Selina Shida Hack
Not only was Selina wonderful to work with, but Valerie Wright of Brooklyn CenterStage Dance Studio provided us with a great place to make some photos.
Photography, like most jobs, can become monotonous after many years of doing it. That’s why it’s important to have personal projects when you have time available. Dance is something that I don’t necessarily have an interest in, however I’ve always been intrigued with freezing moments of action in time.
When I lived in Florida I would sometimes photograph surfers. But this wasn’t something I did often because I didn’t have the right lens for the job and more importantly I am a surfer myself, so I would much rather be out in the lineup instead of on the beach watching.
When I moved to Pennsylvania I stopped surfing. But I still had the desire to photograph some type of action. After starting beauty photography I came across some other photographers on Instagram that were photographing not only beauty, but also dancers. This caught my attention because they were photographing beauty and action at the same time. That was something I never considered.
I started to browse Instagram for people that hopefully lived nearby and who might be interested in working with me. I came across Selina’s profile which featured still photos as well as some video clips. I could see that she was highly skilled so I reached out to her. We were able to schedule a shoot during a time that I would be in Brooklyn, NY. Having never photographed dance I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I asked Selina to dance and I would simply start taking photos at moments that I thought might look good. It was all very impromptu but didn’t seem to work well. So I asked her if there were any jumping moves that she could do. While I was able to capture a few good photos I quickly discovered that my ignorance to dance was a big problem. The rental time on the studio was quickly running out and I still had to pack up all my camera gear before the next class started.
The photos on this page are the only photos that I considered to be good enough. Selina was fantastic, make not mistake, but I still had a lot to learn when it comes to dance photography.
