The feedback from the previous week’s pitch helped me to narrow down my ideas and complete my first shoot with Carla.  A vital piece of advice from the pitch was to ensure that Carla was comfortable with being the subject and having her photo taken, so to begin I decided to capture candid photos of Carla during a live performance where she might be more comfortable and focused on her dancing, rather than the camera.  Although it was important to capture a dancing performance for my concept, working in a live setting was very challenging.  Firstly, we had to obtain permission for photography during a private event, which we faced barriers from the venue who were suspicious that this was for commercial gain.  Once we proved our reasons for the shoot, the venue agreed for us to photograph, however I had to be inconspicuous and not use large equipment or flash that could distract the guests.  At the event, the biggest challenge was the quality of lighting without the use of professional lights and flashes, which I knew would be difficult.  I increased the iso to help with the poor lighting conditions and played with the shutter speed to capture the movements of the dance, but unfortunately this resulted in grainy photos as the light quality overall was still too poor.

Despite these challenges and some failed photos, this was helpful to understand how I should shoot live dancing and I quickly realised that I would need to invest in some professional lighting equipment.  Carla and I were able to review the photos from this first series together and brainstorm ideas for the next shoots.  Carla mentioned that she would also like some professional studio shots, highlighting details such as traditional dance moves along with the elaborate costumes and makeup, which may not be captured in their detail during a live performance.