Challenges can be character building opportunities and chances for us to learn a new skill. My middle school aged niece has been working since last year to earn spots on some coveted ballet performances. Unfortunately, due to current circumstances, all ballet performances have been either cancelled or rescheduled for a year from now. Many young women and men will be moving on to college or other opportunities and for the older students this is a bittersweet way to end. Rather than allow her costume to gather dust, or for her to outgrow it completely, I suggested a photography session outside of her home.
If you plan the day and time in advance you do not need to rely on an über amazing camera lens or lighting equipment and you will need minimal if any Photoshop. There is also an easy option in your windows photo editing toolbox to spot treat little annoyances. For these photos I occasionally edited out her little pink rubber band where it was minorly distracting to my OCD eye.
To the naked eye it appears that she is dancing directly on the grass, but you know with her new point shoes that her mother was not having that! We used a piece of bathroom tile to steady her throughout each photo. My angle does not reveal the tile which means there is less to edit out. Below you can see how the tile worked.
I did not know how to Photoshop until seconds ago. I literally followed this tutorial in order to take out the grey tile. I don’t think it’s too bad for my first Photoshop attempt!
I always find that capturing some additional close-up movement or textural detail adds to a great session. I was aiming to contrast the softness of the ballet shoes with a second texture to create juxtaposition.
I have a little confidence to keep learning some editing basics for the future. My niece has inspired me in this time to keep practicing my skills. I can’t wait to see her on the stage again and obviously in a superior role.
Lovely photos! And nice work using photoshop with limited knowledge. I enjoyed this post!