The Dancer
After starting a life-drawing class, I became interested in how I might take some of the ideas of "line" I had been exploring with pencil and translat...
Read more
After starting a life-drawing class, I became interested in how I might take some of the ideas of "line" I had been exploring with pencil and translate them using light and camera. I was fortunate to meet a retired ballet dancer who was happy to collaborate.
Read less
Read less
Jan, 2016Views
2357
Likes
Awards
Top Shot Award
People's Choice in Dancer between Us Photo Challenge
Winner in Low Key Select Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
All Star
Love it
Genius
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in dance studio in Dumfries, Scotland, with a few metres of black fleece as a backdropTime
Although it was taken mid-afternoon on a day in June, it was an overcast day and ambient light was irrelevant.Lighting
I set the camera to shoot at 1/200th of a second at f/8 and ISO 100, which basically cancelled out the ambient light. I then set up 2 speedlites into a large, 6 foot softbox, which I placed to one side, and slightly behind the model. This meant she was highlighted from one angle only, allowing me to darken down the other areas in post-production.Equipment
I used a Canon EOS 7D Mark II with a Canon 24-70mm L lens, handheld, along with 2 off-camera Canon 430 speedlites pointing into the softboxInspiration
2 years previously I had joined a life drawing class to force me to look at and study light, line and form in a different way than through the lens of a camera. Alex was a professional ballet dancer until she was 40, at which point she became a fitness instructor. Now aged 66 she still had a honed and supple body that would be the envy of someone several decades her junior. Alex and I came together for a different, long term project I'm working on, but I saw an opportunity to take some of the ideas of "line" I had been exploring with pencils and see how I might transfer them using light and lens. Fortunately she was game and when we had completed the photos for the other project I set up a black cloth background with a large softbox to one side. This photo is one of a series I did exploring this idea.Editing
Pretty much the only thing I did was use the curves tool in Photoshop - grabbing the line around the centre and dragging it down until everything except the highlights were blacked out. Then a little bit of dodge and burn in places.In my camera bag
For nearly 4 years I was happy with my Canon 7D, but now I'm even happier with my Canon 7D mk2. The 3 lenses I use most are my Canon f/2.8 24-70mm, which is pretty much my workhorse lens; a Canon f/2.8 70-200mm which is fantastic for shooting live performances - getting in close in low light conditions; and finally a wide angle Canon 10-22mm for when I need to take in a lot in a small space. I also usually have 2 or 3 Canon speedlites to hand and an assortment of softboxes and modifiers.Feedback
The key thing to this kind of photo is to eliminate any ambient light so you have maximum control over where the light is falling. You also need to have as dark and uncluttered background as you can.
