{"id":2830,"date":"2024-04-18T13:12:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T13:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/?p=2830"},"modified":"2024-04-18T13:12:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T13:12:39","slug":"capturing-magic-a-winter-levitation-and-dance-photoshoot-with-stefi-chertsova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/capturing-magic-a-winter-levitation-and-dance-photoshoot-with-stefi-chertsova\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing Magic: A Winter Levitation and Dance Photoshoot with Stefi Chertsova"},"content":{"rendered":"

As winter wrapped its icy embrace around Edinburgh, the serene beauty of Blackford Hill’s forest drew me in. With its bare trees stretching towards the sky, it offered a picturesque backdrop for a dance photoshoot.<\/p>\n

\"Dancer
In this setup, I wanted to contrast the small human figure with the tall trees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dancer
We explored a number of poses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Teaming up with the talented dancer Stefi Chertsova, we embarked on a creative journey to capture the ethereal essence of movement amidst nature’s winter palette.<\/p>\n

\"Dancer
I really liked the way her black outfit contrasted with the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dancer
When the colours are muted, I always try a black & white version.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The decision to shoot during winter was intentional. With the trees stripped of their foliage, the stark branches created a captivating visual contrast against the muted landscape. It was a canvas Stefi’s graceful movements would soon animate.<\/p>\n

\"Dance
I just let Stefi go through a variety of poses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dance
This photo isn’t really monochrome. It’s a toned black and white.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I opted for my trusty telephoto zoom lens. Its ability to compress perspective allowed me to bring the distant trees closer together, intensifying the feeling of intimacy within the forest. As Stefi posed among the trees, the lens captured each movement, emphasizing the harmony between the dancer and the environment.<\/p>\n

\"Stefi
I always let dancers chose the poses they like best.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Stefi
For a wintery look, I toned the black & white images with a bit of blue in the shadows and yellow in the highlights.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the highlights of the shoot was our exploration of levitation photography. With Stefi’s talent and agility, we transformed fleeting moments into timeless images of weightlessness. Against the wintry backdrop, her suspended form seemed to defy gravity, adding an element of enchantment to the scene.<\/p>\n

\"Levitation
I chose a low point of view to clearly showcase the levitation effect.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Levitation
The other version of the levitation photos Stefi liked.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drawing upon my expertise in Photoshop, I transformed our daytime captures into mesmerizing night scenes. By adjusting the lighting and adding subtle touches of moonlight, I breathed new life into the images, infusing them with a dreamlike quality that transported viewers to a world where time stood still.<\/p>\n

\"Dancer
I also toned the colour images using a gradient map in Photoshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dancer
Which do you prefer? Muted colours or black & white.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But our journey didn’t end there. Inspired by the timeless elegance of black and white photography, I created monochrome versions of most of the dance pictures. Stripping away colour revealed new depths of emotion and expression, allowing viewers to focus on the interplay of light and shadow, movement and stillness.<\/p>\n

\"Stefi
The shoot ended with a few poses on the ground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Stefi
This was Stefi’s favourite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reflecting on our winter dance photoshoot, I am impressed by the synergy between artistry and nature. Each step and every pose was a testament to the beauty of collaboration, where the dancer and photographer merged their talents to create something truly extraordinary. It was a reminder of the boundless creative potential within the intersection of science and art, where technical expertise meets artistic vision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As winter wrapped its icy embrace around Edinburgh, the serene beauty of Blackford Hill’s forest drew me in. With its…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[233,27,43],"tags":[136,149,150,188,130,615,438,663,662,297,247],"class_list":["post-2830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dance","category-edinburgh","category-photography-2","tag-blackford-hill","tag-dance","tag-dancer","tag-edinburgh","tag-forest","tag-levitation","tag-nature","tag-outdoors","tag-photo-shoot","tag-trees","tag-winter","has-thumbnail"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Levitation-1-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Levitation-1-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"PhilsBlog","author_link":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/author\/philsblog\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2830"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2851,"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2830\/revisions\/2851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philippemonthoux.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}