There’s always a funny getting-to-know-you period whenever I work with a new dancer whom I’ve never had the privilege of working with, a time when translating the dancer’s prowess to a place where movement is still can be a little difficult at first. I have to explain that the more awkward it feels in the moment, the more movement it will have in the frame. Some dancers don’t ever grasp the understanding that for a dance photograph to be successful (in my particular idiom, that is) it has to exist both in a place before and a place after the exposure. Ashley is one of those few dancers that from the get-go had no trouble setting aside the idea of movement for the sake of the moment.

Ashley dances for Trey McIntyre Project, based in Boise, Idaho, and I was lucky enough to catch her on tour in Portland. She’s a fascinating and powerful dancer, graceful and unassuming: the consummate professional.

The first question one must ask themselves about canvas printing is, “Do you like your prints on canvas?” which is incidentally a bit like asking me, “Chris, how do you feel about sushi?” My reply is that I don’t dislike sushi but I could by no stretch of imagination call myself a sushi connoisseur. When given to me I will of course delight in sushi but it’s not something I’m terribly educated about nor constantly seek out. But I know good sushi when I taste it much the same as I know a good print when I see it and a print from Easy Canvas Prints is a fine print.

(Full disclaimer: Easy Canvas Prints offered me a free 11×14 print of an image of my choosing in exchange for a review of their product. I am in no way connected to Easy Canvas as a result and have no intention of giving a positive and/or negative review of any product bought and paid for by a sponsor. Any review of any product is my own opinion and is not purchased by a gifting me, whether via goods or cash. It is my full intention to give this canvas print away to a friend or fan of my work once this review is posted.)

As their name says, Easy Canvas Prints (hereafter ECP) is all about making canvas printing easy. Where ECP differs, however, is in the choices for sizes. Many printing houses offer canvas printing but do so in standard sizing increments and ratios (typically 4:5 and sometimes 2:3) and offer very little choice in the matter. ECP offers custom sizes up to 40″ in either dimension with either a 0.75″ or 1.5″ wrap. So yes, if you’ve been in need of an 8″x40″ canvas wrap you’re in luck. ECP even offers you a choice in mirroring the edges of your print over the wrap or a simple solid color in addition to a standard image wrap. Prices are highly competitive with other print houses as well which should bode well for ECP as there’s a lot to be said for having custom sizing available.

As stated previously, my experience with canvas prints are exactly nil. I’ve seen plenty of other images on canvas but I hadn’t seen my own and thus I spent about two weeks with this particular print of Ashley Werhun on my walls just looking at it day to day before coming up with the following conclusions. Reviewing something as objective as a print and not viewing it as a simple commodity is very important as most people and by definition most consumers will not stand with their nose perched up against a print to review a product nor are they apt to use a macro lens to view one.

Overall, thumbs up!

Given that each piece is by nature custom made, someone had to cut the canvas, create the stretcher frame, and stretch the canvas over the frame. This means someone with their own eyes decided that my image was vertical (or portrait if you’re feeling pedantic) and thus put the mounting hardware in its logical place without adding an option to hang it horizontal. In a world filled with online automation having a piece custom built is a nice touch.

I’ve seen a few canvas prints in the past that were done on thin canvas and only give the photos a slight texture and additionally the canvas looked pre-treated to produce a sort of glossy image.  To my eye, the effect diminishes the canvas quality.

Thankfully, that is not the case here. The canvas itself is thick with a good amount of texture which the ink from the printing process eventually fills and gives a slight sheen, shinier in the shadows (when viewed from a diagonal) as more ink is needed. Color was reproduced accurately though the overall tones came down about a half-stop if I had to guess. There’s no bit of canvas left exposed as the photos suggest as this is just light bouncing off from the side of canvas.

