Jive

K

kata eos

Suspended / Banned
Messages
91
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello :-),once a month i attend a Jive Freestyle event and over the past few months i have been taking photos of the events(christmas,halloween etc)which the organiser is really pleased about,the organiser & others who attend like the photos...however i don't(i'm fussy with my photos).
As there are alot of people dancing all at once & moving at different speeds & in different directions,i'm wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction in how to get a great shot,at the moment i tend to have the shutter speed set to Freeze the action ...but there is no sense of movement.
thanks :-)
 
kata eos said:
Hello :-),once a month i attend a Jive Freestyle event and over the past few months i have been taking photos of the events(christmas,halloween etc)which the organiser is really pleased about,the organiser & others who attend like the photos...however i don't(i'm fussy with my photos).
As there are alot of people dancing all at once & moving at different speeds & in different directions,i'm wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction in how to get a great shot,at the moment i tend to have the shutter speed set to Freeze the action ...but there is no sense of movement.
thanks :-)
Click to expand...
I do this this too! (It is RnR you do or Modern Jive?).

I've tried different things. I don't use direct flash as I like to capture some of the ambient light. I've tried bouncing the flash off the ceiling (if a white ceiling), or using a diffuser and sometimes a bit of both. I sometimes also slow the shutter right down and spin the camera if there are suitable low level lights to make a trail.

In terms of the dancing itself, I tend to choose a couple and take several shots of them, not all of which work, due to arms being the wrong place over the face (eg in a turn/return). If you dance yourself then you anticipate what move someone is going to do and can look for basket/wrap type moves to get both partners facing you, or drops etc. Spins are good to get swirly skirts and hair but if you are facing the lead its hard to get the woman's face in shot.

I'm still experimenting myself. Going to a freestyle tonight - might take my camera... wouldn't mind experimenting with off camera flash.
 
kata eos said:
Hi Lynn,its Modern Jive i do,would be interested to know how you got on with your experiment with off camera flash :-)
Click to expand...
Me too! Didn't get round to going to the freestyle so didn't get to try it. I should have though, as not sure when our next freestyle is, all the dates for this year not confirmed yet.
 
Shot a ballroom event on Friday night and that was different from what I'm used to. There was a real mix of dancing going on (ballroom, latin, lindy, balboa, jive, Ceroc...) and it was tempting to shoot the swing and jive dances as I know where people will be - eg I can see someone starting a swing out and know I'll get a nice lindy pose as they break apart, or I see them doing a basket in jive and know I'll get both partners side by side facing the camera... but ballroom is in hold and harder to get faces unless you catch them side on. Plus they were smiling less than I'm used to with modern jive social events - and its progressive too.

Also a formation ballroom team and an Argentine Tango performance - much as I love tango (its my favourite dance) and when you watch it, its elegant - the transitions between positions aren't always, so you have to catch the completed position sometimes to get a good look. And I missed a lift - they sort of ran forwards into it and I had to move a bit as they were so close and was just too late. :(

So lots of new things to take on board with different dancing styles - but still great fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top