Martina Verbeni
Series: Dance
Series: Dance
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Oct, 2016Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Use Of Artificial Light Photo Contest
Runner Up in Lets Dance Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Lets Dance Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 15
Editor's Choice
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
All Star
Genius
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Categories
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image has been taken in Perugia in a home Studio.Time
The session started at about 9.00 PM and we finished after midnight.Lighting
To get the desired effect I used two flashguns diffused with softboxes placed left and right slightly above the ballerina to contour the body and a third flashgun diffused with a softbox from the front above as fill to slightly lighten up the shadows.Equipment
As camera I used my trusty Canon 7D with the Canon 24-105IS-L lens on it. I did not use a tripod, since between the single shots the movement was noticable and I had constantly to reframe. As flashes I used a Nissin di866ii and two Yongnuo YN568ii flashes triggered with the Yongnuo YN622 wireless system.Inspiration
I admire the combination of pure power and absolute elegance in a dancers body and movements. The idea was to combine this two aspects and create powerfull portraits. Working with Martina was a stunning experience. Not only is a professional dancer able to perform movements that would break a normal human beeing, but she did it time and time again and this attitude pushed us to try new poses and gave me the possibility to play with the lighting like I never did before.Editing
Post processing in this case was easy. The starting image was almost spot on. I enhanced the contrast using dodge&burn techniques to smooth the overall lighting differences. After the contrast processing I applied some color correction and moved the background black level slightly to a bluish tint. Not having the background completely black reduces the contrast with the ballerina and therefore the background becomes less important and outstanding.In my camera bag
As gear I usually bring the Canon 7D, the Canon 24-105IS-L lens, the Canon 50f1.8 lens and a couple of Yongnuo flashes. Also in my bag are several memory cards, a cardreader, a usb hdd for backup, several aa batteries with a charger and a couple of 7d batteries.Feedback
Understand your lighting! Moving the lights just a little bit can make a huge difference. It took me a bit of time until I figured out how to make light work in my favor. It is important to start with a well defined idea of how the result should look like. This kind of images demand a lot from the models and once they got tired it is game over so reducing the setup time from shot to shot is very important. Also knowing what to look for in a ballerin's pose is crucial. Dancers practice for years to get the positions and poses right and portraing them the wrong way is like taking a picture of a Ferrari without wheels. I had the pleasure to work with a professional dancer and instructor for this shoot and they helped me correct the poses from shot to shot.