I mentioned that I left the print on the wall for two weeks before penning this review and there was something that struck me as odd (but bear in mind that I photograph primarily on flat, seamless backgrounds). There’s a very hard to photograph “gridding” effect on the canvas, only viewable on this particular image of the seamless background. This isn’t noticeable from the front is only visible when viewing the piece from the side and when looking for flaws.  You won’t notice it unless you’re looking for it and more than likely isn’t noticeable on most other styles of photography. To be honest it’s not very prominent but for those of you who demand absolute perfection on your seamless backgrounds on screen and on print it might bring you a bit of dismay. This is a very small complaint for an overall excellent product.

So would I purchase from ECP? If I were in love with canvas printing I would not hesitate to do so. Turnaround is fast, products are shipped very well protected, and the actual pieces can be a wonderful treatment for your photos.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Melissa at ECP, she was very helpful throughout the entire process and really has the customer in mind.  Head on over to http://www.easycanvasprints.com/ for more information about pricing and options.

Danielle – The Lensbaby is a fascinating tool as is backlighting. Together they produced for me an image that was soft and dreamy, giving rise to some kind of story that needed to be told.

Hannah – She requested the use of fabric for her images and so I thought, why not?

Jorgen – An editorial image which has several implications for me in style and content in the future.

Pedro and Steven – The objective in any documentary image is to tell a story concisely and without words and this image does just that. Timing, location, and positioning.

Liz – Working with Odyssey Dance Theatre is always a special experience but actually being flown in by Derryl and treated like some kind of celebrity upon entering the studio was something altogether different. More than any frame of the over 600 selects, Liz’s improv speaks worlds to me.

Ashley – Few dancers from the get-go have the kind of brilliant attack and fearlessness that Ashley had. While on tour with Trey McIntyre Project in Portland, we were able to create some stunning images.

Chelsea (hair and makeup by Haylee Haning) – My first conceptual shoot. Of course it was going to be Chelsea in front of the camera.

Lindsey – More than any image, Lindsey’s signals a change in both style and tone in my images. Here is a portrait but also a dance image created as pure collaboration between dancer and photographer.

My studio setup is quite mobile and I can throw up a background and put down a floor in just about any dance studio.  The second studio at BodyVox here in Portland, however, has a gigantic window bank/roll-up door. With Sammy headed into the studio for a second time in front of my camera I thought I’d do something completely different and work with the natural light which coincidentally was key-ing from the camera’s left where I prefer to key from.

So enjoy some improvised dance under natural light.  Wait, what?  Yes, you read correctly, improvised with guidance using naught but the natural light in the studio.  Enjoy!

Something slightly new, a very stark black and white conversion.  Normally I have a darker background which allows the highlights to really pop off the background, here the shadows work opposite giving the subject more of a silhouette.  Fun process with a fun subject, enjoy after the jump!

E: What kind of advice would you give to photographers new to dance but wanting to photograph dancers?

C: Don’t. You’ll become obsessed and never want for anything else in life.

E: I know the feeling… but still?

C: [shrugs] Okay, it’s a question of learning the vocabulary and aesthetic. One of the books I used to pore over as a younger dancer was Classical Ballet Technique by Gretchen W. Warren; the book is a bit dated but actually shows photographs instead of drawings of dancers performing the various steps that form the basis of classical technique. I wouldn’t say that knowing each classical step is a requirement but knowing the nine body positions (some lexicons suggest eight but I cry bollocks), is huge as these are highly codified positions that classical dancers train in most of their lives. Additionally, most modern dancers have an understanding of the same positions.

E: Why are those nine body positions so important?

C: Well… they’re just like a well-tailored suit or that little black dress, they never go out of style and more importantly… they just look good.

E: So what about the aesthetic of dance?

C: That’s something that comes through time and observation but having stared at myself in the mirror for years it’s a bit natural to me. So many times a non-dance photographer will be excited about an image that a dancer will not like or will be downright repulsed by and that can be a hard thing as it’s so nuanced.

If you’re shooting digital with dancers (and you probably should be), take time to proof on-site with your dancer so you can work to understand the aesthetic. Make sure they know you need to have the aesthetic explained to you so you’re not grasping at straws. There’s an amazing amount of attention paid to the details of dance that it can be a bit overwhelming to the untrained eye.

