[LargeFormat] Dancing for beginners - Photos from the hafla

[rstein]

Dear Verna,

     You said the magic word - choreograph - and I think it is soooo true ,
even in the LF photo business.

     If I do not choreograph where I am going to go in the studio and where
the props are going to come from and go to in the course of a photo shoot,
the whole event degenerates into a rout! Likewise if I do not have a plan of
campaign with an outdoor shoot I seem to go out and come home with half the
pictures that were really there unseen and untaken.

    If I do not map out my pickup and delivery, buy and sell trip round
town, the whole photo day is practically valuless.

     In the ME dancing line, of course we mean choreography as the plan of
movement and dance ( step, turn, back off stage shreiking, etc. ) and I
suspect that it is necessary whenever you get 3 or more in a troupe. I have
seen several dance partners who seem to be able to go with the flow and the
rythym well, but even here I think it is an unconscious leader-wingman
routine that they follow. Once you introduce the third dancer you need a
practised plan.

    For the photographers out there who will now rush out to find belly
dancing, here are a few tips.

    If you can, shoot from belly or breast level. I say, if you can -
frequently this obscures a performance for the audience and this is not
possible. Still, if you can get agreed seating in a theatre that places you
on this level and you can get the seat in front as a clear area, you will
get the best proportions on the dancers.

     Should you be restricted to floor shots, remember that legs and bums
will be disproportionately big and heads and shoulders small. Reverse
situation if you are stuck up the back of a theatre with a long lens and a
tripod - you will get magic swirls of skirts and veils, though.

    Use a small diffuser on the lens - I keep 1, 2 , and 3 Cokins for this
and generally use the 1 for performance. This fires up the many
light-reflecting points of a cabaret costume and can make all the difference
between a record shot and a special one.

    If you can mount 2 flashes with servos or radio links on the sides of
the stage - or about 15 feet up the side aisle -and use a small on-camera
fill it makes for a very spectacular Hollywood hatchet light and those
sparles on the costumes will practically outline the dancers. Remember that
the audience flashes will trigger your sensors as well.

    Some dance evolutions do not look like anything on film though they are
show-stoppers in the flesh. A line of rolling shimmies is wonderful - the
picture is dull.

    Watch for arms and veils - they can obscure the faces. If your camera
has a long delay like a digital, you are just going to have to accept
whtever fate gives you. If it can be shortened - like using a standard
Compur shutter, or pre-releasing an SLR, or using a Leica - you will have a
higher proportion of good shots.

    Dogs shed hair. Belly dancers shed sequins, glass beads, sparkley discs,
and fake gold coins. Occasionally they shed veils. If they have been too
optimistic about the engineering of the belt an bra or added too much
top-hamper, things can become surprising. Remember HMS CAPTAIN. Be ready.
Note that the rain of sequins and glass beed can be actually damaging to the
front surface of lenses - I found a scratch mark on the front of a UV filter
after a particularly impassioned South African dancer performed.

    If you are doing sitting or lying poses remember that the belts and bras
may not set or drape well -they can be stiff enough to push the bust out of
shape or make fat rolls of the belly or side. If this happens, get the
dancer to pose kneeling and twisting - the costume is then closer to dancing
dynamic.

    A troupe dance can be awkward in that you may position yourself to
capture it symmetrically but you may miss out on the back line of dancers.
Okay, the teacher may have placed the less experienced back there but they
still want to be seen for a picture - they may not be the best at moving but
everyone sooner or later looks good in a pose.

    The solution is to set down in front a little to one side of the
flotilla leader - all the angle will be dynamic and with a quick shift from
one haunch to another you can get a shot round the for-line to the girls in
back.

     So, there is the news from the front line. Remember to clap and cheer
when they finish their dance. If any of the dancers take your fancy it is
considered good form to offer marriage.

     Uncle Dick