Aerial Silk

I have had recently the opportunity to photograph our local aerial silk artist and present today one of the best photos from the shoot. We took the picture in a gym using two lights. The main with a softbox standing to the camera left and then a rim light behind the model on the right. The background was not completely dark as I hoped to, so I had to darken it in Lightroom using the brush tool with edge detection. Camera spec: Canon 5d mark iii with Canon 70-200 L2.8 II at 85mm, F8 @ 1/160, ISO 100.

A Dance on a Cliff

Today I am posting a picture taken yesterday at a wedding shoot in North Jutland with a beautiful couple daring to dance on a cliff near the Mårup Church. In the background you can see the edge of the cliff falling into the ocean and forming a pleasing diagonal, ending with the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse. The picture was taken at the end of the shoot when I asked the couple just to relax and dance little bit, signaling that the shoot is over. Then they suddenly kissed and I clicked at the right moment, capturing great emotions. Camera spec: Canon 5d mark iii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 135mm, F4.5 @ 1/500, ISO 200.

Galaxy Casino

I am sitting right now at Hong Kong airport, getting ready for my flight to Amsterdam, and browsing through the photos I took at Macao. Couple of days ago I visited the newest Galaxy Casino in Macao (or rather Taipa) opened just a couple of months ago. The entrance is impressive and I especially like the background of the entrance to the casino. I was lucky enough and in just a few minutes four girls arrived to pose for me, and I didn't hesitate I took this photo. The colors are great but it is interesting also compositionally as it is symmetric both vertically and horizonally with nice reflections of the background on the floor (being polished every 30 minutes). I just wished I had a wedding couple at this great location ... Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 17-40 4L at 19mm, F5.0 @ 1/50, ISO 2500.

The Witches’ Dance

This is another of my favorite photos from the same event as the one below. There is no flash light, all is ambient light coming from spot lights. The show of the witches was very entertaining and the final composition where all of them gathered is nice and very relaxed. I liked the show and I like this photo a lot. Enjoy the witches' dance! Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II at 75mm, F4 @ 1/320, ISO 1600.

Brazilian Samba

Here is a recent photo I took at a local meeting of dances here in Aalborg. The photo is of a local group called Poco Loco dancing samba. The stage was very nicely lit but the dances were dancing on the floor under the stage which was essentially completely dark. I quickly grabbed my flash that I otherwise didn't use at all during this shoot and bounced it over my shoulders back to a relatively high ceiling. This created a nice balance between the foreground scene lit by my flash and the background with ambient light. I also like the central composition of the photo showing the foreground dancer, two dancers little bit behind and the band playing in the background. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 F4 L, F4.5 @ 1/200, ISO 1600.

Orange and Blue

Another photo from Aalborg Carnival that I like to present today is called Orange and Blue. The position of the dancer is more out of the center creating a more dynamic composition. What makes the photo interesting in my eyes is the contrast between the warm orange background and the cold blue dress of the dancer. The light is a pure ambient as in the photo below. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/400, ISO 500.

Screem for Joy

Today I am posting my favourite photo from Aalborg Carnival and the battle of carnival bands. The show took place in an open stage which was lit by excellent tungsten light spots, so there was no need for any flash. I really like the energy in the photo which shows how the dancers of the Vimoroz group enjoy their show. What adds to the photo is the background, which is evenly populated with relevant objects related to the show with the light spots at the top of the frame. I love this image. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/500, ISO 400.

Kicker Light

This is another photo from the belly dance meeting in Aalborg a few months ago. I placed a small Speedlite 430EX at the back left corner of the stage, equipped with Pocket Wizard FlexTT5. The main light was ambient with a kicker light emphasizing the line of the body and separating it from the background. I also like how the position of the dancer fills nicely the whole frame. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 135mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 400.

Belly Dance Shapes

The scene at the belly dance meeting was lit very well so I took most of my photos this time with ambient light only. This was one of my favorites, showing nice body shape and flow of the arms. The background was black with only little bit of ambient hitting it, so pulling the Black slider in Lightroom little bit to the right increased the contrast in the photo and erased completely all details at the background. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 118mm, F4.5 @ 1/250, ISO 1600.