E: Do you have any other helpful advice?

C: If you’re serious about shooting dance and do not come from a dance background, get yourself to a show! In addition to supporting the dance community, supporting the dancers and picking up the aesthetic you’ll have something to talk about with another dancer. This can help develop a positive rapport between subject and photographer which is just as important as the actual photo.

I’d suggest seeing every show you can possibly see, learning what speaks to you as an artist and as a person and apply it behind the camera. If you can’t make it to a live show, buy multiple dance DVD’s and learn everything you can. Similar to how some sports photographers develop their timing, you can watch SYTYCD with a camera in hand to develop your timing.

E: Any DVD’s in particular you would suggest?

C: Nederlands Dans Theater Celebrates Jiří Kylián is a brilliant place to start if you’re into more contemporary work else the pantheon of classical ballet works just as well.

E: How would you first approach someone you don’t know and ask them to work with you?

C: I ask and I give them my card. This gives them the opportunity to look at my work and make that judgment for themselves without further pressure from me. I’ve heard tell of a certain awesome photographer will have his wife approach potential models. Or then there’s this story from Jake Garn that I love and enjoy.

E: And if they don’t get back to you?

C: I don’t take it personally, I would sooner work with someone who wants to work with me versus someone who’s on the fence. Those are the kind of people and dancers will work 110% for you.

E: But what if I’m starting out and really want to work with dancers?

C: Build a portfolio of live performances, beg every company in town to let you shoot their dress rehearsals (after you’ve been watching their shows, of course), and get experience. You have to be able to prove to a dancer that you’re not going to waste their time and precious energy during their free time. We as dancers only have so many steps we can take before our bodies are ruined and have to make each one count.

In this regard, your portfolio is a way to build trust.

E: Your dancers in particular must trust you very much, do you ever feel pressured by it?

C: All the time. It can be hard attempting to create something that I haven’t photographed yet and having a dancer, usually a friend, trusting you to create can be just as intimidating as it for them after they’ve seen my portfolio.

Without that trust, however, a dancer will not give their all if you can’t capture it. In my photos if it looks like a dancer is going to slam into the floor the moment after the photo they more than likely did. It’s strenuous on the body and many dancers will wake the next morning more sore than they left the studio as a result. Having their trust to execute that kind of movement for that one moment is, again, tantamount.

E: What’s your favorite color?

C: Wait, what? Seriously?

E: Yes!

C: Uhmm, orange.

E: Awesome! Now, what was your favorite assignment?

C: Wait, you just wanted to know randomly what my favorite color was? Silly girl… anyhow, it’s hard to choose a single assignment that I would consider to be my favorite as there have been so many but if pressed for an answer I’d would have to say working with the entire roster of Odyssey Dance Theatre.

E: Those are some very, very talented dancers! Were you ever intimidated?

C: God yes! I’ve never worked with a group of dancers with such amazing talent, hoping to satisfy them was one of my biggest fears going into the studio with them. I only knew a few dancers on the roster before I walked into the studio but no one ever looked at me funny over the course of three days, they were just so happy to work with me and we all ended up having a great time and produced some awesome photos.

E: Did you have any collaborators for that assignment?

C: In general I don’t typically bring other voices into my photos but working with so many dancers in such a short time frame was entirely too taxing for me. Eldon Johnson on the company was a godsend in this regard and really helped me out in the whole process and I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank him again.

E: How long do you spend working with a dancer before getting the camera out?

C: It really depends upon the dancer. Sometimes we’ll come up with something together and one position leads to the next position leads to yet another position and I’ll be shooting and refining very quickly. I like to call them image threads and I’m always amazed at how long they can go on and create variations on top of each other. Sometimes it feels like there’s this epiphany of a moment that happens where the lines of the body intersect in just the right ways to get back to what first started such a thread.

