The End of Dance Week

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Dance schools are a lot of work.

We spend an entire week at each dance school we photograph, bringing a very large part of our studio with us.

The ages range from toddler to teen, with the oldest students graduating high school. This means a lot of up and down, bending over and kneeling, squatting and standing tall.

My back, it is feeling the burn.

The little girls in tap shoes are the worst. I like watching tap. But dozens of screaming little girls in tap shoes running and playing on wooden floors in an echoing dance studio, I could do without.

The poses are mostly arranged by the teachers, with minor tweaking and suggestions by us. Sometimes it’s pretty fast-paced; others we get a little frustrated at the slow teachers backing up the schedule.

But at the end of the night, when things are winding down, I can slow down a little. I can experiment a little.

I can take the time to fine-tune a pose, or try something completely different than a typical dancer’s pose. Something that will make the dancer and the mother look at the preview picture and say “wow”.

And that makes it all worth it.

Spin

IMG_0652R Last night was prom night. Five schools in the area had their proms on the same night, and we were busy from 2 until about 8. Lots of beautiful dresses, lots of matching tuxes, and a few “formal sneakers”.

I really like long, flowing dresses, and if I have time, I usually try to talk someone into doing a spin. Most of the girls are generally happy to oblige.

Having time to play makes the long prom sessions go a little quicker.

Snakes in a Studio

We don’t mind pets in our studio. We charge extra, though, because some owners let their dogs puke or piddle on our backdrops and say “Oh look. Isn’t Fluffy being cute!”. Sorry, cleaning isn’t included in our session fees.

1  Anyway, cats and dogs are pretty common with families and seniors. But when this senior called and asked if she could bring her snakes, Karen got a little flustered. She had visions of this 12 foot Burmese Python wandering around our studio, and refused to do it. Snakes don’t bother me at all, so I said I’d come in and shoot the last part of her session.

She showed up with a small reptile case and three small snakes. Karen ended up staying for the session (although she still refused to hold one).

The snakes were very well behaved (mostly), and I think we ended up with some images she’ll really like.

Here are a few others:

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