Sword Dance Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Taken at the Games following the Common Riding at Langholm.
A sword dance under the eagle eye of the judges. The dancing competition is great fun and very friendly but deadly serious at the same time.

Scottish sword dances are ritualistic and combative dances that imitated epic deeds and martial skills and are a familiar feature in Scottish tradition and folklore......

The earliest reference to these dances in Scotland is mentioned in the 'Scotichronicon' which was compiled in Scotland by Walter Bower in the 1440s.

In 1573 Scottish mercenaries are said to have performed a Scottish Sword dance before the Swedish King, John III, at a banquet held in Stockholm Castle. The dance, "a natural feature of the festivities" was used as part of a plot to assassinate the King, where the conspirators were able to bare their weapons without arising suspicion. Fortunately for the King at the decisive moment the agreed signal was never given.

"Sword dance and Hieland Danses" were included at a reception for Anne of Denmark at Edinburgh in 1589 and a mixture of sword dance and acrobatics was performed before James VI in 1617 (New Statistical Account of Scotland Edinb. 1845 x, pp. 44-45) and again for Charles I in 1633, by the Incorporation of Skinners and Glovers of Perth,

.....Wikepedia

parbo, branley has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

parbo (11014) 2007-01-05 20:14

Hi Dougie,

You captured her feelings excellently while one of juror is looking to her. Your framing and working B&W are adding great value to your photo. Congratulations.

I wish you a very good week-end.

Best Regards,

Ertugrul

james-r (672) 2007-01-05 20:20

Great cropping and you've captured the perfect moment, Dougie.

The wee lassie mid-air, the look on her face, her fingers in that position - all perfectly sharp and the position of the swords is excellent.

A bit of blur in the background but we can still tell the judge is paying attention to the proceedings. Maybe...just maybe...i'd have liked a wee bit more blur in the background but I have to say this image is damned near perfect for me. I think it's a beauty.

limaz (406) 2007-01-05 21:44

Hi Dougie.
A very nice capture:)
As someone said the dof is good, it lets us see the dancer but still sense the scrutiny of the judge in the background.

Tfs

Cato

jtclee77 (434) 2007-01-05 22:06

Hey Dougie,

Thanks for sharing with us such an interesting event. Personally I have never seen such a dance before - care to eleborate more about the dance and how it came about?

The picture is well captured, very sharp and worked well in B&W. Good work capturing her whilst in her jump step.

TFS and a happy new year to you,
Jon

worldcitizen (2305) 2007-01-05 23:18

Hello Dougie,
This is a wonderful capture. I like that the dancer is actually off the ground, and her traditional clothes are great. Nice composition of the sharp young lady, with the slightly blurred judge behind her. Why do the dancers have the swords beneath them? What does it signify? TFS this bit of culture.

AROBN54 (10789) 2007-01-06 0:24

Oh, Dougie, this one is wonderful!! Caught at such a perfect moment and with such an intent look look on her face. The judge behind her watching every move. I think black and white was a great choice for this shot, too. Ah, this is a beauty!! TFS, Shelly

peter1892 (3201) 2007-01-06 6:42

Perfect timing & excellent framing. The only thing I could criticise is that the DOF is bit too wide, with the judge a little bit too sharp for my liking. But...I can see you were at a wide aperture anyway & also the judge is part of the scene so on the other hand is't probably a good thing to have her quite sharp in the image.

However the action of the girl, her expression the capture of her in mid-air, this is all excellent. It's a great shot.

branley (3681) 2007-01-26 6:32

Hi Dougie,

what a perfect capture with the girl in motion, both feet off the floor. The total concentration on her face is excellent, I remember those days, not sword dancing....being able to concentrate! I like the cropping and the conversion to B&W. I agree with Peter about the dof but it's easily rectified in PS if you had a mind to but no matter it's still a fine image mate and one to treasure.

Regards

Stephen