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Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’

Ballroom Dance, Event, Photography | 0 comment

Arthur Murray Fall Showcase

Professional Showcases – DC Area Arthur Murray Fall Showcase

These were some of my favorites from the professional show dances at the end of the 2012 Fall Showcase. The next Showcase event from these studios will be on June 22, 2013. At this time, it will be held at the Hilton McLean in Tysons Corner, VA. For the professional shows, I experimented with using the flashes at the four corners of the room. In short, all are pointed directly onto the dance floor. There would of course be some flare with the flash sometimes being pointed towards the camera. I tried to be patient, and wait for someone to block the lights. Additionally, I sometimes got lucky with the light not firing at the time a shot was taken. Here is an example of the backlight providing a nice rim for the lady.

Ballroom dance photo - www.timelinedc.com

Reston, Virginia

The following photo was probably my favorite for the entire event. These two from the Arthur Murray studio in Chevy Chase, MD. They have danced many of these shows before, and they always play nicely to the audience. The main light is coming from the two lights behind the camera lighting their faces. The two lights facing more directly into the lens provide a nice rim light to separate them from the background. With all these lights facing away from the walls, there is also a nice falloff to the back wall.

Ballroom dance photo - www.timelinedc.com
Ballroom dance photo - www.timelinedc.com

For the last performance, the dancers did a Swing to Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and got the audience to join them on the dance floor at the end! It was an unexpected development – I have never seen the dancers encourage the crowd to join them at the end of their dance. With help from some of the other teachers and brave souls that went out there first, the entire space was filled.  Here the back lights showed through some of the crowd. I think it really helps to convey the excitement and energy of the crowd at the end of a great day of dancing!

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Personal, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

NASA Memorials – Tech Thursday

Space Shuttle Discovery photo - www.timelinedc.com

NASA – Memorials

There are some sad postings for memorials at the NASA website this week. The Apollo 1, Challenger, and the upcoming Columbia anniversaries are all this week. Although I was not around for Apollo, my childhood is framed around the era of the Space Shuttle.

GCB

The interest in space was instilled by my father. He was an architect, which would discuss engineering, design, and accomplishments of the space program. I had models of the shuttle on the back of a Boeing 747 as a background for many photos. I wish I could find one right now. We never made it to a launch in Florida, but we did visit the Kennedy Space Center on family vacations. I still have 2 space shuttle launches on VHS tape in the archive – the NBC coverage of STS-6 when Sally Ride became the first American woman in space, and STS-8 the first night launch of the shuttle.

He would explain to me the technical aspects of launching – how the boosters would be used for only part of the launch, then fall back to earth, and how the shuttle would fly with it’s bay doors open, then glide back to earth like a airplane. In a time well-before the internet, he provided me with books, magazines, and all the information I could want on the space program. We went to Dulles airport in 1985 when the Enterprise was delivered prior to display at the Air & Space Museum. It would be almost 20 years until the aircraft would be displayed at the new museum in Chantilly, VA.

NASA Delivery

Space Shuttle Discovery photo - www.timelinedc.com

Last year, the Enterprise was being replaced at the museum by Discovery. It would be flown in just as in 1985 with flyovers giving the public many chances to see it before landing. It was a beautiful morning, and the views were perfect to see this marvelous machine as it retires. This was a personal memorial for my father who gave me an appreciation for the Space Shuttle program and astronauts and engineers that gave us pride in our resourcefulness and imagination. If he was still with us, I’m sure he would have been out there shooting a camera with me.

Space Shuttle Discovery photo - www.timelinedc.com
Space Shuttle Discovery photo - www.timelinedc.com

I had a quick short video of my shoot from that day – Waiting For Discovery

Space Shuttle Discovery photo - www.timelinedc.com

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Ballroom Dance, Event, Photography | 0 comment

Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles

Arthur Murray ballroom dance photo - www.timelinedc.com

Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles – Professional Showcases

Just a quick post today! These were from the showcase dances that capped off the DC Area Arthur Murray Fall Freestyles last September. The dancers represented the Alexandria, Ashburn, Columbia, and Tysons Corner studios. After 2 days of dancing, and a highly contested team match pitting Maryland vs. Virginia, these dances kept everyone on the edge of their seats until the end.

This is the highlight for the photographers as well! The action is the focus of the entire room. The dancers plan to perform to the crowd, so I position myself in the best spot to get the photos, and just follow the dancers around the floor. It’s a nice way to end an event – to capture great action photos of professionals doing their best to excite the audience, and propel them to continue to better their own dancing. So many of these I save for my portfolio, and I enjoy sharing them with the studios after the event. The dancers put so much effort into these showcases, and I hope to capture in stills what they are conveying in motion long after they have performed.

Arthur Murray ballroom dance photo - www.timelinedc.com
Arthur Murray ballroom dance photo - www.timelinedc.com

Portfolio Image

The following photo was one of my favorites for the year. When I first started taking ballroom dance photos, one my favorite moments to capture was just before the start of the dance. You may catch confidence nerves, preparedness, but in smooth dances, you almost always catch quiet. The entire room awaited the start of the dance. The previous rhythm dance got the crowd off their feet in applause, so the room was still buzzing with energy when these two walked out on the floor. They took their time to get into position, then waited for the quiet before starting, and I took one photo.

The lights were setup so that there would be some falloff from the flash before it hit the back wall opposite from my shooting position. This helps to emphasize the dancers, separating them from the background. When I got this image into the computer, I pushed the exposure on the dancer just a tick in Photoshop leaving the background where it was. Her dress is made by “Designs to Shine” and I think the little boost helps to emphasize the shine!

Arthur Murray ballroom dance photo - www.timelinedc.com

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