Ballet Dance Recital 2016 | Dance Photographer

Before 2016 ends, it's time for me to post photos from the 2016 Loudoun School of Ballet recitals. The ballet recital is beautiful, with dancers ranging from age 7 to 18. The later classes in particular are my favorites, as watching the graceful pointe dancers is so enjoyable.

First up: the non-graded ballet classes, ranging from young dancers to special groups (dancers who are also a part of the graded classes).
Beginning Ballet

Rising Stars Recital June 2016 | Dance Photographer

It's time to post my favorite photos from the 2016 Loudoun School of Ballet recitals! First up: the littlest dancers in the Rising Stars program.

Ballet I: Neverland

Winter Showcase: Solos | Dance Photographer

In the 2016 Loudoun School of Ballet's Jazz Company Winter Showcase, there were three solo performances by members of the company. I wanted to capture the beauty of these soloists!

Dancer #1: Miss MK

Deer at Sunset | Nature Photographer

A couple of weeks ago, I had a client not show for a shoot. It was such a beautiful night and location that I was briefly disappointed that I wouldn't have anyone to photograph...until these beauties showed up! I didn't even edit them, as I didn't think it was necessary.

Loudoun School of Ballet Winter Showcase | Dance Photographer

In February, I photographed the Jazz & Co Winter Showcase, once again at Franklin Park Arts Center. After my first time photographing there, I was a bit more prepared for the smaller stage and different lighting techniques. I also didn't have the technical issues I encountered the first time, so overall was much happier with the photos. The girls did a fantastic job, repeating a few of the performances ("Mother", "Escapade", "Crystals"), but adding many more to the show than in the fall performance. This performance was extra special to me because my daughter performed in it, with the Showkids performing group.

This time I present the photographs in show order, instead of by performing group as I did last time. Solos will be in a post after this, as it was so difficult to choose a favorite shot.
First Company: All That Jazz

WCDE Workshop | Dance Photographer

I went the entire summer without posting anything here! I thought at first it was because I simply hadn't taken many photos that I want to showcase here, but it turns out that really isn't true. So, it's time to get through my backlog of dance photos and family portrait sessions from 2016!

First up, photos I shot at the WCDE Workshop in February 2016. My daughter participated in the workshops during the day, and then her, her friends, and all of us moms stayed around to watch the competition. The primary dance company from Loudoun School of Ballet was competing, and from my spot near the back of the room, I was able to take a few shots that the instructors and students really liked. The lighting was incredible, which helped to make these photos really pop.

Their first dance was "Seize the Day" from Newsies.

Miss Natalie - dance shoot | Dance Photographer

Back in February, I was hired for a second dance portrait shoot. We had to reschedule a couple of times due to weather, and even had to move the shoot from outdoors (which we were hoping to be able to do), to indoors. Luckily, I thought of just the right place to do this kind of shoot...and the location did not let us down! I absolutely love the mix of glass, marble, steel, and light to shoot this beautiful young dancer.

January 2016 Rising Stars Dance Recital | Dance Photographer

At the end of January, I photographed the Loudoun School of Ballet Rising Stars Recital. As with other recitals, there are so many photos (although I had learned my lesson from the 2015 recitals and took far fewer photos than I had previously!). Therefore, for this post, I will once again post my favorite photo from each class.

These little ones are just so cute on the stage, and their enjoyment of dance really comes through!

For this recital, the theme was "Occupations", as you'll see in the class descriptions below.

Jazzy Hip Hop: Astronauts

Jazz & CO Fall Performance | Dance Photographer

I've blogged recently about the dance recitals I photographed last year. Because of that work, I was asked to photograph ALL of the Loudoun School of Ballet performances this year - so exciting! In addition to the recitals, this also includes a couple of smaller performances; the first of these for 2015-2016 was the Jazz & Co Fall Performance at the Franklin Park Arts Center. This was a very different type of performance than the recitals - all contemporary style, and only the Jazz & Co performance groups, so really the best of the best at the school.

This was a very different venue - I had previously only photographed the dancers on the larger high school auditorium stage. The Franklin Park Arts Center is a fantastic venue, but for photography it's a bit different. I was shooting from above, the stage is smaller, and the lights are not constant throughout the entire performance (they change depending upon the dance). So, a bit of a challenge for me! I did think ahead and bring two cameras with me, which turned out to be a good thing, when my main camera had some technical difficulties about half way through dress rehearsal. Because of that, some of the dances were not captured as I wanted, and some photos were nowhere near my usual quality. I'm taking this as a lesson learned, and I did much better at the next show (photos of that soon).

First up: the solos!
Arcadia

 Fever

 Cell Block Tango

Miss Lauren - dance portraits | Dance Photographer

A couple of months ago I was commissioned to take some dance portraits of one of the Interns at the LSoB. Miss Lauren, as our kids call her, has helped out in classes for both of my kids, and is such a beautiful and talented young lady. I was very excited when she reached out to me to take some posed dance portraits for auditions she had coming up. Lauren and her mother came to my home to pose in my studio, and we ran through the poses she needed. This first one couldn't be use for her audition photos, but I really liked it, enough to show it here!

Trying some Lifestyle Photography

On some of the photography groups I'm in, I'll see people posting their examples of "Lifestyle photography". For those who don't know, this is basically capturing moments as they happen, in your house or whatever you're doing - not explicitly posing, but more trying for candids, etc. It's not a style of photography that I do a lot, but last month I wanted to give it a try. My kids were each enjoying a nice warm bath (separately!) mid-day, and so I gave them some toys to play with, grabbed my camera, and captured what I could. I think it was a good experiment; I can definitely use some improvement, but I love some of the moments that I captured of my kids, and that's what it's really all about.

Here are a few of my favorites of each of them. Love these two.

Lincoln Park Zoo | Animal Photographer

In November 2015, I took a trip through the midwest for work, finishing in Chicago. I had the chance to spend a couple of hours walking around the Lincoln Park Zoo, which I had heard wonderful things about. While it wasn't the top zoo I have ever been to, it was definitely a good one! I think part of it was the weather - it was such a beautiful cold, clear day.

Contemporary Dance Recital 2015 | Dance Photographer

While this was the first recital I photographed during recital week in June 2015, it ended up being the last one that I posted here! I love photographing the beautiful ballerinas, and the adorable little ones, but for pure dance enjoyment, the Contemporary recital is definitely my favorite. I love the styles - modern, jazz, lyrical, tap - and the fact that the girls get to have a bit more freedom of expression and movement than you typically see with ballet. With that said, let's get to my favorite photo from each class!

Jazz I

Yes, they are Minions! With my little dancer second from the left, in the front.

Rising Stars Dance Recital 2015 | Dance Photographer

The second of three dance recitals last June was certainly the most adorable: the Rising Stars! These are all the kids ages 7 and under at the Loudoun School of Ballet. The have two recitals per year, winter and spring. I previously photographed the winter recital (in fact, that was how all of this dance photography started!), and was very excited to photograph them again. After photographing the older dancers, I realized how much easier the little ones are - they don't move around nearly as much, and there are far fewer dancers per class!

There were a total of 15 classes plus 2 Intern dances for the theme of "Cinderella". As I did in my previous post of the Ballet recital, I'll post my favorite photo from each class here.

Rising Stars Interns: Ballet opener

I love the way that these blue skirts twirl!

Rising Stars Interns: Closer