Capturing Movement: How to Prepare for an Outdoor Dance Shoot
If the time has come again where you are debating a dance photoshoot, for fun, for a portfolio, or because your mom is making you. Let’s talk through the basics of how you should prepare for your dance photoshoot in Seattle, WA.
Choosing a location
Your location should feel like YOU. If you are uncomfortable in a city atmosphere, go for nature, if you don’t like stepping on wet grass, go for the city. The biggest thing is to make sure you feel like yourself. That is how you relax in front of the camera, hit the best poses, and get clean, unique dance shots.
If you are simply choosing a location because it is trendy, or you feel like you should, your photos are not going to turn out as heartfelt as you might want them.
So my advice is to think of your favorite spot around your city, and go with your gut. Trust me, you can make most locations a great backdrop.
Sorting through your closet
There are two directions to go with choosing an outfit for your dance shoot.
1. Find something flowy. That could be a light scarf, a long skirt, or even just baggy clothing. That is going to give you movement in your shots, even if you are barely trying. Movement is the key to finding different moments in one pose.
2. Clean lines, tighter clothing. If you are proud of your technique, and want to showcase that. Maybe you need these photos to showcase your technique for a portfolio, I always recommend cleaning up the lines a bit and going for tighter clothing. Think, something you would wear to an audition.
Warming up
It is tempting to just go straight into a dance photoshoot with no warm up. I have done this before, I am sure we all have. But let’s talk about what you miss if you skip the warm up and dive right into grand jetes, attitudes, and stretches.
The most obvious? You might hurt yourself. It is never worth it to take yourself out of dance classes for weeks just to get a picture.
The less obvious? You are not going to hit your full extension if you don’t warm up. So do the warm up, I expect it and the 10 minutes it takes is worked into our session time.
You can still book before you prepare for your outdoor dance photoshoot
If you are still debating any of these, that is okay. Part of our job as photographers is to help you work out what it is you want from your photoshoot. You can still book a session even if you don't know exactly what you want yet.
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