urban jazz

the jazz company director asked that we take it to the streets this year. this is not a difficult task in portraiture. however. multiply a "typical" urban portrait session by 30 dancers and things get....tricky. my thoughts in rapid fire: "shoot everyone. leave no one out. feature strong dancers. exclude no one. incorporate urban features. grunge it up. keep it clean. make it pop. oh. start at sunrise. break the whole into smaller groups. cover six square blocks with the entourage of dancers, parents, a wagon of gear, and one pregnant labradoodle. finish before 9. don't holler out orders...think...watch the background...check the histogram...where's the light...count of 3...do it again..." yes, the banter was constant in my head.
i can only hope i caught a few keepers. really, we had a very fun and fast time.

one of the guys in this truck hopped out and joined the dancers, striking a pose in the street. :) sorry, i didn't catch it. i was literally running.

i like this one better without the wink of sunlight across faces...

although the above had a more predictable outcome, i still favor movement. dancers dance, after all. they don't pose.

cool shadow play...

the following four shots were made possible by perching on the median, waiting for cars to pass then giving the dancers counts of 3...again and again.

the first two are straight off the camera to give you a sense of perspective...

this would be a good "save the date" image edited on that sign. instead of fighting against it being there, we will work with it!

so capture the whole company, right? below is one version. meh.

here is the whole company in attendance again, an image that makes me happier...34 dancers, i think. the back side of this building provided a beautiful backdrop although i did edit it into something taller. speaking of big. this image should be printed BIG.  

and that is all for now.

on this day at 1pm i took a nap. :)