Fiesta Colorado Flamenco No. 2, a photo from Colorado, West

Photographer's Note

I included the guitarist and his sound equipment in my previous photo, but I posted a more tightly cropped and simpler composition with this photo. The background was pretty clean here and I only had to remove a small portion the distracting microphone in the background. I also had to clean up some of the scratches on the dance floor which was in pretty bad shape.

West High School is one of Denver's oldest public high schools and is in Colorado's historic registry. The building's facade has a wonderful 1920s layout and looks like it is right out of Hollywood during the Roaring '20s. This building is also impeccably maintained. Unfortunately, the theater, which has a great layout, has been neglected due to budget cuts and lack of interest. Jeanette Trujillo-Lucero, the founder and artistic director of Fiesta Colorado, Colorado's premier Folklorico and Flamenco dance group, realizes the potential of this great old auditorium and had her group perform at this site on April 18th and 19th this year. Everything worked out pretty well for me except for the condition of the floor. With some rehabilitation and some modern sound and lighting upgrades, this grand old theater could be one of the finest theaters in the state of Colorado.

For you photographic "technophiles", I shot this photo at iso 1600 and used manual exposure and handheld the lens with the vibration reduction on "active" mode. This photo is also a repost. I posted it last night and Kristaps Klavins (zmey) was kind enough to point out some very distracting highlights in the background that I had a hard time seeing in my monitor. Thanks, Kristaps. I posted the previous version without taking the time to thoroughly reviewing this photo before I posted it. I will not make this mistake again!

kaptan, zmey, fulvio52, Floydian, Wandering_Dan, avene, plimrn, Wanda1, isabela_sor, jwmunro, jean11-3, AROBN54, Dyerco, gary91, feather, Photo65Net, pboehringer, Kevin64, jhm, Didi, gunbud, zeca has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

kaptan (1444) 2008-05-01 7:04

perfect frame.very good sharpness.I like the lights.TFS.Nezih

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-05-01 7:10

Hi Stannie,
utmost concentration & total commitment (the dancer), perfect framing & execution (the photographer).
Hell, I'm starting to run short of superlatives...
Wonderful job, buddy. Truly wonderful!
Have a great day, I'll see ya later.

Fulvio.

Floydian (30970) 2008-05-01 7:30

Hi Stan,
Much and much better than the previous one. Her pose, her fingers, the red on her dress, the light what srikes her and the floor, it all fits perfectly. You did really great here. High quality for an indoor shot.
Regards, Henk

[2]

Wandering_Dan (3449) 2008-05-01 8:09

Hi, Stan -

Beautifully posed; the expression on her face is fabulous! And the way you have isolated her from all distractions allows - forces - us to focus on the essentials.

Two thoughts: I find it helps to preview a photo in the browser (Mozilla Firefox in my case), using the Open File command in the File pull-down - though even that preview doesn't always end up looking the same as the actual posting; who knows why. The other thought is that, although I think you did a successful PP here (I didn't see the version that Kristaps saw, but I compare it to the previous post), the boundary between the stage and the black background still shows that it has been manipulated. I'm still at the beginning stages of Photoshop myself, and can't come up with any suggestions on how to fix this one. A gradient mask, maybe?

Still a great picture!

Best,
Dan

Wanda1 (14030) 2008-05-01 9:51

Hi Stan,
I really like this shot, her expression and pose are wonderful, and the exposure is perfect to capture the lighting, and she stands out well from the background.
Regards
Wanda

plimrn (21344) 2008-05-01 9:53

Hi Stan,
You captured the perfectly-idealized pose of a Flamenco dancer with wonderful detail and light management. Well-done; you note that people are now starting to look forward to your dance shots?
HLJ, Pat

[2]

isabela_sor (47269) 2008-05-01 9:54 [Comment]

Show Comment

avene (12671) 2008-05-01 11:25

hello Stan,
I don't think the combination of black and red will ever loose its status of being the most elegant and the most dramatic colour combination. and here it works perfectly to add to the expressive posture of the dancer, I cannot really imagine any other colours that would fit this well. I like a lot how she stands right in the spotlight, that's another great feature in this excellent photo.

with best regards,
Kristine

jwmunro (286) 2008-05-01 12:49

Hello Stan -

Again, that classic flamenco pose. Here the composition is much cleaner than the previous one with no distracting elements. Here the red color is a little distracting because it makes the skin tones of the dancer way too red. I am wondering if you could tone the tones down a touch. If the tone came up when you set the W/B points, then change the layer blending mode to Luminosity. Well done.

Thank you for sharing

John

jean11-3 (2799) 2008-05-01 14:01

Hello Stan,a perfect shot of the dancer;she is so engrossed in her steps and her movements,her face says it all.
It is amazing that although it is black on black, we can easily see her shape defined,thanks to the red decoration on her dress.The lighting is just right imo.
Well done once again.
Tfs, regards Jean.

