Theme: Focus

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

142496

D4 200f/2 1/5 sec. @ f/11 ISO400

Lighting is always an issue when shooting stage performances. The lighting design Is part of the presentation for the audience and as such the photography isn't really considered. I try to freeze motion as much as possible for my dance shots but even shooting at ISO 6400 the light is often not enough to get 1/200th at wide apertures. Sigh. I hit upon blurs as a way of just giving in to the lack of light... dialing down the ISO and stopping down usually does the trick.

A serendipitous camera movement combines with the catch light to make this shot for me. Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Nancy Bell]

Being able to clearly discern the eye makes this image stand out! Again, I love the motion of her arms and hands. Just amazing that the blur shows those graceful moves of her body in such a dramatic way that the eye simply cannot see. I really like this series of dance image blurs and am glad you pursued it. Necessity is the mother of invention!

[Diane Miller]

Just gorgeous! What would you think about cropping or darkening the lighter band at the top? I have to assume it's intentional but it's not quite working for me.

[Randall Farhy]

Michael. the balance between blur and clarity is spot on. As noted, the eye sets this one off. I agree witih Diane re: the band at the top, it makes the composition feel forced. Cropping alone would take too much off the top-what about a small frame extension post crop? A very artistic capture under difficult situations!

Edit-Cropped Top/Bottom/Right and added .22 CW rotation to level and center the eye on the upper 1/3 division line.

[Cheryl Slechta]

I love this one too, Michael. In fact, I can't think of a dance image that you've posted yet that I didn't love.:S3: I wouldn't want to lose any of the bottom of the image but I could see cropping just a little bit from the top or darkening it a bit.

[Anita Bower]

Good job on the repost. You captured the lovely, fluid movements of the dancer. I think I would prefer it without the eye. The monochrome works well also. Good for you for finding a way to photograph dancers despite the challenges.

[Anita Bower]

Congratulations on your win for this very creative image.