I was recently invited to photograph the trapeze/acrobalance group that my wife belongs to. I have done this before, which I have previously blogged. I have deliberately not read my previous posts, as I would like to see if I write similarly about the experience, and if I actually learnt anything from the previous time.
The group is now run by a different leader, Kate who welcomed me to the first session of the evening. The premise initially was to get shots for their website to help promote, and then to get shots for people to use for prints, social network profiles, that sort of thing. Now regular followers of this blog will know I am not a professional photographer, however I do take like to achieve results I can take pride in, whilst giving those who are kind enough to pose a set of images that make them smile.
I unpacked my eclectic array of gear, and set about getting some shots of the class in progress. We decided to try and get some shots of trapeze moves that started at the basics. I could not dream of doing even the moves that they assure me were the simplest to achieve. My setup was my trusty Canon 60d and 17-55mm (ish) f2.8 combo with a 480ex flash on camera. I try using a lastolite eazybox, but neither me nor my camera really gets the exposure right doing this dynamic sort of shooting. As a consequence these shots had massive shadows, and were a little harsh in places. More practice needed I think. We shot for about an hour, before the members of the second session began to arrive. This session was to be more structured so as to be able to improve and control the lighting.
I set up a background behind a low trapeze. This was the single biggest mistake of the evening, and I regret doing it. The cloth was far too small for the performer to keep within, and so I have ended up with numerous shots of people bisected by the backdrop. Some I have been able to salvage in Photoshop, but this is time consuming, and to my self critical eye not the most appealing way to present the work of the performers. If I get the opportunity in future I will not use a drop at all, and keep the environment as the background, despite it's busyness.
Having said that we did have a lot of fun as people had brought stuff to dress up in. This added a dimension to the shoot, and the images which was a lot different to last time.
I had a fantastic time with the group, and we did make some great images together. If I was asked to go back again, I would in a heartbeat.
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