Other times we get an excellent shot and it seems to put a stop to things; I can spend several minutes away from the camera figuring out the best way to translate movement and line to a single moment. When I’m stuck for ideas (which happens more than I’d like to admit!) I’ll have the dancer improvise for me. Improvisation doesn’t often translate well to photography but I can usually select a few movements from an improvisational phrase to work within the confines of photography.

E: Then do you find in the studio that you begin with a clear idea of what you want and then describe or demonstrate the movement to the dancer, or does it evolve incrementally? Does it start with the dancer’s own improvisation? Are you modifying the movement?

C: [smiles] Yes.

E: Well?

C: Well, most of what you see in my photos is me with a good portion of it being the dancers’ work as well. One of the problems with dance photography is that it makes abstract one of the critical cornerstones of dance: time. A dancer improvising in the studio may be fun to watch and beautiful to behold but to freeze any moment without context of what comes before or after that particular moment makes it weak. In that regard, I look for that one moment in their improvisation and modify to fit the four walls of a still photograph. Sometimes the dancers come up with their own material as well but I always have a hand in it somehow, transforming it ever so slightly to create dynamics that make it leap out of the frame.

E: Oh. I get it. Leap… nice pun.

C: I try.

E: Do you have images in your head of ideal positions for your photos before starting a shoot?

C: Almost never. Maybe just a nascent idea but nothing fully formed, I don’t come in with drawings on napkins if that’s what you mean. When I walk into the studio I try not to let any ideas I may have cloud what the dancer in front of me can or cannot do, it’s important to me that the dancer be my guide during the process. Part of the special experience working one-on-one with a dancer is learning what’s going to work best on their body as no two dancers are exactly alike. It’s the same working with a choreographer, they will often have a phrase that will look just brilliant upon one dancer and just ‘meh’ on other dancers.

E: Your work has very little of what I’d call cookie-cutter poses, how is that-

C: Don’t call them poses. This drives me nuts.

E: What should I call it then?

C: What it is: dance. If there isn’t movement within the image somehow I’m usually not happy.

E: So how are you able to create so much movement then?

C: [laughs] Apollo. Terpsichore. I have no idea. It might be the fact that I see so much dance photography with so much reverence for the subject that I get sad and irritable. Or maybe it’s me always trying to always one-up myself. Perhaps it’s me just loving to create images for myself. If it’s something I’ve done before I know I can do better.

E: When you are working with a dancer doing portraits as opposed to action shots is your conversation and interaction with the dancer different?

C: Mostly we just talk and chat and take photos on the side. I’ve found that dancers are sometimes more nervous in this setting since they have to, in essence, perform with just their facial expression and not the talents they’ve amassed for years with their feet and legs. More and more, however, I’ve been finding parallels between dancers and models and exploiting it. What can make, for example, a fashion image really pop off the frame is how they’re posed and by bringing the same sensibilities into portraiture I find that I can create very different moods and avenues of expression.

I was asked to coffee by a beautiful girl once upon a time but unfortunately for me she just wanted to ask me questions of dance, photography, choreography and how they all relate to each other and actually didn’t want to talk about the weather, long walks on the beach or her favorite wine. We decided to meet at a local coffee shop which was ironic because neither of us drink coffee… anyhow, it was quite a lengthy interview so for your convenience I’ve decided to piece it into three separate posts.

Today, Part I: Technical Gibberish. Read on after the jump!

Ellie: Chris… I’m a huge fan of your photography and it’s nice to finally meet the man behind the camera. Let’s start out easy, what camera do you use?

Chris: Thanks Ellie! I love your earrings. Anyhow, I shoot digital exclusively with my Nikon D700. It’s a full 135-frame camera at a resolution of 12-megapixels which allows me to work in the theatre as well as the studio to produce the images I need when I need them. I don’t know of many other cameras that can do what the D700 is capable of, going from the studio on a tripod one day to shooting a wedding with a vertical-grip the next.

E: You shoot weddings?

