A Star is Born!

This year, my daughter paricipated in a Dance recital again. It was our second recital. It was just as time consuming as last years recital was, and just as worth it once again! This year, we did feel more comfortable and knew what to expect, and thus were better prepared. I took most of my photos at the dress rehearsal. This is because the school asked that we not take pictures during the performance, and I like to get action shots as well as posed pictures! I did take a picture of my daughter with her Grammas and Auntie after the show. I like to remember who was there. Tickets are in high demand and we were blessed to get 2 extras this year. I also spent a good deal of time trying to get one of the 3 of us that was perfect. I'm very picky and this is a big night, so I was a bit grumpy with my loved ones as it seemed to take awhile to get a shot of my husband, the star and myself that I would settle for. The picture above is the last picture I took. She looked so adorable in her white coat and was holding her flowers with so much happiness. She had practiced really hard before this recital and it showed! She had done a stand out job, and we were all so proud of her. My sister and I both cried during her ballet number. She was like a beautiful angel!

Scrap Happy!

Dance, baby, dance!

My daughter's dance recital was this past weekend, and in light of that, I'd like to give some tips for taking pictures at events like this!

Y I chose to get the smallest photo package from the professional photographer because I liked the idea of having a picture of the whole group of kids and the papers they gave us strongly discouraged us from taking pictures while the photographer was there. One mother was chastized by the photographer for taking a photo and ruining his light.

Y On the way to the rehearsal, I allowed time to stop and take a few pictures of my daughter on my own. This meant, I chose the background, just a simple walking trail, with trees along side. You can't tell that there are cars driving by, can you?

Y In my own photos, I encouraged her to do some of her dance moves.

Y I took both full bodied shots and some closeups. The outfit is a big part of the day, right down to those little white shoes!

Y When taking shots of your kid and another backstage, try to either get a plain background, without people walking through, or really zoom in for a close up.

Y When the papers you are given tell you that pictures and video are restricted to the dress rehearsal, please listen! It's distracting to everyone around you and flashes are also distracting to the kids on stage.

Y On this same note, you may actually get better pictures at the rehearsal, because the room will most likely consist of parents waiting for their kids. As their children leave the stage, the adults will leave the room to meet up with them. We found 2 seats directly in the front row at dress rehearsal, and had the best seat in the house for taping and photographing our little girl! She happened to be on stage directly in front of us!

Scrap Happy!