blue

It’s no secret how much I enjoy photographing children – I’ve talked about this many times (and at length) on my blog. But my absolute favorite models for my photography are ballerinas. There is something completely captivating about an elegant, gamine but beautiful girl wearing a pretty and colourful ballet costume and theatrical make-up. For a photographer, they are the perfect muse – their long neck and limbs and the way they hold and use their body accentuates light, shadow and form beautifully.

I was fortunate enough to photograph a friend’s daughter last year as she embarked on her application to the Royal Ballet School (a successful one at that)

photos which I later transformed into a gorgeous PhotoArt piece. This week I had the opportunity to photograph another young ballet dancer and danseur in a dress rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty at The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham. It was a favour to a very good friend but being given the opportunity to photograph another ballerina was just too good to pass up.

After a brief text conversation with one of the Mums, I decided to go with the oxford blue backdrop I have from Creativity Backgrounds which turned out to be an inspired choice (much to my relief). I had never met the ballerina before so we didn’t have any time to get to know each other. It was also a very hurried affair in a small space and with a small 1.35m backdrop. I had no idea what the parents wanted out of it so we just kind of went with it.

The result were just fab ….

the ballerina was beautiful and made my job an absolute joy

When I look back over the hour or so that we were together, I can reflect on how quickly this pretty ballerina responded to my requests. Dancers are very conscious of their bodies and are accustomed to taking direction from choreographers and alike on a regular basis – this is of enormous benefit to a photographer.

We didn’t have any time at all but by the end of this very brief session, I had some fantastic photos and even (maybe) a promise of borrowing her for a couple of hours or so in a studio.

I can’t tell you how exciting that prospect is!