Austin Portrait and Dance Photographer | Josh Brewster Photography » Blog

01-09-2012

Dance Photography | Dance Photos with Beth Ann + 1

Beth Ann is a dancer, choreographer and instructor here in Austin area that, throughout her career, somehow managed to never get good dancing photos of herself.  So we resolved to fix that.  After a discussing ideas and managing busy schedules we scheduled a time slot when we both had some free time over the weekend.

To make things interesting, I picked up a couple of different fabrics in different colors at a nearby JoAnns.  When Beth Ann started moving them around her body, I quickly discovered that fabric indeed fray and shed hundreds of nearly invisible threads onto the ground… nearly invisible until the image is viewed on the computer.  Lesson learned: bring a broom.

BethAnn was amazing during the entire photoshoot, her energy and drive never wavering.  It was fun to find out about two months later, that she had been three weeks pregnant when we had the shoot.

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09-22-2011

Dance Photography | Dancing Photoshoot with Kelly

Kelly was in town recently with choreographer Kristin McQuaid of PRESTIGE Dance Company.  Together they were choreographing and teach routines to small ensembles of dancers for the upcoming dance season.

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I sent Kelly a message asking if she would be game for an impromptu photoshoot.  As luck would have it, she had an hour break at the end of her day the next day, so we scheduled to meet at the dance studio where they were teaching.

At the appointed time the next day, I met Kelly at the dance studio and together we picked out one of her costumes for her to wear. Given our short time constraint, we headed down into the parking garage and chose a convenient brick wall and started dancing (her) and taking photos (me).   It was a great deal of fun capturing the amazing things Kelly can do, working together to figure out the best angle for a certain move and creating for the sheer joy of it.

Here are some of the photos from the shoot.

austin dance photography lyrical modern danceaustin dance portraits lyrical modern danceblack and white dance photographyaustin dance portraiture photo sessionaustin dance photography lyrical modern dance

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08-09-2011

Headshot Photography | Broadway Bound Headshots

A local dance studio recently offered a weeklong Broadway Bound camp to teach  youth about the joys of singing, dancing, musical theatre, Broadway history and audition prep.  About halfway through the week, the camp instructors taught the students how to prepare for an audition; of course, you cannot audition for a role without the all important headshot.  This is where I come in.

austin kid

I setup in one of the practice rooms at the studio and took headshots of all the kids over the course of an hour or so.  Some kids were ready to smile, some needed a bit of encouragement and others did not want to walk away after they were done.  They were an exceedingly excellent bunch of kids, all fun to work and joke with.

austin kid

After all the photos were taken, I sat with the instructors and picked out the best shot of each of the kids.  That night, I edited each of the headshots and sent them to a lab to get an 8×10 printed for each image.   On the last day of the camp two days later, the students put on a small show featuring musicals throughout history.  In the lobby, each headshot was presented next to the student’s Broadway-bio that they had written during the week.  It was in essence a very large playbill.

austin kid

The reactions of the parents were priceless.  One mother stopped from across the room as soon as she saw her daughter’s headshot, with a small gasp and a hand to her mouth.  She then approached slowly for a closer look.  I was lucky to be able to witness that moment.

The performance was great and the kids were adorable.  I’m hoping for a repeat next summer and hope to be part of it.

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07-07-2011

Dance Photography | Kaila’s Ballet Audition Photoshoot

Like all good and devoted athletes, Kaila began looking into summer dance programs (ballet to be specific) right after winter break ended;  one of the ballet programs required a series of photos to accompany the application packet.   Specifically, the application asked for a headshot, two specific ballet poses and one or two leaps or free form moves of the dancer’s choosing.

The photos were needed within a few days and with the sun disappearing at a depressingly early hour (it was January), we set up in the dance studio’s ballet room.  We started off with the headshots while Kaila’s hair was looking its best; there was going to be much leaping coming up for the freeform poses and her hair was eventually going to be put into a bun for the ballet poses.

Austin photographer shoots a headshot for a dance audition

After the headshots, Kaila went off to change into her first costume while I changed to studio around for the full body shots.  We started off with her leaps and jumps in her lyrical costume, once again, to take advantage of her hair being down so that the movement could be captured.  To help make sure we achieved the optimal photograph, I set up my laptop to display the images as I was shooting.  This also helped keep Kaila from unnecessarily wearing out.

Austin photographer capture lyrical dance action in studio for a dance audition

A quick costume change and a bun later, we were photographing ballet arabesques and pointe shoes.  I tried to inspire Kaila by doing my own rendition of some of the dance moves, but I think all I did was injure my pride (and back).

Austin photographer capture ballet action in studio for a dance audition

I delivered the photos a few days after the shoot. A few months later, I was pleased to hear that Kaila had been accepted into the ballet camp, not that I had any doubt that she would breeze on in.  Way to go Kaila!

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Graeme W - Thanks for this blog post, and the post on lighting-essentials.com
I am photographing a friends sister, who is a dance teacher.
I had no idea what to shoot or how to shoot it, until I read your post.
Some ideas are coming to me now, and at least I can get the set up similar to yours.
Thanks for the help!!

Graeme W - Thanks%20for%20this%20blog%20post%2C%20and%20the%20post%20on%20lighting-essentials.com
I%20am%20photographing%20a%20friends%20sister%2C%20who%20is%20a%20dance%20teacher.
I%20had%20no%20idea%20what%20to%20shoot%20or%20how%20to%20shoot%20it%2C%20until%20I%20read%20your%20post.
Some%20ideas%20are%20coming%20to%20me%20now%2C%20and%20at%20least%20I%20can%20get%20the%20set%20up%20similar%20to%20yours.
Thanks%20for%20the%20help!!

06-15-2011

Music Photography | Violinist Omar Lopez

Quite some time ago, during the balmy summer of 2010, local Austin violinist Omar Lopez contacted me to shoot some images for the cover and internal artwork of his soon-to-be released album, Mirrors and Memories.  For obvious reasons, I did not want to post any sneak-peaks until the album was released.

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When discussing how the images would look, we settled with cooler color tones and light coming in from behind, perhaps to represent contemplative and calm feelings.

undefinedI also wanted to include a shot or two with a clean, ubobstructed background where Omar could add copy text, perhaps the playlist or a short bio.

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I had a great time shooting these images with Omar and it looks like there may be a second shoot to be scheduled soon for the next album.  Stay tuned for more on that front.

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