Scottish Highland Dancing (not as you know it!)

[Jim A]

Well, I did warn you! Ready for the brickbats. It will not be everyone's "cup of tea", that is fine. Please don't hold back .... the good and bad, my loins are girded!

[Tronhard]

G'day Jim!!

ACTUALLY, I like it... It looks like it was taken under challenging conditions - very limited light for one I suspect. I would be curious to get some comment on that as I prefer to know the context for an image. The effect of blurring is to emphasize the movement of the dancers. I'm OK with it, but yes there will be people for whom this is not an effective cup of tea.

[george013]

I like it.
Some time ago I bought a nd filter for shooting long time exposer in daytime on a tripod, having the static elements sharp and the moving elements blurred. I still have to use it.

George

[pschlute]

I quite like it, but would suggest cropping it tighter (from the bottom right corner). Also the dark portion at the top is distracting. Cropping this would be more problematic as you would lose a few heads, perhaps clone the floor instead ?

[Donald]

There is a big space at the right hand side beyond the person at the extreme right. What is it adding to the image?

[smcrews]

I really like it! It breaks away from the norm and is an excellent expression in movement. Nice capture.

[Shadowman]

Why the brickbats, looks like an exercise (for you) in photography, nicely captured.

[billtils]

Why the brickbats, looks like an exercise (for you) in photography, nicely captured.

Agree.

[Donald]

Why the brickbats, looks like an exercise (for you) in photography, nicely captured.

I think what you call 'brickbats' is actually meant to be criticism aimed at helping Jim to become a better photographer.

[Shadowman]

I think what you call 'brickbats' is actually meant to be criticism aimed at helping Jim to become a better photographer.

I thought he meant the comments would be demeaning which I didn't believe the image should deserve.

[Manfred M]

Good potential here but there are enough distracting elements, especially the four (?) people walking away near the top left are added unwanted clutter. Without them and perhaps a bit of cropping of some of the areas of negative space, you would have gotten a much stronger image. It's Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment", it looks like you took the shot just a bit too early.

[Donald]

Good potential here but there are enough distracting elements, especially the four (?) people walking away near the top left are added unwanted clutter.

I get what you are saying, but to jump to the defence of Scottish Country Dancing, the 4 at the top are dancers in a different set (a group of dancers) doing the same dance.

[Manfred M]

I get what you are saying, but to jump to the defence of Scottish Country Dancing, the 4 at the top are dancers in a different set (a group of dancers) doing the same dance.

Thanks for the explanation Donald. Event photography is always challenging because of the things that are going on all around. Working to isolate the subject often involves lots of frames shot, most of which end up being not usable...

[rpcrowe]

I really like the concept of your image. I am also experimenting with shooting dancers at slower shutter speeds, hoping to get some images in which the faces of the dancers are sharp with the rest of their body or bodies motion blurred.

I have done this with some Mexican dance acts at the San Diego Old Town, Cinco de Mayo and Day of the Dead celebrations.

https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/El-Dia-D...rtos/i-s5pKKRV

I was set up and planning to shoot this last May Fifth but, upcoming surgery prevented that. I was going to use face detect focus along with second curtain flash sync. I guess that I will have to wait until the end of October to do that.

I am thinking that it might be easier (if possible) to shoot one or two dancers and to have them pretty well fill the frame. That, however is dependent on your shooting position and the lens you are shooting with.

The one definite thing that I can advise is to shoot lots and lots of images. That is when digital really comes into its own. Shoot the images with varied shutter speeds and f/stops. Besides planning, luck has a great deal to do with getting an image that you want!

The images that I wanted to capture in this style were the Soufi (Whirling Dervish) dancers when I visited Istanbul. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...w=1024&bih=531
Unfortunately, I did not plan enough time in that wonderful city to shoot everything I wanted...

If I am physically able, after my surgery, I plan to visit the Scottish Highland Games in Vista, California in June. There are highland dance competitions there. I will use a monopod and an OSS lens on my Sony A6400 for the best chances. The face detect and the tracking with expand flexible spot might give me the very best chance. I will also carry the little Godox TT350 flash which I will use with second curtain sync if I am permitted the use of flash. The dance competition is in an open sided roofed area.

[george013]

A question about the ladies. They wear black stockings. Is that part of the Scottish dress code? I'm just asking for I remember the ladies wearing them when visiting Holland for an interland Holland-Scotland, football. I always wondered and now I see them again.

George

[billtils]

A question about the ladies. They wear black stockings. Is that part of the Scottish dress code? I'm just asking for I remember the ladies wearing them when visiting Holland for an interland Holland-Scotland, football. I always wondered and now I see them again.

George

You are correct George - they are not wearing traditional highland dance dress. Jim can possibly enlighten us, but I suspect that they are students at a school where the uniform includes a form of tartan skirt, and that they are playing, not dancing.

But let's not let the formalities get in the way of enjoying the image!

[Jim A]

You are correct George - they are not wearing traditional highland dance dress. Jim can possibly enlighten us, but I suspect that they are students at a school where the uniform includes a form of tartan skirt, and that they are playing, not dancing.

Hi Bill, they are definitely dancing. I photographed this event in Birkenhead, Auckland, NZ, where there was a Tartan Day Event. Am looking forward to doing it again this year. I took lots of images, and some were nice ones for phamplets etc, which the organisers appreciated. However this one is different.

Unfortunately I cannot say for sure if it is a school uniform. However I believe it must be a uniform of some sort, either a club or school one.

[Jim A]

Here is my updated effort. I have very much appreciated all the very good comments and preferences. Enjoyed reading them very much!

Because the curtain at the back showed as black, I tried a blend mode of screen, which showed that the curtain is a grey-(purple?). In fact in the end I employed three blend mode layers – all ‘screen' at 100% to get this effect on the curtains! Wow.

[mugge]

Jim, you have fixed it.
Cheers Ole

[billtils]

Hi Bill, they are definitely dancing. I photographed this event in Birkenhead, Auckland, NZ, where there was a Tartan Day Event. Am looking forward to doing it again this year. I took lots of images, and some were nice ones for phamplets etc, which the organisers appreciated. However this one is different.

Unfortunately I cannot say for sure if it is a school uniform. However I believe it must be a uniform of some sort, either a club or school one.

Thanks Jim - that all makes perfect sense.