Who says rehearsals can't be fun?!

Day 64: Who says rehearsals can't be fun?!, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

This time of year Saturdays mean dance rehearsals for my youngest daughter. Today the dancers spent some time practicing a potential move during their rehearsal of the Mazurka. There was a lot of giggling and some clapping and cheering when they mostly succeeded!

Date Taken: March 5, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Coppélia Rehearsal

Day 57: Coppélia Rehearsal, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Saturdays between now and June will mean rehearsals for my daughter for the California Dance Academy Spring Recital. This photo is six of the twelve dancers who will be performing Waltz of the Hours from the ballet, Coppélia. The number will be performed en pointe but today was practiced in regular ballet shoes.

Date Taken: February 26, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/2.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Learning Coppélia Waltz of the Hours

Day 54: Learning Coppélia Waltz of the Hours, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Rehearsals have started for the Spring show for the dance studio my younger daughter attends. This year the Intermediate and Advanced dancers will be doing excerpts from Coppélia. In addition to having rehearsals on the weekends, the beginning Pointe dancers are rehearsing their piece, Waltz of the Hours, during their Pointe class.

If you're interested in what the dance looks like, you can check it out in this video:


Date Taken: February 23, 2011
Camera : Hipstamatic 201
Flash: No Flash
Software: Roboto Glitter Lens, Ina's 1935 Film, No Flash

Bourrées in Pointe Class

Day 40: Bourrées in Pointe Class, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

If it's Wednesday it must be time for my daughter's pointe class. Since I hadn't taken a picture yet today, I took out my iPod Touch and took a few during the class. I didn't have any other camera with me so I took what I could get.

Don't know that a bourrée is? Watch the video below:

Date Taken: February 9, 2011
Camera: Hipstamatic 190
Flash: No Flash
Software: Lucifer VI Lens, BlacKeys B+W Film, No Flash

Monday Ballet Class

Day 24: Monday Ballet Class, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

As I sat at the ballet studio, waiting for my daughter's ballet class to end, I realized I hadn't taken a photo for the day. I pulled out my iPod Touch and started playing with different lenses and film in the Hipstamatic App.

I liked the candid moment (and the why are you taking my picture look from my daughter) captured in this shot as my daughter and her friend waited their turn to try a combination. I still have trouble with framing in this app and need to research some things to see if I can fix that but it is fun to take pictures using this.

Date Taken: January 24, 2011
Camera: Hipstamatic 185
Software: John S Lens, BlacKeys B+W Film, No Flash

At The Barre

At The Barre, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Mondays mean ballet class for my younger daughter. These always start with exercises at the barre. This shot was edited using a Periwinkle Haze action and the addition of a grunge border.

Date Taken: January 3, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 56 mm
ISO Speed:1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Week 46: Nutcracker Maid

Nutcracker Maid, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

It's almost Nutcracker time for 2009! November 21st was the studio dress rehearsal - yes this means that this week's photo is a Saturday photo and not a Friday photo. My daughter has four roles this year: Russian Corps, Sugarplum Princess, Mouse in the Battle Scene and a Maid in the Party Scene.

Date Taken: November 21, 2009
Date Taken: November 6, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Exposure: 1/125
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Auto
Flash: On, Fired

There is only one more Saturday at the studio and then we're off to the Madrid Theatre for rehearsals and the performances. If you are in the Los Angeles area, I encourage you to come see the show the first two weekends in December!
And, even though this isn't a Friday photo, I did take all of the photos on this ad at previous Nutcracker performances except for the one of Drosselmeyer, Clara & the Nutcracker. Oh, and the tree isn't mine either.

Week 43: Face of a Zombie Ballerina

Face of a Zombie Ballerina, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

My youngest daughter dressed as a zombie ballerina this year for Halloween. This photo was taken just before going to the Middle School Halloween dance. Her makeup was done by my older daughter.

Photo Taken: October 30, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Exposure Mode: Auto
White Balance: Auto
Flash: On, Fired

And, here's a photo from the actual dance - actually, two photos. I combined a photo of the dance floor with a photo of a sign that was on the wall. It was very difficult to take pictures at the dance due to low, strobe lighting and a fog machine. I kind of like the effect of this photo but don't know if it will be usable for the yearbook.

Week 42: What's the pointe?

What's the pointe?, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

The point is my youngest daughter just went "en pointe" in ballet this week. This has been a goal of hers for a very long time and she's absolutely thrilled that she's made it.

This photo was not taken on Friday but on Wednesday during my daughter's first pointe class. I then added some digital painting effects to the photo in Photoshop.

