The Ones I Like List of 2008 – A Countdown [#7]
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on the eve of a swan song – I have to admit, when working with a human subject in my photography, nerves tend to get the best of me. This is none more true than when I am working with an artist whom I admire. That was clearly the case when I photographed Tyann Clement, a soloist with the Houston Ballet, for Downtown magazine this past fall. The assignment was to get some backstage photos of Tyann, photos that would be used in a Q&A type story about Tyann’s then upcoming retirement.
Before I go any further, I have to tell you that I love Edgar Degas. Love him. That should give you an inkling about the amount of pressure I put on myself for this shoot. I love Degas. And with Degas’ paintings, he set the bar pretty high for the rest of us who are trying to tell a two-dimensional story of a ballerina’s life. If we climb 20% of the way to the bar he has set, we’ll be doing pretty good. It’s not easy to bring something extra to a ballet photograph. Sometimes, when all the elements are there — the costumes, the pageantry, the lines — sometimes…getting an exceptionally interesting image is made all the more difficult. Easy is sometimes hard.
Out of challenge comes enlightenment. It was the night before this shoot, the nerve-racked night before this shoot that I learned how to use the exposure bracket on my camera. I also figured out the sweet spot, the perfect f/stop for the lens that I was using (f/8 on the Canon 17-40L for those keeping score). Finally, I committed to using a tripod — something that I had previously reserved for long-exposure water shots. I was going to do everything that I could to get the “technical” right, so I can focus on the composition without distraction. And the little bit of studying beforehand really did make a difference. (That and the fact that Tyann was incredibly gracious and easy to work with.) The photo shoot resulted in my favorite set of portraits to date, photos that I do think tell a story, that I do think rise to that 20%.
This leads me to my plans for the new year — it’s off to school I go. No turning back; I’ve already enrolled. While my degree-seeking days are over, I’ll always be up for a class or two. The particular class that I’m taking will run for a few months and will focus on lighting — all kinds of lighting. I’m not so much interested in studio lighting, but it sure would be nice to learn how to expose a daytime shot correctly. Uh…no…seriously. I’ve spent a great too many hours trying to correct improperly exposed photos. I’m enthusiastically looking forward to the class.
And before I finish up, I do want to give a mention that, coincidentally, today Tyann will be dancing in her last performance with the Houston Ballet — she’ll be dancing as the Snow Queen in the Nutcracker production. After the curtain falls, Tyann will be “hanging up” her ballet slippers for other pursuits — which will include finishing up her business degree, among other things. My best wishes for her going forward.
