You want us to photograph dancers???

So last Tuesday I had a pretty hectic day running around photographing dance students. Now I bet you're all thinking 'Wow dancers, lots of interesting poses and shots available there!' And you're not wrong, I thought that too at first, but seeing as how this was my first shoot with actual 'models' it was very challenging.

As well as sorting out the lighting and set etc. There was also the problem of getting the 'models' to feel comfortable, and trying to get across what you want from the end picture. Which is not easy when you're faced with 4 scared and nervous dance students!

The day overall was busy, after fighting for studio space and taking hundreds of light meter readings I'll admit I was ready for pulling my hair out, but after looking at the end results it was worth it.

In The Studio...

Ok so I'm a few weeks into my photography course now, though I must say it really doesn't feel like it. Time flies when you're having fun I guess.
Anywho we've spent quite a lot of time in the photography studio, learning about lighting and light meters and playing around with f stops and shutter speeds and white balance and various other things that I have never even heard of before, and most things that I haven't even thought about when I have previously taken a photo, until now that is.
It's taken a lot of concentration to work out and a lot of time to understand, but I think it's worth it. Photos that I'm taking now are a hell of a lot better than ones I have previously done, even if they do take at least half and hour longer to do.

These are just a few of the ones I did first, experimenting with white balance and lighting. I used a macro lense to really pick out the detail on the lighter. I then added a filter to block out the background, making it appear darker and more black, it also eliminated the creases from the material which also added more emphasis on the lighter making it stand out more.

On day two in the studio we got the chance to do some portraits for the Web Design students. Now being Web Design students and not models they didn't really have a clue as to what they wanted, which was good in a way as we got to be more creative and try different shots rather than be stuck doing plain passport style photos.
I don't think any of them were very happy about being models for the day, but at least I got some good photography practice in!