Dance

I was delighted to be invited again to pro bono photograph for Kathy Mata Ballet and friends for their 2012 Bay Area Dance Week performance. Classical through modern, I watched it in entirety though a lens, timing the shutter for the apex of the movements. I wound up with over 1000 images over 2 hours, which were curated to a collection of about 100 by my friend and dancer Vin, featured wearing yellow and black in the 4th picture here. Kathy Mata Ballet is a non-profit adult ballet group of incredibly dedicated people who have whole other lives of work and family in addition to dance. As always, I love the challenge of dance photography (almost the only time I use my camera in Manual mode), and lose myself in enjoying the music and movement.

New Contexts.

 I like to see people I already know, in new contexts. My earliest experiences of this was as a school kid seeing teachers outside of the classroom -say grocery shopping, or holding a baby at the mall. The jolt of familiar with unfamiliar is fun for me.

In this case, I met this woman in ballet context. First in a practice studio, then on stage in a dress rehearsal. A really beautiful, elegant, strong dancer. And, she's a mom! She wears normal street clothes, not leotards all the time. Had I had met her simply through family photography, it would never have occurred to me that she might be an awesome dancer. And while on stage, I never thought about her being a mom. These juxtapositions are what makes people interesting.

SO hard to get her little boy to smile. He only smiled for his parents, and when he forgot that I existed. These were taken at Alamo Square, which is a park encompassing a hillside. I've discovered that small children can't put on breaks when running downhill, and babies learning to walk or sit up will likely tilt over and faceplant if on a slope. Must seek out the flatter areas of the park, even though the hillsides are photogenic!

We dog owners in the neighborhood know each other by sight, and give each other a friendly nod in passing. Just happened to stop to chat to a German Shepherd owner, a barrel-shaped older Asian guy, wears drab-ish clothes and smokes all the time. He said he was off to vacation in Ukraine the next day, so I asked Why Ukraine? And he began: Well... I used to be a part of a Russian Ballroom Dance Company in my younger days... Juxapositions, I tell you! It just takes a little digging and often people turn out to be way more interesting than at first glance.

Eiffel Tower is to Grand Jete

I think it's because I wanted a better understanding of what was going on. And partly because I want to learn something new. Another part because I want variety in my exercise repertoire. It's certainly not because I ever want to perform dance. I've never been one to want to perform anything. That's why I'm behind the camera.

I took a ballet class today, a private class because being a complete novice, I would need some quick tutorials to even place in the Beginner's class. My teacher Carol Wei, a colleague to Kathy Mata (some of whose dancers are featured above and in the photos posted previously), knew exactly how much to teach so that I could handle all the new things (positions, terms) - yet challenged me to a physical straining point that was just beyond what I'd do if say, I were doing squats by myself. Consequently, I feel like I had a good workout and learned a lot in an hour.

What does this have to do with Photography? Photography is the reason why I've wound up at the ballet studio, making my quads plead for mercy. I'd never be here, had I not been asked by a dancer who found me on craigslist, to photograph his group's rehearsals. This lead to an ongoing relationship of ballet performance photography.

As I've iterated before, photographing dance is completely different from watching dance as an audience member. Yet, as a photographer, I felt separate from dancers because I am not versed in the language of dance. OK, dance is a universal language etc, but without experiencing ballet, it's like being a tourist knowing a handful of superficial phrases in a foreign language, seeing all the obvious tourist sites. Learning ballet is like doing a study abroad, an immersion, a start of an inside understanding, noting the intricacies and subtleties and not just the obvious Eiffel Tower/ Grand Jetes.

Towards the end of my session, the students of the next class started showing up. It was the Toddler class, a half dozen tiny girls, delighted to be sporting tutus and tiaras. I think I know my next photographic goal ;)

Dance Photography Is Addictive. More Please!

Dress Rehearsal! Of course I would want to photograph dress rehearsal, complete with lighting arrangement, a day before the actual performance. Since one can't photograph during actual performance, this is this next best thing. Stage lighting, and non-black costumes, made Such a difference. I got to bump my ISO to 800 - far less grainy pics, still on aperture priority at f/1.4, shutter speed around 1/200.

