Virtual photography is here to stay and Shutter App is the best tool to use.
The introduction of Raw capture in Shutter App is a game-changer.
In this behind the scenes video of my collaboration with the excellent dancer Jessica (@ballet.tone.life) based in Hamptons, New York; I will share the secrets that will enable you to obtain the best results from your shoots.
The first steps:
1) Make sure to enable Raw Capture. You need to take one image after accessing the app before you can toggle this on
2) Enable Focus on Click - this lets you choose the focus point
Manual Exposure
I advocate using manual exposure that is minus one or two stops for the best results. Highlights clipping is more difficult to recover than opening the shadows. However, for this set by the window I wanted to make sure the pointe shoes were well lit and recovered the shadows in Lightroom.
Natural Light is Best
These images with Jessica, Carlee Wood and Haruka Sato illustrate how well natural light photography works.
Indoor Light
These images with Shelley Eva Haden were created deep inside the Staatsoper Berlin. Although we worked with artificial light, Shelley’s brilliant movement and costume by Not A Studio resulted in fantastic images.
The wonderful advantage of being a London dance photographer is the ability to collaborate with fantastic dancers from around the world. Silvia Carradori and I wanted to collaborate on a dance shoot for a long time but calendar commitments resulted in a six month delay. When we finally made it to the studio it was a pleasure to create with a wonderful dancer and person.
The emphasis of the shoot was on the strength and grace of the dancer’s body. My philosophy is to allow each dancer the space to move freely and Silvia’s fabulous movement made my job very easy.
London Dance Photographer Apetura collaborated with Architect and Dancer, Angelina Papachatzaki in this unique project. Apetura photographed Angelina wearing the device to showcase the independence and inter-dependence of body and device and the sensation of movement and touch from skin and metal.
Materials, code and body will become one. Body Augmentation will push us to our boundaries and will extend our senses.
Interpolate was developed by Angelina Papachatzaki as part of the research thesis of MArch Design for Performance and Interaction at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.
Inspired by the contemporary dance technique of contact improvisation, the wearable attempts to simulate the sensation of touch on the bodies of the performer and audience members. Interpolate explores possibilities around the puppetry of the self and of others, but attempts to represent trust and empathy between dancer and audience rather than domination and control.
This is one of the most unique and inspiring projects I have been involved in. During the shoot it was necessary to portray Angelina’s movement and dancing as well as the structure and detail of the device.
I am immensely grateful to Angelina for giving me the opportunity to collaborate on this project. The shoot took place at the Studio Photo Gallery in Bermondsey, my recommended studio in London.
