En Pointé - A Ballet Project

The En Pointé series started out as a fascination of the art of ballet. The complex but beautiful moves and positions have been something that I have wanted to capture for a long time.  

After deciding to undertake this project with fellow photographer Colin Tonge,  a few weeks of planning started to prepare for the shoot. With the help of Colin he put me in contact with two ballerinas Caitríona and Loren Katie. 

With the help of Colin, the two ballerinas and a lot of searching on social media and photo sharing sites, I came up with a shot and location list. ( which I was hoping to stick to, but in the end didn't) 

I decided that I wanted to under take this project as a pure monochrome series that both contrasts and complemts in different ways. I was going to achieve this by juxtaposing the modes in different lighting and locations. along with contrasting clothing. While Colin shot on 35mm film for the duration of the shoot which added another level to the shoot. 

The girls leotards were key to the shoot, as there needed to be a good contrast between them. To get the look I was after I asked that they wear black and white, or bright and dark colours so that they would contrast when the image were turned into monochrome. 

The day of the shoot, the weather was looking like it was going to be against us. it was grey and a bit windy. Lucky this helped the shots, giving a natural breeze and a beautiful soft light, with very few shadows to work in.  

To get accurate exposure my assistant Richie metered the light using a hand held light meter as the cameras built in  meter could not give em an accurate value due to the colour of the leotards. 

Working with Caitríona and Loren Katie was an absolute pleasure, they both helped out by giving input into the shots, and even spotting some locational shots that I would have missed. To check out the full series head on over to the series gallery. Please head over to Facebook and give me page a like and share  

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