Another dancing couple reached out to have some photos taken. They had decided to try the Georgetown Waterfront to make some nice dance portraits. Sharon and Michael chose this spot as there were some fountains and views of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. This spot is right across the Potomac River from Roosevelt Island that we visited recently on a photo walk.
Georgetown
We met in the late morning, early afternoon for our session. That was the best time that we could coordinate schedules. However, this is not the most ideal time for photos. I had to use a lot of fill flash to get the photos we were looking to make. Fill flash is available on any camera today to help balance the bright background from the sun and sky, and the subject that is in the foreground. If you did not have this added light, your photos will have your subjects in silhouette, with a perfectly exposed background. Unfortunately this is typically not the important part of the photo. In this case, you would exposed the fountains, sky, and buildings in the background, and the dancers would be in shadow.
Mid-Day Portraits
Fill flash is not anything special. It can be the internal flash built into your camera or smartphone, an external speedlight, or a large strobe flash. Adjust the flash to balance the exposure on your subject to match your background. In this case, I had to use 2 Nikon speedlights at full power to get the dancers exposed well in the harsh light. A nice bonus if you get to this point, you get a nice saturated blue in the sky instead of a blown out white sky.
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