This past June, I photographed my grandkids at their Dance Recital – an annual tradition for me. This image is of my granddaughter Brynn which I took with my Sigma 70-200mm 1:28 D APO lens, a holdover from my newspaper sports photography days. Tech stuff: f/28, ISO 3200, 70mm focal length. Needless to say, I used Topaz AI to take out the noise and enlarge the cropped image. Processed RAW through LR and used a gradient to isolate the subject, then inverted, and made the background black. Though I used the tone curve in PS, I also used Levels and adjusted the midtones to get the flesh correct. I also compensated for the yellow lighting. I thought a tight square crop provided a nice leading line diagonally from corner to corner while adding tension.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 7 comments posted
Gordon Watson
Well your granddaughter looks like a proper dancer, and I think the diagonal presentation against black really works. You have left a bit of reflection under her hand and front foot, but her back foot is a bit hanging in space - could you leave a bit of reflection there as well just to provide a sense of grounding? A good one for the family album. (PS was it really F28, or F2.8?) Posted: 07/08/2024 21:13:56
Trey Foerster
Damn, you've got a great eye! I hadn't noticed that there wasn't a reflection under her back foot! Ahh, the family won't notice that but I forever will haha! Posted: 07/09/2024 15:48:47
Sophie Pouillon
I love this kind of image. What's more, she seems to have mastered the steps well, toes outstretched, arms nicely arranged, ... Perfect.
The same drawback as Gordon, we'd need to see the ground "slightly" for her to be attached to the Earth. Levitating is a shame. Posted: 07/08/2024 22:06:20
Sophie Pouillon
en français, pointe de pied tendue... drôle de traduction désolée Posted: 07/09/2024 07:12:00
Ian Cambourne
A great image Trey, one your family and grand daughter will treasure in the years to come. You've handled the stage lighting very well. Congratulations. Posted: 07/22/2024 06:39:10
Jay Joseph
Great picture Trey. I like the moment you took the shot at full extension. I also like the way she stands out by removing the background. Posted: 07/26/2024 14:27:40
Henriette Brasseur
Great timing on your granddaughter's position with her arms outstretched and her toes pointed. The family should be happy with this image. With the black background, you could add all sorts of things...perhaps dancers from the Kirov Ballet Company or the Bolshoi Company from Russia... Posted: 07/31/2024 23:21:00
