Posts Tagged ‘studio’

2016 Gaithersburg Tea Dance

Arthur Murray Gaithersburg, MD

Last weekend, the Arthur Murray studio in Gaithersburg, Maryland invited me to their studio. The staff hosted a holiday tea dance on Saturday afternoon. This was the first time I had visited their location! Even though I have been photographing them for years at the large events, I have not been inside previously.

2016 Gaithersburg Tea Dance

Participation is one of the strengths of this studio. As soon as dancing starts at Freestyles, it will not be long until you hear, “Go Gaithersburg!” in the ballroom. Of course, the same was true here. During the afternoon, there were social dances, and some performances put on by their staff.

Afterwards, I got some group photos of everyone there. This was a challenge with all the people that attended the dance! Seeing that there were so many people attending on a weekend during a busy time, it was heart-warming to see. Without a doubt, they create a community around their passion for dance. They support dancers of every level, and they are genuine in wanting everyone to progress and succeed.

Arthur Murray, Gaithersburg, MD ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray, Gaithersburg, MD ©TimeLine Media

After the guests left, I made some group photos of the staff. Of course, these would be great for holiday cards from the studio. I really enjoyed the short time I had with them. They were in the holiday spirit, and very happy with the turn out for their tea dance! In any case, I don’t think it would be hard to get great photos of this group. They play off against each other well! Since they work together every day, they know how to get good expressions out of their coworkers. Congratulations, on a great 2016 Gaithersburg! I look forward to more images in 2017.

Arthur Murray, Gaithersburg, MD staff ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray, Gaithersburg, MD staff ©TimeLine Media

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

Columbia Arthur Murray Silhouettes

Columbia, Maryland

To say that this was one of my favorite photo shoots is somehow an understatement! Leisa Howard, owner of the Columbia, MD studio had this idea for updating the images in the studio. Although I have photographed MANY dance events, this would be a very different collection of images. The goal was to make Arthur Murray Silhouettes using the staff at their studio. Since it would be easier to set this up at their location, I brought all my lighting to do the shoot there.

Joe and Leisa Howard in an Arthur Murray Silhouettes photo in the studio in Columbia, Maryland ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray Silhouettes of Joe and Leisa Howard at their studio in Columbia, MD ©TimeLine Media

Compared to dance events, these photos were made under much more controlled circumstances. As a lighting setup, I had two flashes firing into a white seamless background. This is not typical for me but on this occasion, the goal was to completely separate the subjects from the lighting. With this in mind the dancers are moved far from the background lights so that they fall into darkness. In effect they become silhouettes in an extreme contrast of subject and background. Afterwards I boosted the contrast even more to be black and white. This look mirrored some retro images of Arthur Murray posters of the past which is very appropriate for their walls.

Leisa and Joe Howard in an Arthur Murray Silhouettes photo in the studio in Columbia, Maryland ©TimeLine Media
Leisa and Joe Howard dance at their studio in Columbia, Maryland ©TimeLine Media

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

Speed of Life – Model Shoot

Ashburn, Virginia

In January, I photographed a project with Kyle McKay from MXK Productions. Mehr and Kyle had a styled shoot based around the song, Speed of Life by David Bowie. In light of his recent death, the shoot was styled with inspiration from his song. Being that I was not available to go to the studio with the production, I did a behind-the-scenes look at them getting ready. However, I was able to setup a small headshot lighting setup to get a quick preview for what was to come later.

Mehr Bano was the primary make up artist that worked on the production. Since there were so many models that had to be done before leaving for the studio, there was a tight schedule to finish. In that case, I photographed as much of the action as it happened. The hair styling, makeup, henna, clothing – there was a lot going on in particular after the basics were done.

Small Headshot Lighting Studio

Whenever a model was ready for the camera, I brought them to a mobile lighting setup that I brought with me. With the limited space, it was one light only. With a black background, I love how these turned out. This shoot was produced in the hope that they would be published. Best of luck to everyone that helped to make it happen!

Speed of Life photo shoot with MXK Productions ©TimeLine Media
Speed of Life photo shoot with MXK Productions ©TimeLine Media
Speed of Life photo shoot with MXK Productions ©TimeLine Media
Speed of Life photo shoot with MXK Productions ©TimeLine Media
Model with henna applied ©TimeLine Media
Model with henna applied ©TimeLine Media
Speed of Life photo shoot with MXK Productions ©TimeLine Media
Speed of Life photo shoot with MXK Productions ©TimeLine Media

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

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