I can't tell you how much fun it is to photograph dance. Why? Hmm... maybe I like that I can observe art carefully while making art at the same time? Combined with video game reflexes on the shutter button? Of course, dance is meant to be observed in its moving form, not still. I think that by capturing still images, I better appreciate the details in movement, placement, control over body. When I watch dance, I see a bigger picture - masses of color and shape.

This performance is one amongst many at the Spring Dance Inspiration 2010, a fundraiser for brain tumor research and treatment. The co-director and co-founder is Tomoko Ozawa, who is a dancer, and neurosurgeon at UCSF. I previously photographed for Kathy Mata Ballet, who are a part of this event. All the dancers have non-dance professions, such as architect, graphic designer, high schooler and judge. The dedication they give to ballet is amazing. More photos later....

Tutu Allure and Other Digressions

Tutus! Even in this third decade of my life, I am struck by an automatic girlish delight when I see a tutu. I think I took one dance class as a wee child, and was disappointed that tutus were not involved. Instead, I had to pretend to be Wind, in my powder blue leotard.

I don't have much to say. I just wanted to post pictures. Oh yes, the black curtain. It is not convenient to photograph black-clad people in front of a black curtain. But what is convenient, is that the black backdrop allows for the easy erasing (or painting over, rather) of random figures in the background. This leaping striped-leg-warmered man for example, included 2 light-color-outfitted dancers in the background. Poof! Gone! Much more dramatic photo.

I often commit the awful compositional crime of cutting off at ankles and wrists. I try to get as close as possible to the dancers (ie, fill the whole frame with their body). It's a trade off: if I'm further away, sure I'll get the whole body but the resolution will be worse than if I'm closer up - there's more light and more detail captured. But I sometimes misjudge dancers' full extension and some body parts disappear from the frame. And toes and hand positioning is an integral part to ballet!

The best angle to photograph dance, I decided, it straight on, eye level with dancers' torsos. I think this is because ballet was developed to be viewed from this angle. The aesthetics are optimized for an audience at mid-level. If I'm too high up, the jumps and vertical extensions are less dramatic. Too low and it's awkward to see the undersides of everything. To get this straight on view from the front however, I had to stand on the arm rests of the second row theater seats. I couldn't stand on the seats as they were the flip-up type. Arms rests seemed only slightly less risky. So yes. I spent most of my photographic time perched on 2 slick, skinny, non-padded brass arm rests, in socks. These are the risks I take to achieve the best angle.

Bubble Wrap

Rehearsal at Cowell Theater, dance for UCSF brain tumor research benefit event in a few weeks.

I feel like a clutz when I am amongst dancers. Every casual stretch, bend over to tie a shoe lace, slinging of a tutu over the shoulder - is done with such grace and crispness. While waiting around the lobby I'd managed to collide with a Wet Paint sign (fortunately did not collide with wet paint itself...) and then during a silent rehearsal (dance positioning, without music) I scuttled around trying to get a better angle and I somehow managed to step on a sheet of BUBBLE WRAP - not regular size bubble wrap but BIG Bubble Bubble Wrap. This created a sharp, very audible CRACKCRACKCRACK in the resonating auditorium, causing the director to pause and ask me if things were OK. I am a one woman circus comedy amongst dancers.

Anyways. I thoroughly enjoy photographing ballet. Perhaps it's like sports photography? It's all in the timing, capturing the apex of the movement, with the most drama. In the case of ballet, it's often when the greatest extension is achieved. It's no good catching the movement in between various positions - those photos feel meaningless and look awkward. It is the positions that are so sculptural. I don't know the names of any, but I am getting better at recognizing when they're about to happen. Usually such positions are held for a fleeting moment; that's when I must take the photo. Besides the timing, there's composition. I use the black curtain background to show off light shapes. I catch dancers when they are in the lit portions of the stage. I choose a dancer or two on which to focus.

Oh yes, I should mention camera settings.
Shutter priority: shutter speed 1/125, f/1.4, and importantly ISO at at least 800 (I went up to 1250 in the end). Used 50mm f/1.4. Light was dim and movement was fast.

