Happy Thursday, friends! I am so excited about this post today because I’m sharing the story behind my niece’s first dance recital and how I photographed the experience. You know I love sharing about my family – Hi everyone!
I am blessed to have a nephew and niece who are at the perfect age for trying new activities, which for me means I get to practice my photography. My nephew this year is playing t-ball (Sadly, I haven’t made a game yet because of scheduling conflicts, but my family is keeping me updated with photos and stories – I’m so proud of him!). For my niece that meant dance lessons this year. Like any #proudaunt, I was excited to see her perform in her end of the year recital, which our family had the honor of attending a few weeks ago.
Because this was her first year of dance, our family wasn’t sure how she would react to the whole experience. For example, her dress rehearsal performance didn’t go as planned. When she did walk on stage to perform her number, she either sat on the stage floor or she quietly ran off stage. She is four years old, and it is completely understandable having a little stage fright. So, when our family arrived the afternoon of her dance recital, I needed to be prepared to capture anything depending on what she did on (or off) stage to remember the day.
Here are few tips that I learned as I photographed the dance recital and how I chose to document the day.
Tip 1 | Be Clear + Know What Types of Images You Want to Capture.
Since this was her first dance recital, I knew their was a possibility she wouldn’t be on stage long. For me, it was important to capture great shots of her costume regardless of the setting. I had every intention on documenting her performance on stage, but just in case I didn’t get all of it I wanted a few photographs of her costume as we got her dressed.
To snap the costume shots, I chose to take a few extra minutes as we got her dressed to snap candid shots of applying her makeup and teasing her hair. Her favorite part of the makeup process was putting on the “red lips”. Once we finished the final touches, she walked out of the bathroom to show everyone. Charles politely shared his cheek to make sure her lipstick was evenly applied. Her face y’all, when she realized that when she gave a kiss it would leave a red mark behind, it was priceless. I was nervous we would end with red everywhere, especially on her white dress costume, but luckily that didn’t happen.
Tip 2 | Capture the Moves + Know You May Have to Improvise.
After we finished getting dressed, we had a few minutes before heading to the venue for her recital. Since there was a possibility she wouldn’t stay on stage long, we had her practice a few moves at the house so that we could have some action shots of her dancing. I knew we would want to remember her moves that day, and I planned ahead just in case the recital went differently.
Tip 3 | Master the Stage + Know the Scenery Around You.
We founds our seats, which were several rows from the center of the stage. As the production began, the lights dimmed with several colors beaming through the stage lights.
Two important questions you want to remember while shooting inside a venue like this: (1) Does the studio allow flash photography or photography at all? (2) Am I blocking any guests from enjoying the show? We were allowed to photograph as long as it was not flash photography. Because of this, I turned my ISO as high as it would go and switched my white balance to automatic since I wasn’t sure how the lighting would be while she performed. As far as the second question, I will get to answering that one in a minute.
She was set to perform after intermission. The black stage was all we could see as we patiently waited for intermission to end. Our family sat quietly as the music began to play. Instantly the bright lights appeared, and we turned our eyes to the right corner of the stage. I immediately focused my camera and began to click.
She was staying on stage. Click. Click. She was dancing along with the music and showing her moves. Click. Click. She was smiling and having fun. Click.
She surprised us all by lasting on stage the entire dance and loving it. Since our seats were a few rows behind the stage, I used the people sitting in front of me to frame the images as well as the stage props and the curtain closing to better tell the story. I made sure not to stand or disrupt the individuals behind me because I wanted them to enjoy the show as much as I was.
Her first dance recital was a success! Our family was so proud of her for all she accomplished that day on stage. We can’t wait to see her perform in her next setting!