The Rehearsal

[juggler]

As mentioned previously.. I'm playing with ways of photographing dancers in a studio setting and including some context. In this set I was looking to capture some of the solitary & intensely personal nature of the endless hours of training dancers need to put it. Some of them work better in colour but as a set I think all mono is the way to go. I've got so many keepers from this shoot that I struggle to make a selection - here are just 5.

As always useful comments gratefully received, esp on the amount of context / background included and whether I successfully convey what I was after.


1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[Smiffster]

I totally agree with the B&W, they take out all the distraction, and the set works really well, telling a story of its own, in my humble opinion. really good.

 

[TLR-330]

I like them all so I am nit-picking not criticising.

#1 busy.
#2 yes but for the door on the right (yes you show the space, not space, but my eyes wonder on the things in the space).
#3 it gives me the idea of a corridor which is probably not what you had in mind.
#4 & #5, I like he most (followed by #2) but they probably achieve the least of what you wanted but they are most in touch with your subject.
I probably understood the question wrong but better to say than keep quiet.

 

[teejay73]

I purposely didn't read the op first, and just asked the images to tell me the answer and they conveyed the message really well.
As previously mentioned, the mono conversions really do strip out distraction well & leave the emotion intact.

I like how the set of images start with the dancer seemingly in perfection to the untrained eye, yet end with her seeming somewhat
frustrated and exhausted striving for her own perfection. You captured these really well.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Sorry I can't make any useful comment as I like them as they are.

 

[MatBin]

A great set, tells a good story (and I dont say that often as I dont understand what it means generally but here I do, if that makes any sense at all).
B&W definitely.
Matt

 

[PaulButler]

mmm interesting set Simon. Given your intentions - namely Solitary and Personal ...

1) This works really well, not busy at all, the use of the mirrors show scale and emptiness whilst not losing sight of the dancer. Very well done sir.
2) & 3) Both show or suggest the studio as being only occupied by the dancer so she is on her own or in solitude.
4) Contemplative, lost in her own world. Love it.
5) She looks almost despondent, lonely even. Superb.

Great set.

 

[ancient_mariner]

Number 2 is definitely favourite, followed by 3. The only one I'm not sure about is 4, where I'm asking if she has period pains.

 

[TLR-330]

where I'm asking if she has period pains.

exhausted, knackered, too much practice?

 

[chriscross]

As mentioned previously.. I'm playing with ways of photographing dancers in a studio setting and including some context. In this set I was looking to capture some of the solitary & intensely personal nature of the endless hours of training dancers need to put it. Some of them work better in colour but as a set I think all mono is the way to go. I've got so many keepers from this shoot that I struggle to make a selection - here are just 5.

As always useful comments gratefully received, esp on the amount of context / background included and whether I successfully convey what I was after.


1.
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2.
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3.
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My other half is a dancer and does a ballet class twice a week. I've been into the open classes to watch and what I think is missing in these is a bit of the old perspiration! Your model is too perfect and in reality she would be very sweaty. Ballet is very hard work as you will know and if it's context you want regarding endless hours then she needs to be less perfect in the rehearsal setting. As said the processing is bang on!

 

[Orangecroc]

The expression in #1 makes the photo. The second mirror in frame gives a good sense of the solitary nature of practice with more empty space in the room shown without being negative space in the image.

My favourite is #2 the emptiness of the space is shown without being boring. The angle not showing the dancers reflection is great, I think it would have worked better if the door to the right was closed fully though to match the uniformity of the rest of the composition.

#3 doesn't work for me, it looks too much like she is standing at a urinal.

#4 & #5 really get the anguish across from the hard work that goes into the practice.

 

[Lemaildetom]

1,2 and 3 just wow! Superb everything, composition, position of the dancer, black and white, all top notch.

4,5 it's a bit too much, not like i'm tired/exhausted but like i'm posing like if i was tired/exhausted, doesn't feel sincere.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I don't often comment on pics because I can be hypercritical, but I don't feel that Simon will throw his teddy out the pram.

Number one looks weird to me. The figure doesn't read right because of the black material hiding the left arm and hand - she also only has one foot.

2 looks out of place in the set as it's more formal but works as a picture. 3 and 5 work OK. 4 is the weakest - 5 conveys a similar message better.

I'd also like to see them in colour. But that's because I have a prejudice against black and white.

 

[sirch]

They are very good photos, and massive bonus points for handling those mirrors so well.

and whether I successfully convey what I was after

I'm sure you wanted to do the best by your subject and I may just be being stereotypical, but somehow tor me they feel a bit clean and neat for rehearsal, my daughter dances and when she is rehearsing there is messy hair, no make-up, holes in the leotard and sweat. 3 and 4, glimpses through the doors, are best for the story for me, hope that's the kind of feedback you are looking for.

 

[TLR-330]

Therefore my tip for next time ... a hand spray bottle from Toolstation is £1.39 (if poundland has one it will be 1 poond). A soft clean towel from home is free, spray her, wipe her and repeat until she has the right look. Careful you don't turn it into a wet T shirt thingme.

 

[Harlequin565]

I'm thinking along the same lines as some of what @Ed Sutton said here - esp the arm in #1 which I didn't notice until I spent time looking at the image. So well done for getting me to spend time on it! It is super critical though as it's a fab image.

#4 doesn't work as well for me because the door crack(?) is too narrow and the left hand edge of it intrudes too much. #5 uses a similar technique but is much better.

