Folk dancing photography

[Pickerel]

A tricky but rewarding thing. The lighting’s usually terrible, I haven’t used strobes until just this week when I got my SB-700, and the movement is erratic. I haven’t done much of this lately since I’ve been good about getting partners for every dance. 🙂

[Some people may show up repeatedly, since they may dance at many of the regional events and are just great dancers!]

_DSD6686 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

_DSE0582 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

_DSE5504 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

_DSE6835 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

_DSE0487 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

_DSE6798 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

_DSE3160 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

[Kestrana]

Cool stuff Pickerel Thanks for sharing!

[Farktographer]

I particularly like the feel of the final shot. If the background had been different (or blurred out with a shallow DOF) I think it’d be a really intense look.

[Pickerel]

That’s what I like about using my 70-200 for this, or even the 35 or 50 f/1.8s to a lesser extent. I’m getting a 24mm f/1.4 lens soon so that’ll be excellent for this. Usually I’m shooting up close and wide with a 20mm f/2.8 or 12-24mm f/4 since there isn’t much room to work with. Shallower DOF is nice too so I can blur out the occasional person that doesn’t want to be in any photos. :/

[Pickerel]

A couple shots I really enjoyed from the dance I was at last Thursday… I have the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 now and while it didn’t wind up being as good as I thought it would for dance (autofocus can be a trick), it gives me great results when I work it right.

Feburary 23, 2012 – Glenside Contra by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

February 23, 2012 – Glenside Couples Dance by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

[Pickerel]

A couple new shots, from a dance weekend at the end of May. I am so far behind on my processing… Greenfield, MA. Guiding Star Grange, a dance hall legendary in the contra dance community. The lighting was great here early in the day, too.

_DSG4886 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

_DSG4882 by El_Pickerel, on Flickr

[Yoyo]

Exactly what sort of folk are these? I don’t recognize their costumes from the usual traditional garb.

[Pickerel]

There is no real traditional garb to this… it is American folk dancing, originating from English country dancing in the 1700s and 1800s. It was on the decline for a while, but experienced a revival 30 or so years ago and while still a small community, it is a vibrant and dedicated one. At least that is the case where I have gone.

[Author]

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