Here are some photos from the recent 2013 USA Dance Mid-Atlantic Championships. This competition has great amateur dancing in Ballroom and Latin categories over 2 days. There are plenty of opportunities to capture dynamic images of dancers. The first image was during the Standard competition, and I guess was during a Quickstep. This illustrates some of the goals for getting good action photography. Just as with concert photography, a good expression in the middle of the performance can make for a great image. Also, there is good action from the lady’s dress – flaring out from her at the bottom.
In this photo, there are some nice elements working together in the frame. There is a hint of the flash peeking out from behind the man, and there are other dancers on the floor in the background. They are present, but not too distracting to the main subject in the frame. The light is definitely luck, but the additional background dancers is something you can aim for with landscape formatted photos. Most of the portrait oriented photos in ballroom dance only accommodate one couple at a time. This is the majority of the photos that I take at events, but they don’t show up as well on the web! The composition for these photos is more difficult for ballroom dance, but they can add context and variety to the coverage.
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