Theme: En Pointe

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Folks,

Greetings. Looks like the theme didn't take off this month. Here's one.

As some of you know I photograph ballet when the occasion arises. Usually I struggle to get the highest shutter speed that I can given the variable stage lighting to freeze the action as much as possible. But also during the shoot I throw in a few blurs on the off chance of catching just the right amount of blur to capture the motion which is so much a part of ballet. Usually shooting at ISO 6400 close to wide open, for this shot I was at ISO 800 and f/22 to drop the exposure to 1/3 second. Hand held.



Fairly vanilla processing for me... NR, SEP (for toning and detailing), Luminosity Blend to bring back color, Topaz Adjust (readjust color and final toning)

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the result you got. It certainly gives a nice feeling of motion. You caught the dancers in good positions relative to each other. And the one on the right is in a great location with respect to the design in the background. It's outline is nearly tangent to some of the motion blur of the ballerina. I like the color and extra interest the design provides, too.

Have you ever tried shooting continuously at a high rate and combining the results to show motion that way?

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Michael, I like all the movement and relative positions of the dancers. Very cool that they are all "en pointe" also.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Dennis, Kerry,

Thanks much for the comments. Dennis, I have tried merging multiple exposures. Besides being a lot of work it's tricky for me since I don't use a tripod. There have been a few occasions where the stage lighting included a strobed light. I would like to work more with that but the occasion hasn't arisen. I've considered getting a strobe light for grins.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Hazel Grant]

Yes, the movement of the hands/arms give the circular action that stands against the somewhat stilled position of the dancers. BTW the circular backdrop adds to this theme. Good.

[Nancy Bell]

Michale, thanks for getting this one in just under the deadline for the theme! Love the blur with the sweeping arms & feet! For me this is a perfect type of blur, the people are still obviously people and the blur wonderfully conveys the graceful & full motion of the dance. The background has great supporting curved shapes and those radiating lines surround the dancers and put the focus on them. The background is fairly dark, soft and interesting and the dancers are well lit, with lighter and brighter colors, combining for a very effective image! Very well done!

[Anita Bower]

I'm not a big fan of blurs, but I must say you captured the feeling of movement in this image. I agree with others that you got the right amount of blur. Lovely light and colors.