From the course: Location Photography: From Research to Post-Production

Experience with dance photography - Photoshop Tutorial

From the course: Location Photography: From Research to Post-Production

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Experience with dance photography

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- I don't lay claim to any great knowledge of the dance world to be honest. It's sort of a superficial appreciation I would say. At the same time, I've photographed dance for 35 years and I've worked with some of the best dancers in the world. So you do kind of osmosis or something. You do get a sensibility about the moves, the names of the moves, what is possible for a dancer. I first gravitated towards dance in New York City. I lived in a neighborhood right by Lincoln Center where many dancers every day would practice for ABT and New York City Ballet. Got to know a young ballerina and she was totally up for the idea of me photographing her. Back in the day, we just walked into Lincoln Center Dance Studios together. She got dressed for her workout and I photographed her in black and white. Didn't ask permission, didn't talk to anybody about it, we just did, you know. Things are much more difficult now obviously. I've photographed covers of dance magazines, Pointe magazine. I've done dance stories for LIFE magazine and I've had dance components to stories I've done for National Geographic. So it's been a theme, a recurring theme. For me to claim that I am knowledgeable about the dance world would be a misnomer, but an appreciation, photographic appreciation, yes, absolutely, and a knowledge of how to light and to let a dancer work, yes, I do have that, I'm very respectful of what a dancer needs to be, to create a photograph that will be lasting and true.

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