dance – nancy merrill photography

A Photo a Week Challenge: Motion

I know I haven’t announced it, but I’ve made the decision to move the challenge from Thursday to Monday. Time on the weekends is easier for me to manage than during the week. So here’s the first Monday challenge: Motion.

I had the opportunity to take pictures during the dress rehearsal of the Myriad Dance Company’s show Catalyst this last week. Our son designed their lighting (yes, he is rather fantastic), and the company was thrilled to get some professional photos for their own use. All of the dancers were amazing, but my subject’s hair on this shot defied gravity.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) THAT SHOW MOTION.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Fire

fire_nmp

We’ve had the opportunity to visit Hawaii a couple of times the last few years, and each time we’ve been to a different luau on the island of Kauai. The highlight of the show at each of these luaus has been the fire dancers. Their skill with the fire sticks or flaming poi balls is amazing to watch. Fire is such an essential element. Without it, humans would never have figured out how to cook their food (not to mention no fire oven pizzas) or to heat their dwellings. I love building fires in the fireplace at our family cabin. It links me to my past. My grandmother and uncle gathered and hand-laid the stones in it. I’m fascinated by the movement of flames.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) OF FIRE

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Vibrant

While we were in Hawaii in May, I loved the beautiful, vibrant colors everywhere we went. At the Polynesian Culture Center on Oahu, we saw so many different colors, textures, and styles it was a little overwhelming. The world is full of vibrance: color, personality, landscape. The possibilities are endless.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT ARE VIBRANT.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Dance

For more from this challenge, visit Weekly Photo Challenge: Dance.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Motion

For this week’s challenge, I’m reusing several photos I have posted before.

The first one is from a local high school production of A Christmas Carol. This is the Ghost of Christmas Future and her Graveyard Girls. I was very pleased with how this shot turned out, as I was in a theater, and flash photography was not only prohibited, but severely frowned upon by patrons and performers alike.

Next, this is from a day at the park with the kids. I love the intensity on her face as she launches the Frisbee towards her dad.

The last one is one of my favorite pictures. This was taken during the Annual Talent Show for the Kearns Special Needs Mutual (church youth association) last year. This lovely young lady loves to dance, and she shares this talent whenever possible.

For more from this challenge, visit Weekly Photo Challenge: Motion.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Live Performance

In mid February, one of my piano students had the opportunity to play the Grieg Piano Concert in A minor with her high school orchestra on Concerto Night. She played beautifully. After nine months of hard work and dedication, she saved her best for the night of the performance. Photographing a live performance can present some tricky issues to deal with: lighting, angle, lighting, knowing which moment to capture, lighting. But it can also be a lot of fun. I’ve participated in many community theater productions, and I enjoy the pictures people sneak during an actual performance more than the staged production stills, there is so much more energy.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE PHOTOS OF LIVE PERFORMANCES.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ and “Photo a Week” tags.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Express Yourself

This brave young fellow summoned up the courage to ask the bride (his aunt) for a dance. He certainly didn’t have any trouble expressing himself. I love the look of concentration on his face and the joy on hers.

For more from this challenge, visit Weekly Photo Challenge: Express Yourself.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
~John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

It seems that humans have always been enamored with flight, from the ancient Greek story of Icarus to the movie Gravity. What is it about weightless floating that captures our minds and our hearts so much? This photo is of an amazing young lady who loves to dance and soar. My husband works with the Special Needs youth in our area, but in reality, they are working with us to teach us what freedom really is.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO WITH FLIGHT.

Take photos of various forms of flight. Then blog your finds and post a link to your masterpieces here.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Motion

Motion can be tricky to capture. If your shutter is set too high, the image looks stopped. If the shutter is too low, too much can be blurred. I was lucky enough to grab this shot at a high school production of A Christmas Carol. With no flash allowed, the action blurred beautifully with my 50mm lens and an F-stop of f/1.8.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO THAT SHOWS WHAT WINTER IS FOR YOU.

Experiment with motion in your photos and see what works best for what you want to capture. Then post it to your blog and share the link here. If you have pointers and suggestions for other photographers, please share them as well.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.