Up close
If you read much about photography, or watch many YouTube videos, you’ll find considerable advice and commentaries about developing or discovering your personal style. No one wants to be a clone, even an excellent one. So we photographers thrash about seeking a definition of how we are different. The best advice is to shoot more. Eventually, your style will be revealed to you. There are no shortcuts. You cannot simply decide what your style is and apply it.
I am only now beginning to understand my style of photography. I like images that convey emotion, that speak to a moment in time. Most often that means shooting close and tight, especially when shooting ballroom dancers. But sometimes the moment needs context. Then a wider shot will be appropriate. But not at the expense of distracting from the subjects of the photograph. Everything in the frame must support the emotional content of the subjects. For this reason, I crop images. Sometimes aggressively. Ideally, I would do this in camera when the photo is captured. That works well in a studio, but is less reliable in an active setting like a dance competition, a hockey game or a riot.
The creation of an image begins when I take a shooting position with a particular camera and a particular lens, taking into account the lighting and the background. It extends through the press of the shutter release and into the editing process, when I adjust the lights and darks to emphasize a point and direct the eye, or fade or blur part of the frame that might distract the viewer. This is what you pay for when you hire me. I do not release unedited images; they are by definition unfinished.
My style at present is close, personal, and dramatic. Capturing your perfect execution of a dance figure is important but it’s less memorable than the expression on your face when you do it. I want the viewer to see the connection between you and your partner, whether you’re executing a flawless maneuver or failing utterly at doing so. Viewers respond to honesty. No amount of artificial smoke or colored lights will fool them.
I recently returned from competing in the Wisconsin State Dancesport Championships (WSDC) in Milwaukee and the Emerald Ball Dancesport Championships in Los Angeles. I photographed the professionals competing at WSDC. Below is a sample of the images I captured. When I edited these photographs I could hear songs in my head. For instance, when I saw the photos of Gene Bersten dancing with his wife, Elena Bersten, I kept hearing the Percy Sledge classic, “When a Man Loves a Woman.” The song has been covered countless times, but versions by Otis Redding and Bette Midler stand out for me. When I view the images of Meghan and Igor Afonkin I pondered what music would evoke the feeling I had when watching them dance. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons came to mind, specifically the third movement of Summer, which evokes the production of a cornucopia that sustains life in the fall. We can appreciate it with winter coming. Hence, Thanksgiving.
Be grateful, folks.