Isis Wings

Couple of months ago I photographed a yearly belly dance meeting here in Aalborg and would like to share couple of photos with you. Let me start with this photos of Isis Wings. These wings are fun to photograph and I like the composition of the photos and the colors. I was using only the light from the halogen spots on the stage as the whole scene was very nicely lit. One should be careful because these wings reflect lots of light back to the camera and can confuse the exposition readings. The best is probably to shoot in manual, given that the light situation is not changing much across the scene. Alternatively, one can try to compensate to +1EV up to +2EV on the camera in the AV mode. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 35mm, F4.5 @ 1/320, ISO 3200.

Carnival Parade

As promised here comes another photo from the carnival parade in Aalborg this year. What I like on this photo is the expression and engagement of the dancer as well as the composition. When I photograph such events I always try to hide the surrounding buildings, street signs etc. This time I used the opportunity that the outfit of the dancer covered the whole frame in my camera. I simply don't like the corners on my photos to be empty ... Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/500, ISO 400.

Dancers in the Parade

Let me present another photo from the last weekend's street parade in Aalborg downtown. I like the movement in the photo and the engagement of the dances. It was a great show and a pleasure to watch. Let's see what the main carnival and the battle of carnival bands will look like in May! Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 98mm, F4 @ 1/640, ISO 400.

In the Rythm of Tango

This photo a took a few years ago at a ballroom dance competition in Brno in the Czech Republic. I really enjoy the diagonal lines of the legs and arms and the expressions in the dancer's face. Luckily the light at the ballroom was quite strong, so I used the on-camera flash just for a minor fill. And how can I tell they dance tango? Well, this is clear from the holding of the couple and most clearly from the position of woman's left hand. I was self a competitor in standard and latinamerican dances and this really helps me to estimate the right moments where a photograph shall be taken. I might post more dance photos in the future. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 F3,5-4,5 USM at 93mm, F7,1 @ 1/250, ISO 800.

A Break Dancer

A few years ago I was visiting Stuttgart and met a bunch of very skilled break dancers performing on the street. I asked for their email and send them a few pictures I took during their performance. We exchanged a few emails and quickly agreed on a small photo session in a nearby park. This picture was one of the best thanks to the diagonal composition and the fact that all leading lines point towards the dancers face (the leg, the ground line of the right hand-side buidling, the join line between the left and right hand-side bulding). The colours were slightly enhanced in Lightroom. The photo is natural light only with a little bit on-camera flash as fill-in. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 at 30mm, F8 @ 1/125, ISO 200.

Can You Feel the Movement?

Finally let me post one more picture closing the belly dance photo session I was writing about recently. This time the image was taken without any flash in order to achieve the motion blur. I really like the play of colors and the feel of movement. These pictures are easy to take and often provide very attractive add-ons to a photo reportage. Just dial on some slow shutter speed (1/4 to 1/10 second works best for me) and wait for the right moment when the dancers start to move, rotate or jump. Camera spec: Canon 40D with 24-105 4L at 24mm, F7,1 @ 1/4, ISO 400.

Young Talent

Here comes another picture from the belly dance meeting. The technique I used was the same as described in the previous post. Using an off-camera flash from the side and slightly behind the subject gives consistently very pleasing results. This makes a clear difference compared to using a direct flash that will definitely cast some ugly shadows on the curtain in the background (no matter that it is a black one in this case). Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with 24-105 4L at 70mm, F6.3 @ 1/200, ISO 400.

Belly Dancer

I wrote in my profile that I am interested in creative lighting techniques but the pictures I have posted in my blog so far used mainly natural (btw. who says that one cannot be creative with natural light!). Anyway, here comes a photo I took at a local belly dance meeting this spring. I used an off-camera flash (Canon 420EX set as a slave in group B) mounted on the stage in the top right corner on my Gorillapod SLR-zoom tripod. This set up was very easy and very quick. My on-camera flash Canon 580EX II with Lumiquest Mini Softbox was set as a master with ratio about 1:4 in order to provide some fill-in light. Finally, in postprocessing I used the brush tool in Lightroom to darken the corners of the picture and to create a nice spot-like circle around the dancer's feet. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with 24-105 4L at 84mm, F6.3 @ 1/200, ISO 800.