AROBN54 (11067) 2008-05-01 15:12

Jeeze, Stan,
I look at this shot and wonder why I would even post a shot of dancers. Beautiful lighting, the contrast in the red and black is fantastic, marvelous pose and drama. Man, you are soooo good at these. Many thanks and take good care,
Shelly

crckt (7216) 2008-05-01 19:32

Hi Stan,
I love this shot! There is absolutely no distraction here, the subject is really well chosen, ISO 1600, yet very little noise. You did a wonderful job, my friend.
Regards,
Shaeri

Dyerco (10185) 2008-05-01 19:38

Nicely done Stan
Despite the dark BG we see lots of detail in her black dress. Well caught with a pleasing "S" curve in her arms.
Phil

gary91 (15345) 2008-05-02 3:15

Hello Stan,
I love this one !
The attitude of this dancer is trmendous and the quality of the shot is purely magnificent. You perfectly caught up the posture at the very right moment and I especialy like the expression on her face and the gesture of her hands.
I think you may have had some work for processing the background but nothing can be seen and it is really perfect.
Great work !
Have a nice day.
Best regards, Christian
PS - I'm leaving for 2 weeks in the Caribbeans but hope I will be able to catch an internet connection from time to time and keep in touch ;-)

zmey (7335) 2008-05-02 5:12

hello stan

a wonderful capture! love the posture you have frozen the dancer in and the red accent right in the middle of your frame. perfect light management and i like the background treatment too. excellent work indeed especially when considering the terrible light conditions... keep them (dance shots) coming! :)

with compliments,
kristaps

feather (51128) 2008-05-02 12:53

Not only did I miss your earlier upload I have only just seen this one. I love the classic pose you captured and am amazed how well she stands out from the background, considering her dress is the same colour. I think this could be another candidate for Cath (noborders) theme. Good work
Kath

toto (0) 2008-05-03 15:22

Bonsoir,
belle photo de cette danseuse de flamenco, bien prise, bien nette.
Les couleurs sombres font bien ressortir les membres conne les bras et la tete, bel ensemble plaisant a visionner, votre série d' évènement de dance, de représentations est très jolies et me plait bien.

Amitiés Thomas

Photo65Net (43120) 2008-05-04 1:14

Stan,
Superb attitude of this dancer.
You caught it at the right time, nice job,
Regards,
JB.

Tobias__Ortmann (2638) 2008-05-04 4:48

Hi stan again a very good shot
great lights again and the expression of the woman is great
very well done
Toba

pboehringer (770) 2008-05-05 8:02

Stan, there is the answer to me question. You did a 2h + session of this dancing performance handhelding the camera and the big lens. Now that is an achievement, or shall I say a pretty intense work out? I used the same lens last weekend at Painted Hills and know exactly the weight of it.
The image? WOW! The lady seems to be born out of the black. The stage light brought here into life and shot her at the right moment. There is so much condensed dynamic. Incredible! I have the impression that she will start to move and swirl at any given moment on my screen. Very powerful!
Peter

agustos07 (971) 2008-05-06 23:53

Hi Stan,

Good capture, nice colors and light!

Best wishes

japiey (10163) 2008-05-07 4:11

Dear Stan,

Touch of class !!
Energy pouring out in here is a style of your own, visually...
The tones , lights, captured moment.... everything has your signature.
All the best.

jp

Kevin64 (138) 2008-05-07 7:24

Good morning Stan (EST). Powerful and Thoughtful. The focus on the floor gives the shot a kind of "music box" feel. With a little effort, I convince myself that she is not real and the setting is transformed to the overly myopic yet intense focus of a child enthralled in some small game or something. Perhaps my own wants impose. Lovely. Thank you. Kev

jhm (123166) 2008-05-09 2:48

Hello Stan,

The pose of the dancer is very good, great expression of the face this is very important for a good dancer.
Also the hands are perfect with open fingers, very lovely.
Thanks for sharing.

I wish you a very nice Pentecost weekend,
John.

Didi (49162) 2008-05-09 11:40

Hi Stan
Very good lights management exposure. You excell well in theese kind of subjects.
And of course the Nikon D300 is a very good camera, but the most important is your eyes who draw pictures.
Cheers.

ahmetgedikli (25076) 2008-05-18 0:25

Hi Stan,
Very beautiful shot! The colors, light and sharpness are very good. Well done.
Have a nice sunday.
Ahmet

gunbud (34052) 2008-05-19 7:20

Hi Stan,
I can hear the wonderful Latin beat that this lovely lady is dancing so brilliantly to. Wonderful clear colors and fantastic details to this beautiful image that is seen in wonderful sharpness. Just back from eight days in Maine. Gunner (my chocolate lab) at a wonderful retreat at the ocean.
Regards, Tom
Tomorrow

diegomach (527) 2008-06-02 22:14

Hola Stan, tienes una maravillosa serie de bailarinas esa ene special es muy interesante, la composcion y el momento capatado son muy buenos. el fondo en negro resalta definitivamente a l bailarina. la luz de la toma es estupenda.
Felicitaciones.

WepWaWet (3780) 2008-06-10 1:21

Hello Stan,
Very beautiful photograph of this flamenco dancer. The composition and timing are very good. The light and exposure are wonderful.Great work as per usual.
Regards,
Seref

zeca (19762) 2008-06-18 14:01

Very nice colours, Stan! The contrast to the black background is perfect. Very nice capture, freezing a nice and classic pose of the dancer. Well taken!
Regards,
Zeca

Photo Information

Copyright: Stan Obert (scobert) (5355)
Genre: People
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-04-18
Categories: Event
Camera: Nikon D300, Nikon 70-200mm f2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR
Exposure: f/2.8, 1/125 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): faces expressing trance & extasy in art, JAPIEY'S FAVOURITES [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-05-01 6:59