Have you considered using the mirrors to further narrow your selections? The ones with mirrors in them appeal more to me - as they are a large feature distinctive to dance studios. Inclusion of the mirror (in the way that you do) adds so much. It tells me it's a studio not a school hall, or some random room - this is a working place. You did a shot a while back if memory serves, of a leaping dancer and a mirror which I recall because of the reflection... Then I keep looking at the composition in #3 and thinking about how perfect it is and a mirror doesn't matter. Dunno.

As to b&w vs colour... Without seeing the colour it's impossible to tell.
Fab set Simon.

 

[juggler]

So many kind and useful comments, thank you. I won't reply to them all individually except to acknowledge the need to make it look like work.
My next subject may not thank me for that one!

Just for interest's sake, here's a few colour pics which - while I like them in themselves - didn't quite make the grade. Sometimes the colour works much better - but not as a set.


6.

7.

8.

 

[nickdancona]

The images are grea, especially in mono. I love the angles and minimalistic look.

Her struggle looks more mental than physical, not sure if that's the image your were trying to portray.

Your work is always top notch, keep it up.

 

[blairloch]

Think they are a brilliant set of images with 4 being my personal favourite. The use of Mono in the original set really sets them apart from the later images, I'd be interested to see them converted also!

Good job!

 

[Ed Sutton]

If all the pics share the same palette I think they'd work as a set in colour

But that's my biased opinion, of course.

I shall now shuffle back under my rock.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I like the colour ones too.
They have a more edgy look and feel, that is quite refreshing. And not at all usual in this context.

 

[Livin The Dream]

Love these Simon. The composition and lines in the second one are sublime and also the last one in colour here is just super with the contemplative pose and vanishing point. You've hit your brief for sure.

 

[juggler]

If all the pics share the same palette I think they'd work as a set in colour

But that's my biased opinion, of course.

I shall now shuffle back under my rock.

I'm interested.. why do you have a prejudice against black and white?
I tend to prefer it for images with a strong graphical content, or for images with a quiet contemplative feeling.

 

[Livin The Dream]

I'm interested.. why do you have a prejudice against black and white?
I tend to prefer it for images with a strong graphical content, or for images with a quiet contemplative feeling.

Did you knock up the PP or was it a general base you tend to use? I think mono works well here.

 

[Ed Sutton]

I'm interested.. why do you have a prejudice against black and white?
I tend to prefer it for images with a strong graphical content, or for images with a quiet contemplative feeling.

Using black and white seems to be an affectation to me in this day and age.

I agree it does work well if an image is graphic (I actually took a photo last week which works better converted, but it's made me want to try again to get the idea to work in colour!) But mostly it's because I've started leaning away from making that sort of picture and have become more interested in photography as a documentary medium where showing colours seems important to me. Whenever I look at contemporary black and white I find myself wondering what the colours would be. The only time I have used black and white for a body of work I did it because I'd used three or four different cameras with different colour and noise handling. Converting to monochrome gave a more consistent appearance to the set.

There are other reasons, which don't apply to your pictures here, such as giving an easy patina of nostalgia, or laziness because making pictures in colour is more difficult.

 

[juggler]

Did you knock up the PP or was it a general base you tend to use? I think mono works well here.

I nearly always do my mono conversions the same way but tweak to suit. I tend to use gradient maps in PS but often blend with a silver efex conversion. It's so easy to overdo things using SFX on it's own and gradient maps give results which look natural to my eye.

The colour toning was a lightroom preset I've evolved.

I also did some background cleanup, some skin work and a bit of a local contrast adjustment on the dancer.

 

[juggler]

Using black and white seems to be an affectation to me in this day and age.

I agree it does work well if an image is graphic (I actually took a photo last week which works better converted, but it's made me want to try again to get the idea to work in colour!) But mostly it's because I've started leaning away from making that sort of picture and have become more interested in photography as a documentary medium where showing colours seems important to me. Whenever I look at contemporary black and white I find myself wondering what the colours would be. The only time I have used black and white for a body of work I did it because I'd used three or four different cameras with different colour and noise handling. Converting to monochrome gave a more consistent appearance to the set.

There are other reasons, which don't apply to your pictures here, such as giving an easy patina of nostalgia, or laziness because making pictures in colour is more difficult.

I know what you mean - b&w can be a cop out. If an image has strong graphical elements then they'll still be there in colour, but handling the colours too takes even more skill.

 

[Livin The Dream]

I nearly always do my mono conversions the same way but tweak to suit. I tend to use gradient maps in PS but often blend with a silver efex conversion. It's so easy to overdo things using SFX on it's own and gradient maps give results which look natural to my eye.

The colour toning was a lightroom preset I've evolved.

I also did some background cleanup, some skin work and a bit of a local contrast adjustment on the dancer.

I agree about SFX. I guess there’s even more credibility given the consistency across the set using PS over LR too. I do like a gradient map too but generally only utilise on a single image or if I’m in PS given there’s more to be done in general. I find the consistency across multiple images much harder and more time consuming, I should perfect a better workflow maybe as the end result can be better.

 

[juggler]

I agree about SFX. I guess there’s even more credibility given the consistency across the set using PS over LR too. I do like a gradient map too but generally only utilise on a single image or if I’m in PS given there’s more to be done in general. I find the consistency across multiple images much harder and more time consuming, I should perfect a better workflow maybe as the end result can be better.

To maintain consistency in PS I often use the CC libraries panel to store any toning / filter layers