C: I’ve shot a wedding [pauses]. Right, but the image quality even at higher ISO-sensitivities is nothing short of amazing and paired with Nikon’s best auto-focus system this camera has no boundaries and no limits to what it can shoot. One can deliberate the bullet points of cameras ad infinitum but it’s hard to quantify the results this camera produces. It just works.

E: Sounds like a great camera, but what’s your dream camera, no matter the cost?

C: In the studio I would be more than happy with a Phase One P 65+ or a nice Hasselblad.

E: Film?

C: [laughs] Never, digital lends itself to a process that cannot be had with film. I can get results quicker with less strain upon the dancers without spending a fortune on Polaroids but lord knows I still love me a Mamiya 6×7 loaded with Provia.

E: Hmm… I’m more of a Kodak girl myself.

C: I do love Portra and Tri-X though. A lot of my work documenting dancers in the studio was shot on Tri-X and Ilford HP5 so I’ve adapted my processing style when shooting rehearsals in the studio to emulate those emulsions with digital.

E: Let’s talk lighting. What kind of lights do you use and how many?

C: With most of my work anymore I’m down to just a single light coming from a Paul C. Buff Einstein 640. Usually this is paired with a large and diffuse light modifier and I love the look and control I can get from a gridded softbox. More and more, however, I’m finding myself drawn to large specular modifiers like the 86” silver PLM. Next up is the possibility of a large silver beauty dish which has a bonus +5 to sparkle if I’m reading the stats right.

E: Paul C. Buff is fantastic, but have you considered other brands of flash?

C: Of course! The grass is always greener on the other side, right? In reality, finding the right family of modifiers with the right quality of light isn’t as easy as it would seem unless you’d like to go into cardiac arrest when you look at the price tag. Have a look at Broncolor, your face will melt-off.

E: Your work before the New Dance Project is so different from your previous work, namely the Studio 60 Project. Why the drastic change?

C: I worked on the Studio 60 Project for quite a while and the more I shot in that style and the more I further I developed my own voice, the more I realized I wanted and craved for something completely different, something remarkably simple. When I started what’s become the New Dance Project I gave myself the limitation of a single light source with only diffuse, soft light. I wanted to be forced into exploring the possibilities of dance and not of demonstrating my technical ability with light. I wanted to have the most deliberately boring light possible because I wanted the subject to speak for itself. I’ve had shoots with as many as six lights sources and getting back to basics was as liberating as it was difficult, there is no technical trickery allowing my dancers to look larger than life.

E: I watched your interview on [FRAMED] the other night and noticed you use a telephoto lens across the studio instead of close-in with a wide-angle. Was this a deliberate decision having tried every method or was it more driven by what kit you had at the time?

C: Telephoto lenses, which for me is my Nikkor AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8, have the quality of compressing the depth of an image and offer no distortion of the lines or limbs of the dancers. It’s very flattering to the subject and won’t make a hand look larger than we know it should. As with the transition from the Studio 60 Project to the New Dance Project, I wanted the simplest of means and telephoto was another limitation for myself.

E: So if I came upon an unspecified amount of money, what would camera, lens or otherwise would you recommend for me?

C: [under his breath] a D3X for me…

E: I beg your pardon?

C: I mean… you should find the best combination of bodies, lenses and auxiliary lighting you can afford depending upon what you want to shoot and how you want to shoot it. Buy once and don’t be afraid of the used market but just remember that the equipment doesn’t make the photographer just as much as Hilary Hahn’s violin doesn’t make the musician. Have you ever heard her play the violin?

E: More times than I’d like to think.

C: The Online Photographer had a great article about the buying dilemma which you can read here.

E: I’ve read that article before, very cheeky. Carrying on, how is it that you manage to capture the movement so clear when strobes sync at a maximum of 1/250 (ed: depending upon the model)? 1/250 isn’t very fast at all so are you using continuous light or a leaf shutter?

