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Posts Tagged ‘Tech Thursday’

Ballroom Dance, Event, Photography, Technology | 2 Comments

Follow Subjects for Better Photos – Tech Thursday

Technique

It has been a very busy ballroom dance photography time! We have had a lot of amazing events to cover in the last month. I am finally completely through all of them and have them available to view online. We do have a little break here until we have another dance event. With this in mind I am taking a step back to review the images. With a few new photographers helping us at events, I have been asked about how I take photos. This is probably the most I have reflected on this process in a while. Usually I am just worried about getting to the location, and getting setup. Finally I make sure we have everything to do the job successfully without losing any images.

American Star Ball Championships - ©TimeLine Media
American Star Ball Championships – ©TimeLine Media

My best piece of advice for photographing ballroom dance or any sporting event, is to follow your subjects with your eye in the viewfinder. Some of the dancers are moving so fast that you would not be able to catch that moment in a frame. By the time you see the moment, then put your eye to the camera, the dancers may already be passed you, or their position may have changed where now the angle is not quite right. If you always have your eye in the camera, and follow the action, you will have a much better chance of catching that perfect frame of very fast action.

Dance Photography

Baltimore Dancesport Challenge - ©TimeLine Media
Baltimore Dancesport Challenge – ©TimeLine Media

This lesson is applicable on both a crowded dance floor or on a showcase of only one couple on the floor at once. If you try to photograph at Professional Standard competition, there are only a few moments where you can catch both dancer’s faces in the light. Their constant closed hold makes it easy to get either one of the dancers, but getting both can be tough unless you are tracking their movements. If there is only one couple on the floor, the job is easier as the distractions are much less. But all the same, you cannot just watch them with your eye out of the viewfinder, then see them start a line, and expect to get it framed up and captured well. This is the challenge, and the fun of photographing dancers on the floor! I am sure as I go through more of these photos, I will come up with more tips. I hope you enjoy all the photos currently on the website, and I will be back to making more soon!

Arthur Murray Spring Freestyles - ©TimeLine Media
Arthur Murray Spring Freestyles – ©TimeLine Media
USA Dance Mid-Atlantic Championships - ©TimeLine Media
USA Dance Mid-Atlantic Championships – follow dancers on the floor ©TimeLine Media

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

Ballroom Dance, Event, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Analog Efex Pro 2 – Tech Thursday

Post Processing

There is a proliferation of images these days. Affordable digital cameras, and smartphones has made photography so accessible to so many. Looking on Flickr, one of the most used social networks for sharing photos shows that the 4 most popular cameras used in its community are iPhone models! With so many of these similar cameras in use, it is easy to see why Instagram, VSCO, and other filter apps are popular. They all have filters that allow users to easily change the default image coming out of the camera. There is enough in these apps that you can drastically change an image right on your phone prior to sharing. This adds to the popularity of taking and sharing images online.

Original photo out of camera - ©TimeLine Media
Original photo out of camera – ©TimeLine Media

For professional photographers, these kinds of tools have been available in Photoshop and Lightroom for many versions. The difference to me is the ease of use. The complexity of these programs keeps photographers from taking advantage of these tools. Lightroom does come with presets that can give your images different looks by applying adjusted sliders to an image. Instantly you can get a different look by changing color, contrast, or any of the sliders in Lightroom.

Software Plugin

Lightroom edit of original photo - ©TimeLine Media
Lightroom edit of original photo – ©TimeLine Media

Some functionality you cannot get in Lightroom includes adding frames edges, creating double exposures, or adding grunge with layers. This is a function that is typically done in Photoshop which is not really my specialty. That is where Analog Efex Pro 2 from the Google Nik Collection. This is a plugin for Photoshop that allows you to make changes like adding dust, grain, and light leaks. You can also add a grunge, or sloppy frame that makes your photo look like it was taken out of a developer bath in the darkroom.

Analog Efex Pro 2 edit of photo - ©TimeLine Media
Analog Efex Pro 2 edit of photo – ©TimeLine Media

Analog Efex Pro makes it easy for you to made adjustments using sliders. There is no complicated switches or menus that you encounter in Photoshop, so it makes it easier to experiment and try different settings before finalizing your image. I’ll post more about this new program as it is really in depth as to what you can do. It is very powerful, and a great tool to add to your post processing.

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

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

Ballroom Dance, Event, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Changing Backgrounds in Photos – Tech Thursday

Wide angle lens pointed upwards - ©TimeLine Media

Chantilly, Virginia

If you were doing an internet search for this topic, you may expect to have an extended Photoshop tutorial. This is definitely not a selection/replacement background tutorial as I am really not the most creative with software. The post comes from looking over backgrounds in ballroom dance photos. This idea works best from the last Arthur Murray Spring Freestyles event that was held at the Westfields Marriott hotel in Chantiily, VA.

The main ballroom has some interesting lights hanging from the ceiling. They are pyramid shape, and hung with the small pointed side facing downwards towards the floor. Moreover, they have very large plain sides creating their shape which makes them an interesting background element in the photos. They do not have the small, rounded out of focus circles that you get from chandelier or smaller light sources. Here, the entire shape can take on a different look depending on the focal length of the lens used. This first image is taken at a very wide angle of 17mm:

Wide angle lens pointed straight ahead- ©TimeLine Media
Wide angle lens pointed straight ahead- ©TimeLine Media

Working the Angles

This makes the lights clearly in focus along with the dancers on the floor. You can clearly see all the detail, mounting, and edges of the lights. From this angle which was taken from a standing height with the lens pointed towards the dancers. It is possible to drastically change the background in the photo by changing only the angle of the camera. In this next photo, the focal length is still 17mm, but I changed my position by going to my knees, and pointing the lens up towards the ceiling. With this wide angle lens, the lamps on the ceiling become much more elongated looking much larger than in the previous photo!

Wide angle lens pointed upwards - ©TimeLine Media
Wide angle lens pointed upwards – ©TimeLine Media

This can be to your advantage when shooting events. You can to give viewers different looks from the event by changing backgrounds. Once you already have one angle, change where you are shooting and more around the scene to see what different looks you can get when the action is not changing much. It keeps your eyes looking through the frame and avoiding fatigue. It will also make for different looks to see when post processing later.

Spring Freestyles Photos Released - ©TimeLine Media
Spring Freestyles Photos Released – ©TimeLine Media

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

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