One day this girl is going to be a star. Skye taught me that if you’re passionate about something, you need to envision what you want, plan how you are going to get it and keep going until you’re satisfied. It’s a principle that we can all use.
This was once of my favourite shoots before I left Singapore and moved to Minneapolis – different to anything I had done before but so exhilarating and beautiful! Skye’s mom Lisa had already done a photo shoot with me for herself and her husband, so she knew what to expect. She called me to book a dance photo shoot for her 12-year old daughter, Skye, who wanted to build her dance portfolio to present with her applications to dance schools.
Perfect Preparation
I always insist of a high level of pre-shoot preparation. It is essential for creating the most successful and enjoyable photo shoot so I remain in constant contact with my clients beforehand. Skye and I communicated several times prior to her shoot, sharing a Pinterest board and emailing different ideas about what she liked and what she wanted from the shoot. She and Lisa spent time preparing the outfits and shopping for the perfect look, so when they arrived on the day there was no messing around and we were ready to roll.
The Day of the Shoot
We started off with some amazing leaping shots. Right from the start Skye enthralled me with her athleticism and grace, as well as her willingness to repeat the leaps several times so that we could get it just right. Her energy was limitless – that’s youth for you! My goal was to capture the shots perfectly in camera so that I wouldn’t need to ‘fix anything’ in post – I’ve posted a couple of behind-the-scenes shots of the photo session to show the set-up.
After the white background we switched to the black backdrop, gave Skye some silks and turned the fan on. The results were so gorgeous that it was tough for all of us not to get carried away, but we only had 2 hours for the shoot and needed to stick to our plan. We did several combos of ballet outfits, skirts and leg-warmers and what incredible images we got!
Skye was such an inspiration: only 12 years old but she knew exactly what she was looking for when I showed her the back of my camera. She was looking for the perfect shape and form of each dance pose. Towards the end of this dance photo session we decided that we had achieved all of the dramatic, movement-filled poses that Skye wanted. We moved on to capture some calmer photos of Skye looking serene – great portraits for her mom to keep. We took portraits of her holding her pointe shoes, and some close-up images.
Everyone was thrilled
After the shoot Lisa (Skye’s mom) was thrilled with the dance portraits of Skye and ordered some poster-sized prints for the wall. Here’s what she had to say about the dance photo shoot:
“Having been extremely happy with the beautiful photos Amber had taken of me on a previous occasion, booking her for dance shoot photos for my daughter, Skye, was an easy decision. I enjoy having photos of my children doing “their thing” – Skye’s thing is dance and Amber’s brief was to capture moments of movement in addition to capturing the essence of Skye. Skye thoroughly enjoyed the whole event, Amber PinInteresting her possible shots, the outfits, make up and of course the actual shoot. Watching Amber taking photos of my daughter I was touched by how quickly she put Skye at ease and it was lovely to observe them both having fun with the shoot. I love the final images, they’re exactly what I was hoping for and most days I waste far too much time looking at them! So happy to have been able to capture that slice of time.”
Every time I look at these photos I am inspired by Skye – and now feel motivated to find more dancers to work with. Contact me if you are located in the Minneapolis MN area and are interested with doing a dance photo shoot together 🙂