On the People Inside Lion Costumes and How the Condition of Your Narcissus May Affect Your Bus Ride Home

My focus was the people InSide the Lion costume. They are incredibly athletic. Let me step back for a moment. There are Lion Dances, and there are Dragon Dances, both are celebratory Chinese performances. A lion usually consists 2 people - their 4 legs comprising the 4 lion legs. A Dragon may only consist of 2 people (a really short dragon) but the most dramatic ones consist of many people running one after another in unison, much like a centipede. Both lion heads and dragon heads have mouths that open and close, and eyelids that bat.

Eight lions came out to dance at the Chinese New Year Flower Market in San Francisco Chinatown. The hind legs belonged to beefy Chinese guys, and the fore legs were those of spry, light weight men and women. To the live percussive sound track of swift drums and cymbals, the hind person hoisted the fore person up. I was impressed by how long the hind person held the fore person. Meanwhile, the fore person lifted the head and turned it this way and that.



After the lion dance, I headed into the flower market, and decided to buy narcissus, one of the several popular Lunar New Year flowers. Others include chrysanthemum, peach blossom and gladiolus. But Chinese New Year isn't until next week! Some of you exclaim. Yes, this is true, but flowers are akin to Xmas trees, decorating the home to set the mood before the holidays.

I joined the throng of mostly older Chinese women, carefully inspecting the pots of narcissus.

There are some rules to narcissus selection. One should maximize on all these factors... (1) Find a pot where the bulbs have not yet flowered, so that they will open at (and not start withering and looking disheveled before) Chinese New Year. (2) The stalks and leaves should not be too tall, or you risk the whole plant looking floppy. (3) The ends of the leaves should be in good condition - not raggedy/ ripped/ bent. (4) Because Chinese people are always very concerned about getting the best deal possible, the more bulbs stuffed in a pot, the better. (Yes I can say these things because I'm Chinese)

Had I known I would be beleaguered by elderly Chinese ladies concerning the condition of my narcissus, I would have fought my crowd-weariness and gone on to another flower stall to find non-open-flowered bulbs. At the bus stop, one woman gave my flowers a disdainful look and commented loudly to her companion in Cantonese: "Those narcissus are All Open!" (NOT true, they were maybe 1/4 open). I sat down next to another older Chinese woman on the bus. Right away she scrutinized my flowers and announced in Cantonese: "Your flowers are all open! My flowers are still closed!" and proudly patted her plastic bag.

At this point, I was sure all the old Chinese ladies on the bus were eying my narcissus, secretly congratulating themselves on their superior, closed-narcissus purchase and feeling sorry for this amateur narcissus buyer. "There weren't any closed flower ones," I told my neighbor in English (I'd already apparently made a fool out of myself with open narcissus, I wasn't about to butcher Cantonese and embarrass myself further). Perhaps she took pity on me. She said "They're very fragrant."

To check out upcoming Lunar New Years events in SF for yourself, refer to:
http://www.chineseparade.com/
There's another Flower Market at the Botanical Gardens Feb 13, and the grand finale parade is on Sat Feb 27th!

Today was my last session with Kathy Mata Ballet. We filled in the gaps of what photos were still needed for the Kathy Mata book, which included the cover as well as some head shots. The concept for the cover was an image of Kathy actively teaching; ie, perfecting the positioning of a dancer. Yet, it had to be Kathy who was the focus of the photo, not the dancer. A dancer was enlisted hold a position, while Kathy pretended to fuss over her, both trying not to look like the whole thing was staged. This one looks staged because the dancer is smiling - dancers don't usually smile during grueling rehearsals.

Also imperfect for the cover; we wanted Kathy's 3/4 view, not so much the profile. Also, both Kathy and the dancer have equal weight in terms of the subject of the photo. But, I like this photo anyways.

It is so much easier to photograph when dancers are holding positions with the intension of being photographed! I guess that is obvious. Anyways, I shall miss my weekly visits to the ballet studio.

I'm still plowing through the ballet performance photos, with the help of Lightroom. I have the demo version, but I've decided to purchase it, as it's proved to make workflow with hundreds of photos SO much easier than using Photoshop.
The performance was in the, hmm, atrium? of a fancy retirement home. The backdrop is an indoor area with plants, lamp posts and a fountain. Very cluttered.... not ideal for dance photos. Also, low light - unideal for taking photos of moving subjects.

