Lindsay Adler – Learn+ Episode 12: Dancers – April 2022
https://learn.lindsayadlerphotography.com/plus/2022/04/episode-12-dancers/
Now I don’t proclaim to be a dancer photographer by any means… but I do feel that I can capture movement successfully and make a photo interesting enough no matter the subject. There are of course dancer photographers that are professionals who are intimately aware of the industry and some themselves are former dancers. I think this definitely helps in speaking the “language” that dancers have so you can develop a better rapport and ultimately achieve your desired final image.
With that being said, there are times you can rely on the talent of the dancers themselves, to just create beautiful images.
So for this shoot I did just that and enlisted two very talented dancers to create some striking images!
It’s our job to capture the pivotal moment with everything comes together — the dancer’s ideal form, perhaps the movement of fabric, lighting and more.
Photographing professional dancers sometimes feels like cheating… they do all the hard work while I’ll just click the button. Of course, I am oversimplifying our role. As photographers we must work closely with a dancer to not only communicate our vision, but also help translate their shapes to the camera. A body position may be beautiful, but can you capture the height of the jump or the clean lines in a way that reads elegantly from the camera’s perspective? Plus, you must juggle the technical aspects of freezing motion!
In my opinion, a majority of dance photographers don’t really push their craft — so many of the images really look the same. I invite you to experiment, use your own creative vision and collaborate with dancers to create truly awe-inspiring imagery that celebrates the art of photography and the art of dance!