Hello all,
Here is a special post, one that I’m hoping will be the first of many of its kind on this blog. It’s street dancing! More specifically, bboys and bgirls doing their thing.
Hip hop culture is a passion of mine, especially street dancing, and even more especially, bboying. I mean, mind blowing stuff. Bboys and bgirls have opened my eyes to what the human body can do more than anything else I’ve seen, and I can’t think of anything better to photograph when it comes to action photography.
This is a bit of a change for me, as I often post nature and landscape shots here, but I am hoping to photograph more and more dancers in Ottawa. This is not my first time photographing dancers, or bboys and bgirls, but I definitely want to expand my experience. So, today, we are talking about the requirements of action photography.
First of all, you need a fast shutter speed. That is the most basic requirement if you want to freeze someone’s movement. Of course, sometimes you want a blurred shot, but we will focus on this first. Also, shout out to Derek, nice hop bro!
Timing and angle are also super important. I always try and angle myself to catch the dancer’s face and expression. That can be tough when they are spinning though … Really happy with this shot though because I caught the hair flying out of the toque! Shout out to Zepol Rock. Sick moves!
As in all photography, considering lighting is always important, especially when indoors. Here, the lighting really helps to focus the viewer on the dancer. Also, consider colour: is it really adding anything to the photo, or are the lights and darks in the photo more interesting? Nice work, Mathieu.
When you are working with people who have amazing physical abilities, sometimes having them pose for you is almost as exciting as capturing them when they are just doing their thing. That way, you also get more time to compose your shot. Cool freeze, Pat!
Often when shooting dancers, several of them will be doing the same pose or move at a time, so capturing them parallel is a cool opportunity. Also, this photo works well in black and white because the brightest areas are a line on the ground that leads to Pat, and Zepol Rock and her smile, so those help to draw the viewer towards the subjects. Nice freeze, guys:)
And here are some more awesome moments from these dancers!
Check out how the brightest area of the shot frame’s Zepol Rock, who is all in black.
Sometimes the photographer has to get in on it too …
And there we are. Much love to the dancers who let me photograph them. It’s very much appreciated. Hope you all enjoyed it, and here is hoping for more to come!
For any dancers or others in the Ottawa area who do something amazing and want it photographed, please get in touch with me. I would love to set something up with you. Click HERE for my contact info.
Thanks for checking in:)
Oh, one more thing!
Before I forget, if you want to my photos of the Sheepdogs performance at Algonquin College, click HERE!
