The photographer is looking for deeper feedback connected to their intent, creative direction, and specific questions.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
I attended a photo workshop with classical dancers. What struck me was how much catching the movement was similar for dancers as for subjects in nature. There seems to be an acme, a precise moment where everything ‘flies’ in place. That is what I was after and it seems to have worked, at least for me. Did it for some of you too?
Why This Image?
The first image results from a longer shutter time. I personally like the moody tone. But this could not be to everyone’s liking. Please tell me. The second image has partly to do with chance. I noticed that when other participants were flashing for their shots, there was an opportunity to mix blur and sharp, although without the control of the exact moment. At one point, 3 consecutive flashbursts were caught on the same exposure, showing the development of the dancer’s jump.
Which of the 2 pictures captures your eye most?
What I’m Trying to Express or Explore
As stated, the idea is to express graceful movement. A bit of abstraction likely contributes to the emotion. I would like to combine these and similar pictures with long exposures of gannets in flight. But before I start on that project, every part of it must stand on its own.
Where Feedback Would Help Most
Is the mood in the first picture right for you?
Is the ‘trick’ in the second picture not too obvious?
Would it work to combine dancers and birds?
The first picture with its motion blur is my favourite - smooth motion and that is what I associate with dance.
The second with strobe lighting (accidentally or planned) lights the path of the dancer - a series of consecutive captures of the poses , each one expressing the beauty of shape and form. This is easy to do in a dark studio with a strobe flash (or a torch) to light the same dancer in different positions relative to the camera. It’s obvious how this was done to me - but I’ve studied photography. The same effect can be duplicated by a burst drive mode and then mixing the layers with overlay or screen blend mode in PS, or even in camera with a simple multiple exposure.
If you want to mix motion blur and a sharp dancer, why not use flash in rear or second curtain mode in poor light. so say an exposure of 1 sec or so, and then the flash is timed at the end of the exposure - so you get a blur followed by flash to freeze the dance at the end.
Others have tried a long and short exposures on a two camera rig and then mix the images in `PS
How lovley are these! Such a beautiful idea. You have really captured that “precise moment”. It has certainly worked for me. The first image a standout favourite for me.
Combining dancers and birds sounds like a real challenge to me, but patience and persistance will win.
In the first image; it is so graceful, but I find the heavy black is grounding the dancer. Maybe there’s another version with the blacks and shadows lifted…andy may even desaturated to give a more delicate feel.
Hi Xavier,
These are fantastic. I greatly prefer the first image. To me, they are so very different. It’s amazing how a change of technique changes the subject.
The first image feels very artistic, like you are part of the dance, and the dancers movements are poetic, an expression of flight, joy, energy in an aesthetically pleasing frame. Part of it is the dancer’s outfit, which becomes an extension of her own body. She seems to have not only arms and legs, but wings and tail feathers, all of which add buoyancy. The colors too are simplified and have a timeless, balletic appeal. Nothing flashy, nothing too bold, just the essence of dance (dark figure against a lighter background). I can see this on the cover of a program for a dance production. It would make me want to buy tickets. Of course, that’s not your goal, but that’s how appealing I find the dancer, the moment, and the gesture.
In comparison (and of course, if I saw it on its own, I might think differently), the second image feels mechanical, instructional. Instead of feeling like an artistic moment in the dance, it feels like a step by step guide to nailing that particular movement. Of course, that’s only in comparison to the first image. On it’s own, there is lots to like: the subtle changes in the dancer’s face and expression, her right hand in that one frozen moment, and the apparent excess of legs (one more set than the number of hands?)
I’m glad you shared these, and I’m glad you shared them as a pair. It was interesting to think about why their effect was so different, one so aesthetic and the other so kinesthetic.
ML
I find the first one stunning and it is definitely my favorite. @Marylynne_Diggs said it – wings and tail feathers!!! And against the well-defined but still dreamy torso and a recognizably lovely face. The graceful hands are dreamy but recognizable. and you captured movement and grace without the common issue of an oddly distorted shape somewhere that doesn’t fit the mood. I think this is an exceptional image and I also love the hint of warmness in the BG! The second is a very nice capture and has its own merits but feels as though it needs more room in the frame.
Both are quite interesting, Xavier. The second shows the progression of the moves, but reminds me a little bit of the old motion studies done by Eadweard Muybridge back in the early days. The first is art and I simply love it.
