Balcony Dance
Model - Katerina Kaufman:
http:--www.modelmayhem.com-katerinali
Jan, 2016Views
9853
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Monochrome Masters Project
Contest Finalist in Anything People Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Sexy In Black And White Photo Contest
Member Selection Award
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Peer Award
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Absolute Masterpiece
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Virtuoso
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gianfrancomarzetti
January 28, 2017
Fantastic portrait. I shared on my GOOGLE+ GALLERY * " SPECIAL AUTHORS 2
JasonPhelps
January 31, 2017
Love the female form and how it's muted by the dress but exposed by the silhouette. Wounderful shot. Thank you for sharing.
The_Nighthawk
August 08, 2018
Congratulations on being a finalist with this image. Well done, well deserved.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken in Paris, at the main balcony of Grand Opera de Paris. Happily, it is allowed to photograph in this beautiful building, so we used this opportunity with Katerina, who is really an extraordinary model.Time
Usually Grand Opera is overcrowded with tourists from allover the world. So we came just to the opening (10am) on Monday in October. Of course we were not alone, but we managed to escape too many people around. However we had to work fast, quickly moving from one shooting point to another. The part at the balcony took probably 10-15 minuetsLighting
The light was natural (using flash is not allowed in the Opera). The day was cloudy, so the lighting was fairly uniform. However the semi-covered balcony was less lighted than the street. I used this contrast as a king of backlight to stress transparency of the model's dress and underline lines of her beautiful figureEquipment
It was my old Nikon D90 with Nikkor 18-200VR lens. The focal length was rather short, 33mm in equivalent, because of the limited shooting distance (I think, the width of the balcony is about 4 meters) and because I wanted to make the whole-length portrait of the dancing model. Neither flash, nor tripod were used - just because they are not allowed there.Inspiration
I was very much inspired by Opera luxurious interiors. My idea was to present them via a contrast with a beautiful young girl wearing a very light semi-transparent dress, who would probably dance or quickly move in enormous golden halls. I did not think of the balcony, I did not even know it is possible to come there. But when we discovered the balcony open, we immediately decided to make several shots there. And these spontaneous photographs appeared to be the best of the whole session (it can be seen here: http://endegor.deviantart.com/gallery/27647016/Angel-of-the-Opera).Editing
Not much post-processing here. Framing, black & white conversion, adjusting light and contrast. The sky is blindly white, it is certainly a drawback, but I decided not to make it artificial.In my camera bag
When I'm in the studio, I usually use my Nikon (currently D7200) and two lenses: Nikkor 18-200/3.5-5.6 and Nikkor 50/1.4. When shooting outdoor, I add to the bag Sigma 10-20 lens for architecture and a compact camera for street photography.Feedback
The work of the model is certainly the most important for such photographs. The model should be able to pose on public as if there is nobody around. Also she should be an actress and has performance abilities (dancing, singing, painting, etc. - depending on the subject of shooting). I was absolutely lucky to meet Katerina, who 100% fit to what I planned to shot. This was the first time we work together, so we discussed a lot in advance and this was very useful. While sooting it is very important to make the model happy and having fun, as the charm of pictures like this is in their naturalness and spontaneity. Actually, the photographer should be concentrated more on the model, than on the camera. PS Sorry for my English
