Sam, a high school colleague and friend of mine; messaged me on whatsapp, saying she needed some promotional images for her dance business TipTapToe, where she teaches toddlers and pre-schoolers dance. She told me she needed some images of the class itself, and just a couple headshots of herself to assist in the promotion of her overall brand.

Shooting dance is something I've only done once in a non professional context, but I found it to be interesting, and sounded like something fun and challenging so I accepted gladly. 

After diving into pinterest for some references and research, I figured this wouldn't be a job I should undertake alone, so I brought my good friend and photographer Nickii Kane (check her out, wicked photographer) to help me with lighting and give me a second eye/opinion on things.

I reached the dance studio at an overcast Saturday morning, to also see another colleague and friend Jik Reuben (another wicked photographer), who was doing group portraits of the students. 

Sam gathered the attention of the many small bodies inside the studios and started her session. It was a bit funny to me, seeing her direct this mass of pink and sam -the adult of the situation- towering over them in black.   

As I mentioned earlier.. I've never really shot something like this before, so I tried to read the situation both aesthetically as well as.. to try and portray the nature of probably what it feels to be in sam's class as a little girl. I decided to get down real low and shoot upwards

I love the exuberance of curiosity of kids- It really re-energizes me to think outside the box and to be enthusiastic about whatever I'm doing. Kids love to experiment.. just for the sake of doing it, and even in photography that's a mindset not to be taken for granted. So I definitely fed off their energy for this shoot. Also I didn't get to mention that Sam herself is very like her kids.. high energy, vibrant, and always trying things. So it was fun to kinda follow their lead

A small challenge I faced was having to shoot toward a mirror.. I couldn't have myself appearing in the images, so involved me getting kinda creative in the shots. My positioning and timing was key. Sometimes I'd have to even match some of Sam's moves so I could be completely hidden behind her. The challenge was thrilling resulting in images like these.

After Sam's class, we did the most energetic portrait session I've ever done, with Sam. She was pretty tired after the class, so she was plagued by the misconception that her exhaustion showed.. I'd like to think different.

Thanks to Sam and her class for having me document it! it was a pleasure. According to Sam we'll be shooting again. 

Sam has two dance business', TipTapToe, and a weekly dance-class series called VybanceJA, you can reach her, here

Feel free to hit me up for bookings! All social links are at the bottom of the site! (make it easier - Email to: Yannickreid@gmail.com )
 

Gallery after the jump!