Thread: Best belly dance photography

Beautiful photos, Latifa. You look stunning in that teal dress! Not to threadjack, but where did you get it?

Originally Posted by Ainsley

Beautiful photos, Latifa. You look stunning in that teal dress! Not to threadjack, but where did you get it?

Thanks so much! The teal dress is my current pride and joy, custom-made for me by Ellen Laincz, an amazing costumer from Pennsylvania. We were inspired by an opera costume. It's zip and go, and more comfy than PJs. Of course, it did take about 17 years to get this dress. Ellen's very busy, and I asked her to make me a dress 17 years ago. Two years ago she said my name had gotten to the top of the list. I'm a very lucky dancer. ..g.:

It was worth the wait!

What a brilliant idea for a thread topic! I'm a photographer (enthusiastic amateur) and I've found it absolutely impossible to get anyone to agree to let me photograph them (sigh) - I can't wait until I can catch someone for a couple of hours and try out lighting and posing. It's really difficult to capture dancers in a performance - live shoots are difficult to light properly, and the flash gets annoying for the audience.
I use a 90mm lens for live performance (it's a fast lens), and I can use remote flashes but haven't got organised enough to do so yet, so usually I just have one strobe. ISO on 800 so there's not too much noise, as fast on shutter speed as I can get to catch movement, with subsequent loss of depth of field.

Given a free hand I'd love to have someone dancing in a studio set-up to capture the spontaneity of gesture and expression of a live shot, but with better lighting!

Jerry Bezdekian is my hero too - wonderful post processing, and his lighting and poses are great. A very respectful photographer who takes the dancer photograph to a new level.

And I love Sarah Skinner's photography - the empathy with how a dancer wants to be presented is so important.

So... any dancers in NZ who want to be tortured for a couple of hours whle in full dance regalia (and makeup) - just give me a call!!

Love Jerry, Sarah Skinner, and Michael Baxter.

Local people-Aonochi: Welcome to aoarts.com






Jennie Harriman (currently on US tour) Art With Jennie - Home

Originally Posted by bintbeled

Thanks so much! The teal dress is my current pride and joy, custom-made for me by Ellen Laincz, an amazing costumer from Pennsylvania. We were inspired by an opera costume. It's zip and go, and more comfy than PJs. Of course, it did take about 17 years to get this dress. Ellen's very busy, and I asked her to make me a dress 17 years ago. Two years ago she said my name had gotten to the top of the list. I'm a very lucky dancer. ..g.:

Lucky, indeed! That is so signature Ellen beadwork now that I look at the turquoise dress. It is so worth the wait for one of her costumes (not that I have any but she was my costume making mentor). ..g.:

I've had photo sessions with a number of talented photographers over the years.

Here's the photo gallery on my web site, showing a sampling of them: Shira's Bellydance Photo Galleries

I think my favorite photographer has been Lina Jang in New York City, because I like what she does with light. Some examples:










I also like this photo that Andre Elbing took of me performing in Egypt:




And then there's this photo by my massage therapist that I liked enough to use when Zaghareet Magazine invited me to be on the cover:

Originally Posted by Azhia

Lucky, indeed! That is so signature Ellen beadwork now that I look at the turquoise dress. It is so worth the wait for one of her costumes (not that I have any but she was my costume making mentor). ..g.:

Ellen is just amazing. What a smart woman, and so much fun to chat with. She's modifying a couple of costumes for me now. :-)

Originally Posted by adiemusfree

It's really difficult to capture dancers in a performance - live shoots are difficult to light properly, and the flash gets annoying for the audience.
I use a 90mm lens for live performance (it's a fast lens), and I can use remote flashes but haven't got organised enough to do so yet, so usually I just have one strobe. ISO on 800 so there's not too much noise, as fast on shutter speed as I can get to catch movement, with subsequent loss of depth of field,

I'm just the opposite on this. My background is event and sports photography. I love shooting live performances and have been lucky enough to shoot a couple of stage shows with good lighting. (And a lot of cramped non-stage shows with crappy lighting.)

I have a 50mm f/1.4 that I use when I have a chance to get close to stage. With the right lighting, I can shoot between 400-800 ISO without a flash. I either work with manual settings or shutter-priority at 1/125.

I also have a 70-300mm that I routinely use to shoot from further away when I do theater productions. Have to go up to 1200 ISO with that one depending on lighting.

OMG! These photos are amazing! I love this thread! Congratulations to all dancers / models and photographers!

Hello everyone,

I just stumbled across this website and saw there was thread on belly dance photography, so I hope no one minds that I share 3 images from a recent shoot I did of a troupe in my local area.







Feedback, good or bad is welcome. Read more details of the bellydance troupe photoshoot

Peter Phun Photography | Facebook

The Pixels in Pete’s World

Originally Posted by Pixel Pete

Feedback, good or bad is welcome.

Pete, you might be interested in this recent thread The business of 'posing'. Obviously, you are in business to give your clients the kind of photographs they want, but for your own reference, it may be useful to be aware that these conversations are happening.

Dusti Cunningham is an AMAZING dance photographer who has relocated from Kansas to Los Angles in the past year. He does studio and live work, and makes everyone look like a movie star! By the way, the picture of Sherri Wheatley is a LIVE photo! His rates are reasonable, if you are going to be in the LA area contact him.... he also travels a lot. More photos- and to contact him go here Dusti Cunningham Photography

Two more pix by Dusti Cunningham Dusti Cunningham Photography

I recently had a shoot with Maani in the UK (http://www.maaniphoto.com) - wholeheartedly recommend him!

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

This is sort of a fan-thread for us to display our favorite belly dance photographs. Photographers, please contribute! Lets see lots and lots of pictures!

Let's talk about best practices for poses, lighting and effects too.
..g.:

I'm trying to get some ideas for an upcoming photo shoot.

Thanks!

I love to work with dancers and produce fantasy images I am working on a book called Flight of Fantasy... I took my first belly dance photos in 2003 with Meera, since then I have worked with dozens of dancers in California including, Ansuya, Rania, Fahtiem, Jayna, Dondi, Meleah, Sohaila, Sonia Ochoa, Lucia, Tarciana, Rachel George, Myryka, and many others. you can see a smattering of images at
Flight of Fantasy - Michael Campbell's Albums - Powered by Phanfare
I just opened a new larger photo studio near San Diego and hope to photograph many dancers there. I also create oil painting on canvas of dancers, boudoir and individual portraits.

Oo, love this thread! My favorite photoshoot was the one with photog Rodolf Noël in Montreal in April, I've blogged a bit about the process and the pics we needed for the DVDs: Khalida: The making of.. Photoshoot DVD cover - behind the scenes :)

I'm a pro photographer, trying to get involved with the belly dance community - but for some reason so many dancers here (SA) decide to get their professional photos taken by some backyard hobbiest with a point and click. :(

I don't believe in TOO much photoshopping of dancers - everybody has a blemish here or there that wouldn't hurt to be taken out, but I don't like changing the dancer.

I recently did a shoot with a few dancers from a local troupe, here are some examples:

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My Facebook (Alexandra Graham Photography) page has a few more bellydancer photos as well as other jobs I've done.

Originally Posted by Azhia

Gabriel Bienczycki (who's shot Bhuz's PhillyRaqs and Shahrzad).

belly dancer at #14 of 25 in People

belly dancers at #9 of 25 in Movement

I was the first belly dancer (he did the double veil shot) with whom he did studio work in '05.

btw, I love your hair, Tanya! It's making me want to get a long shag cut again!

Wow, his photos are incredible.