Teenie Ballerinas

I was sent to submit a photograph from the San Francisco Ballet's Dance In Schools and Communities program, and their instructor, Phonecia Pettyjohn. My editor gave me free rein on the project, leaving the focus of the photograph entirely up to me. I decided that I would try to produce a photo showing Ms. Pettyjohn working with one or more of her first-grade students, and hold out for a photo highlighting just her.

This is the second time I've made a photo in the  SF Ballet ecosystem, and the Covid restrictions require masks for all "outsiders" and vaccination verification. I tested myself two days before the shoot, and self-isolated until the day of the shoot. 

The assignment turned into two approaches. The instruction itself, which would be done with available light, while the 3/4 shot would be done with flash. Since the overhead florescent lights were of an unknown white balance, I used the camera's Custom WB feature rather than one of the presets. As is always the case, there would be problems when the available windowlight contaminated the image, but luckily, the overcast day minimized the problem.

I submitted this shot, in spite of the fact that I couldn't see Ms. Pettyjohn's face. My little ballerina was facing away from me, so I wouldn't need to get permission. The white balance setting was spot on, giving me accurate flesh tones. Notice that the reflection off of the floor has a definite tint, giving a hint at how different the artificial light was from daylight.

I was surprised to see that Ms. Pettyjohn used a tablet to illustrate how she needed her students to approach their future roles as dancers, and instill a sense that they would be part of a much larger whole. Seeing images of an actual ballet in progress gave these young dancers a visible goal to work towards. This appeared to be an effective approach when working with youngsters who might have some difficulty seeing themselves as part of an ensemble, rather that center stage in the comfort of their own bedrooms.

There was a brief recess between the two morning sessions, so I set up a shoot-through umbrella with a single 60 WS speedlight. A second speedlight was aimed at the background, just enough to brighten things up. When the students left, I positioned my lights next to the wall of mirrors, put Ms. Pettyjohn in position, and made my shot.

The True Takeaway: When the next group of students came in, I continued with my available light coverage. I was lucky to have had that distraction, because when I examined my 3/4 shots, I found that they were not as critically focus as they could have been. I hadn't yet put my lights away, so when the second group left, I managed to get just a few more minutes for a quick re-shoot. I explained that the images weren't as critically sharp as I waned, and that since the lights were still set up, the re-shoot would take only a minute or two. The lesson is to  never pack up your gear until you are absolutely sure the session is over. You never know when some technical problem will make a reshoot the only way to salvage an assignment.

Reflections On Reflections: This isn't the most original photo I've ever made, but it is the first time I used a mirror as part of the composition. For the sake of comparison, I took the submitted image and cropped both the original and the reflected image to compare. I also rotated the reflection to better match the original. I learned a few things:

• Retouch both the subject and its reflection. If I retouch out a blemish on my subject, I must do the same the the reflection.
• The reflection is going to be softer than the original. The reflection will probably be slightly blurry when compared to the actual subject. Since the reflective coating of the mirror is actually behind the glass, image bearing light will be refracted slightly as it passes back through it.
• The eyes may appear to be looking in a different direction. In this sample the reflected image appears to be looking slightly to camera left. 

In the end, the article (Q & A format) will do the heavy lifting, and this pleasing double-portrait will probably do just fine. I'm looking forward to another opportunity to improve on portraits that include reflections, as this assignment showed me that they are not as simple or straight forward as I once thought.