Date Taken: October 21, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Exposure: 1/160
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Exposure Mode: Auto
White Balance: Auto
Flash: Off, Did not fire

And a few more to share ...

During Class


Pointe shoes come in all sizes!


After class - tired with aching feet but oh so happy!

And yes, I missed a few weeks - oops!

Week 33: California Dance Academy 2009 Open House

California Dance Academy 2009 Open House, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

My daughter's dance studio had an open house this past weekend and I took some pictures including this one of the front of the studio.

If you live in or around the San Fernando Valley and you are looking for a dance studio, I would recommend checking out California Dance Academy

And, yes, once again my Friday Foto (Phriday Photo) was not taken on a Friday!

Date Taken: August 15, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Exposure: 1/250
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 32 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Program AE

I used a combination of Program AE & Manual for the shots I took during the Open House.

Week 22: Spring Dance Recital Time 2009

Time for Spring Dance Recital 2009, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Each spring, the dance studio my daughter goes to has a recital as do most of the studios I know. I take a lot of photos for the dance studio and provide them for purchase to the studio families. This shot was taken of my youngest daughter at the dress rehearsal.

Date Taken: May 28, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/200
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
No Flash

When taking the dance photos, I tend to use P mode or TV mode since the lighting conditions change so frequently.

Day 48: Waltz of the Flowers (from the wings)

Yes, I'm back with more from the Nutcracker. I'm actually in the middle of what I call Yearbook Hell every year. The first half of the yearbook is due tomorrow and when the weekend started I had 5 pages out of 32 completed - yikes! Anyway, I'm working on my last 6 pages now so I should make the deadline. Yeah! Of course then I have to start working on the second half. Anyway, because all of my time has been devoted to the yearbook here's another from the Nutcracker.

Date Taken: December 8, 2007
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 42: Ballet Class

Yes, it's another favorite things interruption - this time I'm featuring another photo I took at my daughter's ballet class through the observation window.

Date Taken: January 29, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 40: Another Interruption

Yes, I will get back to My Favorite Things, but at the moment I'm in OMG the yearbook is due in 8 days and nothing is done mode so it's more from my Nutcracker photos. This one is of my younger daughter (the shorter but older one in this photo) and a friend before a performance. They were both dressed in their skater costumes ready for the Saturday matinee to begin. This one is clearly taken with flash. I need to work on the best way to take photos in situations like this where there is nothing to bounce the flash off of and the photo needs to be taken in a hurry. I'm not sure what to do in these types of situations and taking photos at dance performances and at school I often run in to them. What do you do? At this point, in order to capture the shot, I just use my flash and take the photo anyway. I did have the flash exposure compensation dialed down on my flash unit but I'm not sure what the setting was since the camera doesn't capture that.

Date Taken: December 8, 2007
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 85mm 1.8
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 2/3 EV
Flash: Flash fired

Day 39: Interrupting My Favorite Things

...for more from The Nutcracker. I had plans for a favorite for this day but fell asleep early last night so I'm using a Nutcracker photo instead. This was taken during posed shots and it shows Clara & Fritz during the nightmare scene near the end of Act I.

Date Taken: December 8, 2007
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 4/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 34: Nutcracker continues

This is part of the Sugar Plum Pas de Deux with the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Prince.

Date Taken: December 1, 2007
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 85mm 1.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/2
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 33: Yes I'm still processing Nutcracker pictures

Are you sick of them yet? This one is from Act II and was taken at the end of the Chinese dance from the balcony on the opening weekend Saturday matinee.

Date Taken: December 1, 2007
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 85mm 1.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/2.2
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 32: Our ballerina waiting at the barre

Here's another I took at my daughter's ballet class - again taken looking through an observation window into the studio.

Date Taken: January 29, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 1000
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 31 - Bet you can't guess that this is?!?!

Okay you probably can! That's right, it's more from the Nutcracker! This one was taken during the finale of the last Saturday night performance from the balcony.

Date Taken: December 8, 2007
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.8
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 30 - Surprise! More Nutcracker

No, I'm not done with these yet. Work, yearbook duties (have I mentioned I'm the yearbook editor and take most of the photos for the yearbook at my youngest daughter's school) and general mom duties take most of my time so I have to process these as I get time. I wish I could just do them all at one time so the processing would be really consistent. I try to do similar processing but I'm noticing differences - part of that is the fact that I took photos from different places but some of it is post processing I'm sure. Anyway, this photo was taken from the wings and shows the Present Dance during Act I.

Date Taken: December 8, 2007
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.8
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 1/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire