Portland Oregon Wedding and Portrait Photographer
I am doing more dance photography lately, especially of Portland’s growing blues dance scene. It helps me explore different styles of photography, try out new techniques, and make new connections. I try not to use any flash for the blues scene as it kills the mood. So some of these are darker than normal, but that is how the ambiance was. Taking pictures of fast moving dancers in extremely low light is very hard, so it is a great challenge and fun:
I went dancing last night at Lenora’s Room ( 615 SE 6th Ave and Alder, Portland, OR) and had a blast. I had very low energy from editing until late night for couple days but I convinced myself to go dancing by taking my camera with me. I had a vision to photograph the blues dancers (very very low light) in the moody environment they dance at, and I didn’t want to use flash since it can really distract and annoy the dancers. Being a dancer myself, I try very hard not to disturb the dancers.
Here are some of the dance photos:
Portland has a great swing dance community and they came together to host the 2008 Portland Lindy Exchange. Some of you might remember the pictures from the 2006 exchange here. I can’t believe it has been two years!
I was able to attend all three nights, however, the second night was right after a fantastic but long wedding I shot, so I didn’t bring my camera that night. Since I have not been out dancing as much lately, I didn’t take as many photos but rather took advantage of the great crowds and got my dancing fix in. Despite that, there are still over 200 photos.
>>>>Click here for the full set!<<<<
Here are some favorites:
One of the best places to take dance lessons is Northwest Conservatory of Dance in Hillsboro. I had the pleasure of photographing their dance recital a little while ago, and got some great images. This time it was time to photograph the young dancers at the studio! Check out what we came up with. Parents of the dancers can see the whole set here (password required).
We stopped by a great swing dance in Portland at Imago Theater. It was beautifully organized and the bands were great. Here are some photos, and even more can be found here.
Swing Dancing
Imago Ballroom / Theater is a wonderful location on SE 8th and Burnside. It is very near the Viscount Ballroom that I used to go every Friday. Russ started a swing dance on Friday at Imago, and the first act was the Pete “Spanky” Petersen vs Pete Krebs band duel. It was just a friendly event of course. We rocked out to both bands and the end result was VERY close. What a great night. Beautiful music, great dancers and great location.
Here are some photos. If you want to see more, click Portland Swing Dance Pictures at Imago Theater Ballroom.
These events are really fun and the chance to dance at Crystal is always a great experience. They even have behinner lessons for free!
Monday, February 12th
Crystal Ballroom (1332 W Burnside, Portland) 6:30 PM Partner Charleston (FREE) 7:30 PM Beginning Swing Lesson (FREE) 8:30 PM to 12:00 AM DJ’d Dance.
$8 Admission. All ages.
We got three DJ’s lined up…and I’m not sure in which order:) DJ Josh Mclaughlin, DJ Russ Bruner, and the rookie, DJ Geoff Young:)
NW Conservatory of Dance hosted their recital last weekend and I had the chance to photograph the performances. They were so fun and it was easy to see how much effort went into creating a show like this! Kudos!!!
Here are some photos:
