These photos were taken for promotion of the Annual Contemporary Dance Ensemble Performance. The concept that we were asked to execute was the theme for this year’s performance which was “Echo.” The director and photographer came up with this concept to show the dancer frozen and then an echo of each of them. She specifically wanted them to be done in black and white to strip away any distractions that might occur with color and just get to the essence of the "echo” of the performance. We used a long exposure coupled with the combination of HDMI (constant lighting) and Profoto strobes to effectively freeze the dancer and then show the movement after the initial flash to get an “echo” effect for each dancer. We did tight head and shoulders portraits of each dancer and an action portrait with a bench as a prop that was to be used in the final performance. The final images were used in the printed program for the dance performance, on social media (Instagram posts, stories, and reels; TikTok, Facebook), and on the large digital screens outside in the lobby of the theatre where the dance performance was held. They were also used around campus on various digital signs in hallways and outside marquees. This photo shoot was executed to show the beauty, athleticism, and skill set of the university student dancers and to help promote their final concert and increase attendance to the broader community.
From the Judges
Gorgeous, creative, and beautiful portraits. Judges loved the use of long exposure to create movement. Nice reach technically, and the work really comes to life in the marketing pieces. Great use of movement and lighting.
