FDJ1 2018 Winter Classic Dance Competition

I’ve been taking pictures of my nieces dancing for two years now, and it’s only now that I’m hitting my stride. Taking pictures is easy, taking good pictures is hard, taking amazing pictures is almost as much luck as it is skill.

I’ve done weddings, studio, location shoots. I’ve worked in a TV studio, at concerts, I’ve stood at the red carpet, and I’ve shot fashion shows. On location or in a studio you have whatever amount of time you’ve booked. With weddings, concerts or in a TV studio you’re getting closer to the speed of a dance competition. A red carpet or a fashion show takes you closer still.

On a dance competition of this style, you have 15 seconds to nail a good shot with the dancer literally running around the floor. The dancer has 45 seconds on the floor, in those 45 seconds they will pass you by at least two times, often three times. Two thirds of that time they spend with their backs to you and you’re shit out of luck, which leaves you with 15 seconds of face time. If you’re lucky.

Having worked for a photo agency where I never knew what kind of situation I would find myself in has prepared me well. On a red carpet you only have 5 seconds to grab a shot, and you learn quickly what will get you that one shot that you need.

I spent 2016 testing the waters. In 2017 I worked on my technique and started to get a few good shots every competition. For the first round of the 2018 dance competitions in freestyle and slow I started to nail the really good pictures.

Towards the end of last year I started to gradually move on from just taking pictures of Maria and Mailene, and started to shoot some other dancers as well. Shooting someone new is a new challenge. I don’t know their dance styles or their routines, so when I do nail a good shot I get that much more excited. It means all the thousands of crappy pictures from 2016 and 2017 are starting to pay off.