In The Moment

I started writing about photography recently  mostly to help some friends and students understand some principles of the Craft.  That part is the “How”.  Gaining that knowledge gives you a chance at the other part, the “Why” or Art.  I was going to write about making this image. About why it’s important to learn and understand lighting, composition and posing.  All those things are important but still, mostly craft.  After staring at this blank narrative for a long time, I realized everything I had to say was in the photograph. The key is something no camera can provide. Universally, every dancer I’ve met, from high school students to principals in major companies, said the performance on stage, those few minutes of a lifetime, make it all worth it.  It is, the moment, the clarity, the poetry, the magic of the best expression of ourselves, creating something that transcends the mortal and the specific. Which is why, as an artist, the few minutes of my lifetime it took to make this portrait are worth the years it took to reach them. The proof print of this image is much richer than any electronic display. That image, that moment, I hope her children will share.

Senior Portrait Session, Cary Ballet Conservatory, April 2015