The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Dancing and movement

Alexandra retired from professional ballet dancing when she was 40 and then went on to become a fitness instructor. Now in her mid-60s, she is still incredibly fit and lithe.

We were put in contact via a mutual friend, and at the weekend she came to this corner of Scotland to collaborate with me in a series of photos for 2 separate projects.

When hunting for a potential venue for the shoot, I came across the Dumfries School of Dance, which is based in an old school house. With high windows and a wooden floor, it had just the atmosphere I was looking for.

The outcome of these projects won't be seen for quite some time to come. In the meantime, however, we were asked if we could do a couple of photos for the Dance School itself in exchange for the use of the studio, and I can show you these.

I was specifically asked if it was possible for some slightly abstract ones of the dancer, and a black silk scarf was left with us if we wanted to use it.

I figured the best approach would be to put the camera on a tripod and take some slow shutter-speed images - between 1/3rd and 1/5th of a second. This meant there would be a lot of movement blur which, if we played it right, could create some interesting photos.

I was really quite pleased with the result.

















As always, feel free to click on the images for slightly larger versions.



8 comments

Unknown said...

Alien meets Dance. Dance meets Kim. Amazing Beauty Results.

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Ethereal comes to mind.

Kim Ayres said...

Carole - she wasn't too alien. When the camera was shot at normal speed, she even appeared to have a head... ;)

Guayana-Gyal - I know what you mean :)

savannah said...

i started with the last photo and went backwards. (no reason, other than, just me.) the image that struck me most seemed as if she was half in the present and half disappearing. yes, as Guayana Gyal said, ethereal, to which i'd add, ephemeral.
xoxoxo

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

I'd thought of ephemeral too :-)

And on *that other place*, Pat said lithe.

All of them.

Pat said...

Pat also says Alexandra must be a Tuesday's child. Tuesday's child is full of grace.

Jonathan Chant said...

These are gorgeous, Kim.

Kim Ayres said...

Savannah - if you've reached the bottom of the page after reading, it kinda makes sense to click on the photo closest and work back :)

Guyana-Gyal - :)

Pat - I'll ask her next time I see her, but I'm sure you're right :)

Jonathan - thank you :)

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