One of the dancers lent me his Canon 5D, the next step up from my own model. I previously relied on automatic focus, but he recommended a different technique; telling the camera in advance where I wanted the focus to be, so it didn't have to spend time searching for subjects to focus on (which is slower and less accurate). So... I had to predict where the dancing action was going to take place, focus there, and then take the photo when the dancer moved into that spot. That, plus ISO 1600 (grainier, but better at capturing motion), on aperture priority f/2.8 or so (good for low light situations), seemed to do the trick! Oh, and there's the improved camera body too.

Costumes arrived yesterday, and towards the end of rehearsal, dancers put them on for a trial run. The costumes were ordered from a catalog, where one can choose styles and colors. In the mirror, they checked out the movement of the outfits while dancing, and determined that the little dress needed some tailoring, as it fit rather shapelessly around the torso.
This was a night photo session, in a room lit by overhead lights, and with paneled walls. It made a big difference; the other studio, with all white walls and white floor, was much brighter due to light reflection from these surfaces, even with the same overhead lighting. Consequently, I couldn't get as crisp photos as I'd have liked.

I am getting better at ballet photography. Having seem the routines a couple of times now, I can recognize moves/ positions, and know that they're coming up so I'm ready to photograph them. But, these photos are not of ballet dancers. These are jazz dancers, also practicing in the same dance building. The ballet book is to feature friends of Kathy Mata Ballet too.

The colors were definitely fun to work with; they really stood out against the all white room. The woman in the middle of the top pic is the teacher (leader?) I actually don't know much about them; I was brought quite suddenly into their practice studio and I just started clicking.

(Monday) Just found out: they are The Scratch 4 Bloomin, By Saki Suto.

I did a series of dancer head shots for the ballet company. They all have great neck muscles! Only 4 dancers and the teacher were present on Sunday however, as most of them were at home watching the superbowl. The current company website is skimpy on photos and content, and one of the dancers, also a graphic designer, wants to remedy that. These are just the beginning stages of a revamping of the website, for the company to take on a more professional, ambitious persona.

Ballet subjects look good in black and white. I think it's because B&W encourages the viewer to take note of form, shape and pose, rather than be distracted by color.

This turned out better than I expected. I put my camera on sports mode, aimed at the empty spot where the leap would take place, watched the dancer approach out of the corner of my eye from the right, and then hit the shutter as she unfolded into this leap, the specific ballet name of which I don't recall. It almost looks like she's doing splits on the floor, but then, the floor is several feet below her.

One of the dancers hired me to document rehearsal for the Kathy Mata Ballet Company. He wanted the gritty feel of rehearsal (verses the very polished look of performance). So though I cringed at the electrical panel in the background, it added to the informal feel.

I added a light vignette to the photo. The vignette is the darker edging, in an oval shape around the dancer. The danger with vignetting is it can look cheesy if not subtly done. And it is more effective with some subjects than others. I thought it would work here because there are lots of distracting background details; the vignette points the eye towards the dancer.

The dancer laughed when she saw the photo. "Look at my hand!" she imitated her flopping left hand. It should be pointing upward and forward, in line with her arm. She was pleased with the rest of the posture.

I originally intended to photograph the SF Hiphop Dance Fest rehearsal for an online SF guide. When they changed their minds, I asked the Dance PR person if I could photograph anyways, and give the pics to the performers or dance fest organizers. They said Sure! Often all it takes to get into fun gigs is to ask nicely and offer something nice in return.

I'd never been in the Palace of Arts before. It's a grand theater, with lots of flowing red velvet curtains and plush red seats. I staked out a space in the front row, out of the way of the videographer. There were lots of excited kids in the seats further back, performers waiting for their turn to rehearse.

The biggest challenge was photographing without flash. This is where my 50mm f/1.4 lens shone (shined?) This lens is great at several things: portraits (fuzzing out the background), quick autofocus, and ability to focus and photograph under dim lighting conditions. I used sports mode on my camera, allowing for machine gun fire of the shutter - best for capturing unpredictable movement. Still, many dance moves were still too quick to document without blur. I also had a hard time with dancers in dark costumes against dark background; too hard for the camera/lens to figure out what to focus on. More pics to come soon.