C: Nikon unfortunately doesn’t make any leaf shutter lenses but those sweet, sexy shutters can sync anywhere from 1/500-1/1600 depending upon the model where my particular camera with a focal plane shutter syncs at 1/250. Focal plane systems have a pair of curtains that control your exposure and 1/250 is the fastest speed that my camera (and most other SLRs) has both shutters open to accept the full exposure of a flash pulse. That speed is only really important when ambient light is contributing to exposure and in my studio work the entire exposure is dependent upon the flash pulse without ambient contributing at all.

E: But how does flash-sync work?

C: [waves his hands around in a foolish attempt to describe a modern focal plane shutter]

E: Umm…..k?

C: Fine, watch this video, it even explains flash duration.

E: So I work with flash. How come some of my images have blur-age?

C: Wells that’s because you need a faster t.1, Ellie.

E: A t-what?!

C: A flash pulse is really similar to a sound wave in that it has a very steep attack to full intensity with a longer and gradual slope or decay. Just as we hear all parts of a sound a photo is exposed during all parts of a flash pulse. You can think of it as a shutter speed within a shutter speed and the measurement standard for flash duration is in t.5 and t.1.

The flash I’m working with now allows me to stop the motion of the dancer around 1/3000 at the t.1 measurement standard and at that speed the t.5 duration becomes a bit meaningless because of the unusual method for controlling flash duration. It’s a strange flash and I think it has something to do with the ground up bits of unicorn horn in the flash tubes, but I may be mistaken.

E: But why’s that t.1 duration so important? The flash I have has a super-fast t.5. Isn’t that good?

C: Don’t believe the t.5 to be your ultimate ability to stop motion, it’s a trap! Most flash manufacturers list that speed because it sounds faster than it really is and only a few classy flash makers readily advertise that t.1 spec. At t.5 your flash has only discharged 50% of its power where at t.1 it has discharged another 40% of its power (to leave a remaining 10%, hence t.1). Nearly half your exposure is happening between that gap from t.5 to t.1.

Just as it is with a sound wave’s decay, it takes much longer to reach the point where the sound has diminished enough to no longer hear it. With a flash pulse that’s usually 3x the amount so if your flash has a listed duration of 1/1000 it’s safe to assume your t.1 is around 1/333 but it can be longer depending.

E: So how can I control that flash duration?

C: It depends upon how your flash is built as there are three main ways to control the waveform of the flash.

The first is via capacitor switching and here the flash unit just reduces the number of capacitors active at any one time. This method is found in the majority of studio packs and a very few monolights. Here, less power equates to a faster flash duration.

The second is almost universal across the board with monolights (and a few packs, looking at you Elinchrom ಠ_ಠ) and that’s voltage reduction. This actually takes the wave form and diminishes its power but lengthens the flash pulse as a result. Odds are, if you own a monolight (or an Elinchrom pack ಠ_ಠ) it’s fastest flash duration is at maximum power.

The third is IGBT which is how all shoe-mount flashes work as well as a few packs from Broncolor (namely their Scoro and Grafit packs) and the Einstein that I use. What’s interesting about IGBT is that instead of changing the length of intensity of the waveform, it simply chops off the wave’s tail end which in turn affects the intensity and duration. Measuring t.1/t.5 is a lot different with this particular method of flash control and that, again, has to do with the chopped up bits of unicorn horn located within the flash tubes.

E: Why do you keep glaring at Elinchrom?

C: Because they have one of the best families of light modifiers and location battery packs at prices that don’t induce an aneurism but none of their packs approach a usable t.1 which for me is at least 1/2000. Their Ranger RX Speed AS comes closest in their line, I’ll give it a whirl eventually so I can stop with the look of disapproval.

E: OK, that’s enough geek talk. Let’s talk about shooting outside the studio. Do you have any technical advice for shooting live performances?

C: Fast lenses and saying your prayers for a light designer who doesn’t get too dim nor over-saturated with the colors. This will never happen, by the way.

