beat. Looking for photos to post on the blog today, I thought about the Waltz and came across this pro show from the Arthur Murray, Gaithersburg, Maryland studio.

Ballroom Dance professional show - ©TimeLine Media
Ballroom Dance professional show – ©TimeLine Media

Waltz Professional Show

This was a beautiful performance of a dance that can be relatable to everyone that is watching. Whether you have been dancing for 6 weeks or 6 years, you know how to dance the Waltz. The simple three beats and a basic box will get you through any requests to go out on the floor.

Waltz by Arthur Murray Gaithersburg - ©TimeLine Media
Waltz by Arthur Murray Gaithersburg – ©TimeLine Media
Waltz - Ballroom Dance - ©TimeLine Media
Waltz – Ballroom Dance – ©TimeLine Media

Overall, these two took a dance that everyone is familiar with and made it look effortless as they performed solo in front of all the students, their colleagues, judges, etc. This is a tough assignment for all the performers so when they can come out and nail their routine as if they were still in the practice studio with no one watching is outstanding! Everyone was applauded their effort, especially the enthusiastic students and staff from Gaithersburg. They showed their pride in their professionals, and I know they will have many great shows when they dance in future events.

Arthur Murray Gaithersburg Waltz Pro Show - ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray Gaithersburg Waltz Pro Show – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-84-8208

Ballroom in Black and White

Sepia toned ballroom dance - ©TimeLine Media

Having the option of getting your prints in black and white has been an important part of my photography business. In this age of having an extraordinary amount of images being produced by cell phone post processing becomes an important part of the professional photographer’s toolkit. I used to like Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets to make cross processed colors. Additionally these can make other strange contortions to make my images stand out. However, I have moved away from that look. Now, it is only color or monochrome images that I show. At this time the black and whites are quickly becoming my favorite for a lot of dance images.

Arthur Murray Dancing

Black and White ballroom dance - ©TimeLine Media
Black and White ballroom dance – ©TimeLine Media

Taking the color out of images really makes the subjects stand out. This makes it a challenge for the photographer to make sure there is a good subject in a good position! If you have a bad photo composition in color, changing it to black and white will NOT help. It all starts with composition – a good subjects placed correctly in the frame will look good in either, but it can be enhanced by removing the distraction of color information so that the viewers are forced to consider the subject alone.

Black and White ballroom dance - ©TimeLine Media
Black and White ballroom dance – ©TimeLine Media

Monochrome images rely on the light tones to show off subject, and the dark tones to reduce other non-essential elements in the frame. In creating these images, I use an adjustment brush darken areas that are no important, and lighten faces, hands, and part that I want to catch the viewer’s eye. The lightest parts of a scene will draw your eye first through the frame, so emphasize those parts by lightening them above the background.

Black and White ballroom dance - ©TimeLine Media
Black and White ballroom dance – ©TimeLine Media

Adding a sepia tone is also an option that I offer for prints on the website. This takes the tones in the shadows and darker areas, and gives them a slight brown town that simulates and aging print. This is also a popular option and is easily created after all the color is removed from the original photo. The effect is the same on the viewer but adds a little more nostalgic feel to the image.

Sepia toned ballroom dance - ©TimeLine Media
Sepia toned ballroom dance – ©TimeLine Media

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

1 2 3 4 5