Dance

[jeanie]

1. in what area is critique to be seek?
Lighting, exposure, skintone, framing, cropping...etc
(basically anything which you feel aint right)


2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
i wanted to freeze the jump of the dance move, and hopefully capture the flow of the shawl/cloth to 'blend' in nicely to the composition.
I also wanted a chance to fire and capture acceptable high key images


3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
home studio in my room,airconditioned, before lunch.
more than 50 jumps were made in total, and it was stressful cos i wanted to make the shot and i know with every jump, the model is losing energy.
new age music was set in, lightings fully dimmed save for modelling lights for model to feel the mood.
i didnt tell her about facial expression as i dont have much experience in dance.


4. what the critique seeker personally think of the picture
i think this is one of my better shots out of the lot.i had other shots which had her jump 180 degrees legs parallel to horizon but her leg went out of the backdrop.


i thank you for the time taken to critic or even take a look at my pic.
i'm not getting much c&c in P&P folder so i thought this will definitely be a better folder to post in.

 

[yanyewkay]

here goes my 2 cents worth of what I think is wrong with the pic..

to convey the feeling of floating/flying thus the jumping action, there must be objects in the picture that should 'defy' gravity, ie: floating in air,

If i'm not wrong, you timed this shot when she was in the upward motion of the jump. Her hair, shawl, clothes are being pulled down by gravity, no sense of jumping. It would be slightly different from her normal jumping routine in order to capture this pic.

IMO, the form of the dancer would be nicer if the other hand was stretched forward in the direction of her vision forming a straight line.

 

[nysheng]

Hi jeanie.. i always wondered wat's the diff between high key images and over exposed images.:think:

hmmz..anyway, i think u got the form of the dancer right(i.e nice position of the arms and legs and the trailing scarf).

is she a model or a dancer? cause i'm trying to figure out wat kind of mood u are trying to portray wif this high key shot?
i feel the face and expression is most important in portraiture.
so she's kinda lacking the in emotion department.

i also feel she looks too 'stiff' IMHO.
felt that the image could be better wif juz a tad slower shutter speed, to convey a sense of motion and at the same time, floating.
(maybe u could ask the model to bend her ankles and wrists slightly when she reaches the peak of her jump, so when u press the shutter, the rest of her body is still, but her feet and hands are blur.)

p.s. u should be seeking c&c in the c&c folder and not the p&p folder rite?

 

[jeanie]

here goes my 2 cents worth of what I think is wrong with the pic..

to convey the feeling of floating/flying thus the jumping action, there must be objects in the picture that should 'defy' gravity, ie: floating in air,

If i'm not wrong, you timed this shot when she was in the upward motion of the jump. Her hair, shawl, clothes are being pulled down by gravity, no sense of jumping. It would be slightly different from her normal jumping routine in order to capture this pic.

IMO, the form of the dancer would be nicer if the other hand was stretched forward in the direction of her vision forming a straight line.

thanks for comments.

i really couldnt remember whether i fired when she was on her way up or down.
when she was on the ground, her back was facing me.then she just took a step and took off.
everything happened way too fast.(ya, i'm slow:embrass: )

regarding the other hand stretched forward, i have a pic of that, but her legs are 180 and i shot from a slightly diff angle.imho, i dont think that works.:embrass:

 

[ortega]

overall lighting is OK, except for the light falling on the left leg
what is really missing is the sense of flying
what you need is wind (or a strong fan)
blow her hair (less gel also)
blow her outfit
blow her shawl

facial expression could be more "free"
also more empty space on the bottom for a sense of height

 

[jeanie]

Hi jeanie.. i always wondered wat's the diff between high key images and over exposed images.:think:

there's a definition for it which i've read.but i forgotten already.

hmmz..anyway, i think u got the form of the dancer right(i.e nice position of the arms and legs and the trailing scarf).

is she a model or a dancer? cause i'm trying to figure out wat kind of mood u are trying to portray wif this high key shot?
i feel the face and expression is most important in portraiture.
so she's kinda lacking the in emotion department.

she's one of my good friend.absolutely no modelling experience.but has dance background of more than 10 years.
what's wrong with the expression?or rather, what kind of expression do you think suit the above pic?

i also feel she looks too 'stiff' IMHO.
felt that the image could be better wif juz a tad slower shutter speed, to convey a sense of motion and at the same time, floating.
(maybe u could ask the model to bend her ankles and wrists slightly when she reaches the peak of her jump, so when u press the shutter, the rest of her body is still, but her feet and hands are blur.)

slower?i was asking in newbies corner how to freeze her pin sharp.i didnt want those flowy images.
imho, i dont think i should tell her what to do as she's a pro dancer, and telling her things like bending ankles and wrists may cause her injury (as she lands)as that's not her normal/usual dance routine.:embrass:
i believe it depends on who is viewing the photograph.to a photographer, you may want flow.but imagine showing what you suggested(and her doing it) to a dancer.i think they'll say the 'pose' is wrong.(in dance concepts).agree?:dunno:


p.s. u should be seeking c&c in the c&c folder and not the p&p folder rite?
so may i ask what's the p&p folder for?simply to share pics?

