by Ron McKinney, co-founder of Pas de Deux Photo
I don't think I ever chose dance photography - I think dance photography found me. Eleven years ago, I was working a corporate job and freelancing on the weekends. One of those weekends I found myself at my daughters’ dance recital. I was blown away by the talent of the older dance company performers and pulled out my Nikon to begin taking photographs form the audience. Since then, I’ve moved into photography full-time, opened my own photography studio, and then opened a second studio because the first one was too small.
Taking photos of dancers has remained my passion. I also do senior portraits, family portraits, headshots, and even a few weddings. I enjoy all those things, but dance photography is my passion. There are so many challenges to dance photography, all the usual technical challenges associated with taking a professional-level photograph, but little things like direction of light and the angles you shoot from in relation to the dancer has such a powerful impact on your image. I love walking around a dancer to find a new angle that features the dancer's strengths.
Dance photography has grown immensely in the last 20 years. More and more studios look for a dance photographer for their studio pictures, and yet many of the national yearbook type of photography companies are still photographing dance studios throughout the USA.
The art of dance photography is also exploding in literary circles and social media. I’m blown away every day by the stuff that big names like Jordan Matter and Rachel Neville are producing and excited to keep discovering new artists like Jade YYT (IG: @jade_yyt).
I’m excited to jump into message boards. I love seeing what awesome new photographs people are out there creating. I hope to see you are our inaugural conference on Phoenix this year. And I can’t wait to see what amazing submissions are entered into our first annual dance photography competition. Our judges include all of you as well as a team of professional dancers, who will share their perspective on what makes a great dance photo.
Thanks for joining us !
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