Trapeze and Silks Shoot with Danuta and Ian

I started doing personal work with musicians. I then discovered, and fell in love, with dance photography. It was therefore natural to try working with circus artists. This first shoot opened a world of possibilities for me.

I remember contacting Danuta on Facebook and she agreed to a collaboration. We decided to shoot at North Edinburgh Arts, and her partner Ian came along for some photos as well as helping set up the trapeze rig.

It took me some time to light the scene. My initial thought was to go for dramatic light, but I couldn’t get what I wanted so I went for something safer. I’m quite happy with the results. After the lighting was set up, it was a matter of finding photogenic poses and tweaking the position of the main light. It’s more time consuming than you think.

Circus artist Danuta Ramos upside down on trapeze — I needed to use some rim lights to properly separate the trapeze from the background. Works for Danuta as well. It gives the picture more of a three dimensional feel.

The first set up was solo trapeze with Danuta. We then moved to silks.

Circus artist Danuta Ramos on white silks — This one required good timing, as Danuta was rotating from right to left. I needed to press the shutter when she was in the best position with respect to my main light.

The final set up with Danuta and Ian both on the trapeze required the lighting to be adjusted, as there was a larger vertical area to properly illuminate.

Circus artists Danuta Ramos & Ian Fraser on a trapeze — I find this pose to be very impressive. I can’t imagine the amount of training it requires to pull this off.

In my personal work projects with musician, dancer and circus artists, I first select the pictures that are technically and compositionally good and let the artists make the final selection.