 

[jeanie]

overall lighting is OK, except for the light falling on the left leg
what is really missing is the sense of flying
what you need is wind (or a strong fan)
blow her hair (less gel also)
blow her outfit
blow her shawl

facial expression could be more "free"
also more empty space on the bottom for a sense of height

i shot her with one big soft box to my left.if i put in a fill to my right, or 1:1 ratio, is that known as shadowless lighting?
as much as i wanted highkey images, i would like to have a little shadow, or light fall off.else, it will be lacking in contrast and rather 'flat' lighting.no?please correct me if i m wrong.

wind ah?i dont have wind machine.:cry:
i really dont think there's any fan in the market that can be so powerful as to blow he hair,dress and shawl, other than those used in hawker centers that comes with spray mist.

there's actually more space below her but i cropped it off.

 

[nysheng]

hmmz.. well the kind of expression will determine the mood actually. it all depends on wat u are going for. do u want a concentrated look? a carefree look? or a passionate look? u are the photographer..u should direct the model on wat u want to achieve.
IMHO, i think since it's an all white kind of shot u might want to go for a 'pure' look. sth sweet and erm..pure?;p

when i said to capture motion, i dun realli mean flowy as in wow..whole pic blur kind of motion. i meant, like maybe the arm wif the scarf? to show that there's some sort of motion, if not u might as well get her to lie on the floor in that position or sth:bsmilie:
haha..anyway, i always felt that a little motion of this sort of pics is good. it somehow conveys a sense of dance rather that posing. u can check out russel wong's pics of zhang zi yi in the 'house of flying daggers' set. she does sth like dis if i'm not mistaken.

hmz.. on the part abt whether the pose is wrong or not, u can discuss wif ur model/dancer. tell her wat u want to capture and see wat she suggests. a good working relationship will always show in your photos =)

regarding the p&p folder..erm.. i think that's juz to share ur photos..pple wun realli comment much.

p.s. u put in alot of hard work and good shots for a 'newbie'

 

[eikin]

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
i wanted to freeze the jump of the dance move, and hopefully capture the flow of the shawl/cloth to 'blend' in nicely to the composition.
I also wanted a chance to fire and capture acceptable high key images

somehow i do sense a lack of planning. i'm not going to talk about the picture here because fundamentally i think the starting point may be problematic already.

given the physical limitations, effort is easily wasted if you don't have in mind a clear image of what you want to capture exactly. if you have a large studio with sufficiently large backdrop and space for manoeuvering and a couple of dancers ready to perform anytime you probably can just shoot without rehearsals and hope to capture something unexpectedly delightful.

you need to work with your model and plan how she can perform in the room to maximise your chances of capturing her in good action without her moving out of the backdrop. if the backdrop is really limiting you can consider doing away with it and reconceptualise your setting. if not she will have to redesign her dance to suit your photography. discuss with your model, have in mind what movements she's going to do so that you can plan ahead and not always lagging behind her actions.

exchange opinions whether the high key is really going to suit the dance she is performing. she performed in dim lighting, her mood may be such, but you're intending to have a high key picture. there's nothing wrong with reinterpreting her dance in high key but you'll need to judge whether that is suitable. do you know the dance well enough that you know high key is going to work for a couple of poses?

go through details like whether the cloth is going to open up nicely for you, or should you use other types of cloth. is her dress going to suit her action in your photography, it looks like it kind of got into the way now.

your situation is a challenging one and prone to failure without enough confidence in execution. and when things don't look right on the camera both parties will get frustrated. but at least you have this experience and so you'll be able to plan better for the next one.

 

[jeanie]

perhaps i didnt really explain what i did.
this shoot was totally unplanned.
we were doing the norm portraiture when i recalled she has dance background.
so i just jokefully told her to do a few flips and jumps to show me, and i realised that could make a few shots.hence, we took about 30mins to shoot her dancing, and after that it was back to glamour and high/low key portraits.

thanks to eikin's reminder, if i ever attempt such shots again, i'll get a dance studio..i reckon nothing beats the space in a dance studio.
though my room is big, but there's no way i can do away the backdrop.my wardrobe, toilet, bed and such would be in the picture.

maybe i should ask her to put on her dance costume and do a proper dance studio shoot.

but as a newbie in studio, i better get my basic head shots right first...

 

[LazerLordz]

You could go and watch a few dance performances, especially experimental ones at 72-13 for some inspiration. The Drift-Net performance was quite energetic and the dancer/performer made do with not much more than a 2 meter perimeter on all sides for his solo movements.

High-key wise, it looks alright. Motion in dance, to me, would need some sort of uplifting movement to capture the viewer's eye. Too bad her right arm is hidden.

 

[germ_boi]

Hey, just my observation,

Don't you think that a white background with a white dress sorta blend into each other. Makes it too bright and uncomfy for the eyes. Also causes me to not be able to differentiate between them both.

Maybe, dark purple, could be better. haha