Giddy from the swirling, whirling colour

[Jill H]

Spanish dance is feast for the senses - colour, movement, sound, spontaneity.... it can be cheeky and seductive, yet strong and powerful.

My daughter-in-law is part of a Spanish dance group. Last weekend we attended a performance in a heritage shopfront - just a small, intimate venue, with fantastic bare floorboards perfect for foot stamping. (unfortunately the background wasn't fantastic)

I got there early with my sons and grandsons, and had a front row seat very close to the action. This is only the second time I have attempted capturing dance images and never this close. The lighting was not particularly good, mainly a couple of overhead fluoro lights and window light, and I wasn't using a tripod because it would have been in the way of the dancers. I wanted to take a lot of photos, but didn't want to spend the whole performance with the camera to my eye. I also didn't want to use flash as it would have been distracting and annoying to the dancers and audience in a small venue.

I put my camera on sports mode, and most of these photos were taken with the camera on my lap pointing in the direction of the movement while I watched the dancing, clicking away at will. I particularly wanted to try to capture the swirling movement of the dresses. The sports mode was great for taking multiple shots. I was using my 18-55mm lens.

Here are just 4 samples of the 250 photos I took! I look forward to hearing your comments.
Thanks for looking.

I love the way you can see the movement of the skirt. What do you think?

From Life Images by Jill

I know this photo is quite blurry, but I like it because the red is sharper and stands out against the blurred black skirt as it swirled past me.

From Life Images by Jill

I think this is not bad considering I wasn't using a tripod, and the camera was on my lap - probably accounts for it being crooked - but you see photos like that........I think it is ok - what do you think?

From Life Images by Jill

I've sharpened this one slightly in photoshop. That is my daughter-in-law in the red.

From Life Images by Jill

[Hayward Taylor]

Hi Jill ... you have captured the excitement and movement of the dance beautifully .. as I'm watching these photos, I can visiualized the dances stomping their feet and raising their hands in unity .. superb work (edit) .. enjoy Thanksgiving Day with the ones you love

[ukglyn]

Lovely, the 1st one especially shows up the well known dance movements.

[kelleyrie]

I think you did an excellent job showcasing the movement of dance!

[Jill H]

thank you everyone for your comments. I am glad you enjoyed the pics and I appreciate you taking time to comment. Thankyou!

I've added another pic which I really shows the fast movement up close .......

From Life Images by Jill