E: That’s encouraging…

C: Oh it’s not that bad. The way I’ve shot live performances for years is to spot-meter skin-tones and set my exposure manually. Theatres tend to freak out your camera’s meter and ideally I would have an assistant next to me with a spot meter calling out exposures to me every time a light changes. In this regard, you have to be very aware of what’s happening during the piece as light designers and choreographers usually want new light cues to segue to a new phrase or sentence in the piece.

E: How do you capture the right moment in a live performance if you don’t know the piece?

C: Catching the dancer during a peak moment takes time and practice. Watch enough dance and then photograph enough dance and you will eventually get used to the natural rhythms of dance and dancers and their respective timings.

E: So what should I take with me to my next live performance?

Depending upon the venue and where you’re allowed to shoot from, you’ll want fast f/2.8 zooms, usually a mid-range and a telephoto, and hopefully a pair of fast f/1.4 primes, usually a 50mm and an 85mm. If you’re in a proscenium space you’ll likely be glued to your telephoto zoom but if you’re in a studio theatre it’s just the opposite with you mid-range zoom instead.

E: One of my classmates is also a fan of yours and wanted me to ask if you if she could use your photo for one of her classes. Would that be okay?

C: Probably, but she should send me an e-mail first.

E: I’ve seen some of your photo’s on tumblr blogs! That’s pretty sweet, right?

C: I’m just going to go into this corner over here and cry myself into next week, thanks.

E: Come back! I don’t understand…

C: Just visit tumblr and check out the vast amounts of attribution.

E: Okay, no tumblr then. If we didn’t know each already, how could I work with you?

C: If you were a dancer living in the pacific northwest, you would just have to shoot me an e-mail with an outline of your resume. If you were looking to assist you’d be terribly bored once I’m set up. If you were looking for mentoring, I can work one-on-one and am eventually looking to start teaching workshops as well. In either case, you would shoot me an e-mail to get the details from me.

E: What’s your post-processing like?

C: Fairly simple, really. I ingest, convert, tag and do all the global adjustments like cropping, white balance and tone curves in Lightroom anymore. After that the image goes into Photoshop where I work on more local adjustments like unsharp masks, dodging, burning and the like. Another special sauce that Photoshop does are duo-, tri- and quadtones. These add a beautiful richness and inky quality to grayscale photos that black and white conversions do not.

For the New Dance Project, I gave myself the limit of nearly zero retouching. I promised myself I wouldn’t touch the dancer and would only convert in a vein similar to Ilford HP5 Plus. Here, I only work on the backdrop to make it less textured so that more attention is paid to the dancer and nothing else. I went through a major film phase a few years ago and became obsessed with the negative and the idea of its permanence, I wanted to somehow project and display only the negative and that limitation played a huge part in my head in determining how to approach a new dance project.

E: Do you ever fix the dancers at all?

C: Never. The dancers I choose to work with are some of the best dancers in the world, getting it right during capture is easy when you have that kind of talent to work with.

E: Can I buy a print from you?

C: [looks around] Here? Now? You want a mosaic of coffee beans?

E: You’re frustrating, you know that?

C: [smiles] I know. I’ve thought about putting a storefront on my website but there’s not been too much demand. Perhaps if you got together some friends and demanded such a thing it could be done. My rates aren’t too steep, I’d rather have my work being enjoyed versus being payed a large sum for a single piece. Regardless, if you want a custom print you should e-mail me and we’ll discuss.

E: Do you have a favorite lab?

C: For custom and gallery work, West Coast Imaging is the best in the business. I still shoot a bit of film and will now be sending my work off to Richard Photo Lab, their work is incredible. I love the look and feel of film and always will but I’ll admit that I can’t scan film worth a damn, that is some hard work and a complete mystery to me.

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Alright, that’s enough for this week! Stay tuned for next week’s installment: Dancers, an instruction manual.

Color me tickled.

Cycling is one of those things that makes me lust for a 400mm f/2.8 but I did my best with my trusty 80-200mm.  Enjoy the photos and have a look at their website!