Dancers: Printing Compositions: 2nd print

This is my print with the higher film speed, so it's more of a frozen image than a blur.

For the 1st test strip I tried it at the same settings as the last print I did.

Aperture: 5.6 Filter:2 Time:32

This was too dark, so I did a test strip at lower times. Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 2 Time: 10 + 10 + 5... Then I tried another test strip at 30. Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 2 Time: 30

These were a bit gray, so I tried a test strip with different filters.

Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 3/4 Time: 30

Then my enlarger broke, so I tried the same thing after it was fixed.

Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 3/4 Time: 30

I decided on a 3 filter, and needed to lower the time as well.

Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 3 Time: 20 + 1...

This was too light, so I did another test strip with the same settings but more time.

Aperture: 5.6 Filter:3 Time: 25 + 5...

Then I tried an A4 print at 50 seconds with the same settings.

Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 3 Time: 50

After a couple more test strips and switching enlargers, I ended up with a better quality print, although still a bit dark..

Aperture: 8 Filter: 3 Time: 50

This is part of my final print.

Aperture: 8 Filter: 3 Time: 50

Dancers: Printing Compositions: 1st print

This is my print with a lower film speed and therefore a blurry motion shot. This was my original try at my first print. However when I first started developing it we realized it was really grainy and not a good choice, so I moved onto the next one. This was my 1st attempt for the 1st print (the 2nd time). I started out with the settings from my last print attempt. Aperture: 4 Filter: 2 Time: 10+ 2... This looked good, so I tried an A4 print at 10 seconds. Aperture: 4 Filter: 2 Time: 10

This was a bit gray, so I closed the aperture (since adding a filter would make it grainier than it already was). Because I was closing the aperture, I added another 10 seconds.

Aperture: 5.6

Filter: 2

Time: 20 I then tried an A4 print at 22 seconds to see how the contrast looked in the rest of the picture. Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 2 Time: 22

This looked alright but a little light, so I did a final A3 print at 32 seconds. Aperture: 5.6 Filter: 2 Time: 32

Dancers: Image Bank

This is a picture of a traditional Las Vegas, Nevada, USA dancer, an Elvis impersonator and his fans. The lighting in this image is blurry, as are the people, a hint of the party atmosphere and frenzied movement of a Las Vegas party scene. The composition also contributes to the wild mood, since the people are cut off in odd places. It is also a close-up, which gives a more personal sense of the scene. The angle is straight on, as if the photographer is a dancer at the party along with the rest of them. Source

This is a picture of Indian classical dance in New Delhi. The lighting seems to be traditional stage lighting, with colored lighting in the background and all of the dancers' faces clearly lit. The composition seems quite complete, with all of the dancers' hands drawing attention to the woman in the center, but on a closer look we see another woman's foot in the bottom right corner. This suggests that the photographer cut out some dancers, but still gave a complete compositional effect. The angle seems to be from below, as if the photographer was in an audience below the stage, which gives an enhanced sense of the performance aspect of the dance (a rehearsed as opposed to impromptu dance). Source

This picture is of a Turkish Dervish whirler. The lighting is a warm, even tone, presumable reflecting off of the wood floors and other atmosphere pieces. The composition is, like the Indian dancers, complete although portions of other people are visible. The dancer takes up almost the entire frame, filling it nicely. He is also blurry, which along with his twirling skirt gives a suggestion of him spinning as opposed to some other movement, a key element in conveying the idea of the picture. The angle is from above, giving a euphoric feeling. It also has a clandestine tone, as if we are peering in on something we shouldn't be seeing, and gives the picture a very intimate feeling. Source

This is a picture of Tango dancers in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tango is a very traditional Latin American ballroom dance centered around the idea of romance. The lighting here is clear, but cool, bringing out the greys of the man's suit and ground, but most of all the red of the woman's dress. The composition is beautiful. The woman's head and shoulders are cut out, and the man's entire upper body is missing. Although this would normally seem very odd, with the Tango, where the idea of romance and desire are conveyed completely with the body, the face of the dancers is unnecessary, and this composition focuses instead on the beauty of the dance without the distraction of their faces. I also like the amount of empty ground space between the camera and the subjects, as the grid of the tiles enhances the strong lines of the dancers and contrasts beautifully with their curves. The angle is also important in this piece, as it is straight on, as a spectator on the street would see them. Since the Tango is the dance of the people, this seems quite appropriate. Source

This is a picture of a debutante ball in Vienna, Austria. There is bright, filling lighting which gives a happy, elegant mood to the photo. The composition is simple, but effective, showing enough people to give a sense of the large group present, but few enough people that you can see detail in the guests' clothing and faces. The composition also conveys the inner circle of the dancers, as well as the line of people standing outside that. The angle is from above, since it is hard to see detail in a ballroom dance from eye-level. This also enhances the elegant feel of the picture. Source

This is a picture of a Russian Ballet dancer practicing. Ballet is a typical dance of Russia and an icon of their culture. The lighting of this image is unusual, with the shadows peering in through the windows and revealing the city scape outside. It seems to be dusk from the angle of the lighting, which along with the dancer's passionate expression tells a nice story in the picture. Other than the shadows from the window the room is quite dark, which gives an intimate feeling. The dancer is still lit enough to be able to see detail, which makes it quite personal still. The composition of this image is interesting- the ballerina seems to be very alone in such a large, empty room, seemingly alone with her feelings and her dance. It is beautifully introspective in a sense, because the uneven lighting, spartan composition, and simple, straightforward angle all work together for an intimately beautiful piece. Source

Dancers: Diary Entry

Although this project was fairly short, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I missed the 1st class, which put me a little behind the rest, but it also gave me some interesting shots that other people didn't have. Most of my shots were from pretty far away, which didn't turn out horribly well, but I liked the poses themselves. This made the project mroe fun, but also made it harder to pick which image I wanted to develop. In terms of the processing, this project wasn't as succesful as others have been. My negatives weren't very good. They had pretty good contrast, but were quite grey, and since I was enlarging them so much they were too grainy to put in a high filter. Instead I closed my aperture, but the pictures still didn't turn out fabulously. Another problem I enocuntered was my enlarger. during the 2nd to last class it suddenly stopped working well. Even after it got fixed it was still having problems. Luckily, though, Yukun and I were the only ones still working in the dark room, so I could move to another enlarger easily and finish my print. The empty darkroom was another nice thing about this project: since I had a late start, I had the dark room pretty much to myself, which was less stressful and more efficient. I am fairly happy with my final prints.