Dancetitude 2015: More Than Meets The I
Dancetitude, 16 August 2015
Nanyang Auditorium, NTU, Singapore
There are times when I don't realise how significant a moment is until I've captured it, edited it and uploaded it. That moment is the photo above.
I had 2 graduation shoots before the concert, and to be honest, the idea of traveling down to 'Pulau' NTU made me question if I'm over-committing myself to school events even after graduation. Thankfully, I went.
Shots from the first few sequences. Initially wanted to take more close-ups as another photographer has planted a wide-angle right at the center of the stage so I tried to avoid it as much as possible. When I realised the full extent of the lighting, I decided to heck it and shoot wide angle whenever I feel like it.
It's the best concert I've seen in my life, and it'll probably be the best concert till the next Dancetitude. This is saying a lot seeing that I'm watching the bulk of it through my camera lenses!
The combination of both videos and dances made the storyline extremely easy and exciting to follow. The energy of the dancers kept me rooted to my seat (front row btw, perks of being a photographer) and I didn't have time to think of moving around the front of the stage like I always do for fear of missing out any crucial part. I did not come for the rehearsals nor the show on Day 1, so I had to predict what's going to happen next and estimated the settings needed for the lighting. So apologies to the choreographers and dancers if there are any scenes that I missed out.
Sometimes the colours get too overwhelming, especially when certain lights cast coloured patches on the dancers facers that my camera can't expose properly or that I'm unable to edit away, B&W is the way to go.
Back to the main photo at the top of this post. I attempted to follow the storyline as much as possible while paying attention to what I shoot. I still remember when this scene appeared, I was still shooting with a 90mm and immediately thought, "Something's happening." Learnt it from army (I'm serious!) that I need to keep both eyes open when shooting or else I won't be aware of my surroundings, and sure enough, the 2 leads started walking to each other and the spot lights are at the perfect angles. Switched to my 24-70mm and started snapping away!
Wanna see the coloured version? Here you go~
You see the difference? Not just in terms of the colour, but the whole feel of the photo changed when I made it B&W. I went with my gut feeling for this edit and it not only added focus to the leads, but also brought out the dancers in the background softly.
Shortly after uploading it, I was caught by surprise when the choreographers (Chin and Candice) and the dancers commented that they love the photo and thanked me for capturing this moment. People usually said that my photos look nice, but rarely have I heard that my photos mean something to them. So it made me feel warm and fuzzy knowing that this photo is meaningful to a group of people, represents their efforts in the past year and that it'll live on as a memory of their dance journey.
Seeing the reaction to my photos really gives me the motivation to carry on with my craft. This week has been chaotic, and I've received a lot of discouragement on the path I've chosen. Still, I'll push on for more moments like this, where I can create images that are not just nice to see, but meaningful to the people I encounter along the way.
Thank you Dancetitude, I hope to see you all again in 2 years time.