Bay Area Dance Week

My annual dose of dance photography, which I love. I was invited back to work with the Kathy Mata Ballet company, for their performance in the Bay Area Dance Week. Not just ballet, but also ballroom and modern styles. I felt a bit out of practice at first, feeling a little slow with the shutter, but got back into the swing of it, anticipating the apexes of movement. It's not, as some guess, clicking the shutter away at rapid fire; shots are timed and intentional. I use a 50mm prime lens with manual settings to optimize light and speed (f/2.2, 1/400), the disadvantage being the lack of zoom which means if the subject is too close, parts may be cropped. However, most of the action takes place a few yard from the audience where I squat, so mostly it works out. The advantage of the prime lens is of course, high speed under low light.

I kind of hate watermarking, because it is so distracting to the picture. Like it's the title, or something. But I watermarked these because they will be posted relatively far and wide, and I've found in the past that dancers don't know where to look when trying to find me for hi-res versions, or to credit me. I recognize all the dancers from having carefully observed them, they of course don't know me from any other face in the audience.