What do I do with my arms?

One of the questions that I have heard most times in my life is the one that gives the title to this post: “What do I do with my arms?”. During a photo shoot it is very common for the model I work with to ask me this question. Since I mostly work with women, this post is dedicated especially to them. For this purpose I decided to ask Dariia Lola for help, a dance teacher with whom I have collaborated a couple of times.

What do I do with my arms?, Dariia Lola in the pic, shot by Archerphoto

She made a few suggestions and we made a small series of photos to show examples of how to work to achieve the best results in a photo session, whether outdoors or mainly in the studio.

What do I do with my arms?, Dariia Lola in the pic, shot by Archerphoto

One of the first questions is to determine what you should do with your hands. The softer the position, the better, and we will avoid showing our palms whenever possible and offer our backs, always seeking relaxation so as not to transmit tension. If the palms have to appear, due to the position of the arm, you should avoid it being frontal.

Another key issue is to always offer obtuse or acute angles with your arm: you have to avoid a right angle, 90º, because it always gives a less natural, more forced image.

Dariia Lola by Archerphoto

Hands should always touch very gently, even brush, never press. That will avoid unwanted shapes. In general, you should avoid tense muscles and work with a relaxed body and limbs. The exception to this will be when you want, for expressive reasons, to generate a feeling of tension. In this case you must keep the active muscles visible and show the contact of the hand against the skin.

More ideas about what to do with your arms

To make the arms look stylized, it is also usually interesting to avoid directing them directly towards the camera when they are flexed, because they tend to convey a greater sensation of volume.

Keeping your shoulders balanced will convey harmony and calm. Having one higher than the other will help us manage expressiveness and dynamism: one thing is not better than the other, they are options that we will choose to achieve our objectives.

What do I do with my arms?, Dariia Lola in the pic, shot by Archerphoto

We must also remember that the hands will allow us to guide the observer’s gaze. This can make a figure, face, object or space stand out in the photograph. So they are an expressive resource that will help us and that we have learned to use a little better in this post.

All of these tips are suggestions. Later, when working in front of the camera, they can be omitted because we are looking for a certain composition that, at first glance, is interesting. It is not a question of taking them literally.

I hope I have answered your question “What do I do with my arms?” In any case, we leave here a small gallery with some options for managing the arms. If you need more than what is in this post, Dariia is a dance teacher. You can contact her on Instagram, @dariialola. If what you need is a professional photo session, you can send me an email to sergi@archerphoto.eu, contact me on Instagram (@Archerphoto) or send me a Whatsapp or Telegram to +34 644459753.

Dance photo session in Valencia with Cris and Fani

I’m afraid I have too ingrained the theme of dancing in the street. I don’t know exactly what the reason is, but it is. In this case, a dance photo session in Valencia with Cristina Ros and Estefanía Molina, two dancers who also work as teachers. They accepted the proposal and we took a few photos around the city center. Without going too far, we were going with a couple of suitcases, but we were able to work with a certain peace of mind.

Cristina Ros dancing in València. Pic by Archerphoto, professional photographer.
Cristina Ros dancing in València.

One of the inconveniences that I must correct is my lack of knowing the names of the ballet steps. You seem a lot more idiotic trying to ask for what you want to get, and if not, it is at the expense of the ideas of the dancers. But what I lack in knowledge, luck made up for it, because both Cris and Fani had quite a few ideas about what we could do. There is no way to work with prepared people. Fani is more in the line of contemporary and Cris has the focus mainly on classic, but both are versatile.

Fani Molina dancing in València, pic by Archerphoto, Sergi Albir, dance photographer in València
Fani Molina dancing in València.

So good, saving the problems we had, it is always appreciated the effort that both made and that is reflected, I hope, in the images we get.

Cristina Ros, pic by Archerphoto, professional dance photographer in Spain
Cristina Ros.

Gear for the dance photoshoot

On this occasion, for the dance photo session in Valencia with Cris and Fani, the equipment used was the EOS R6, a Canon 70-200 F4 L, a Canon 24-105 F4 L II and a 135 F2 L. take some manual optics with me, but despite everything, it didn’t seem like a good idea to give up autofocus, especially when moving, so all I brought were optics perfectly adapted to this system and that provided sufficient quality. The R6’s burst shooting is very practical, but in general, for these things, it is best to rely on each other’s ability. In that regard, I still have to work more with this camera to get the best results and, in addition, to be able to express a clear opinion.

Estefanía Molina, dancer, by Archerphoto. Dance photo session in Valencia
Estefanía Molina during her photography session.

I am Sergi Albir, a professional photographer in Valencia, Barcelona, ​​Madrid and many more places. If you need to contact me, you can send me an email to this, my mail, sergi@archerphoto.eu, or a message to +34 644459753, from Signal, Whatsapp or Telegram. What you like most. On Instagram you can find me as @Archerphoto .

You can read the Spanish version of this Dance photo session in Valencia post (including more pics) in https://archerphoto.eu/sesion-de-fotos-de-danza-en-valencia-con-cris-y-fani/

 

 

Night session with Elena López Benaches, Olympic silver in Rio 2016

Night session with Elena López Benaches, Olympic silver in Rio 2016, professional photographer Spain

(Puedes leer este post en español: https://www.archerphoto.eu/sesion-nocturna-con-elena-lopez-benaches-plata-olimpica-en-rio-2016/)

It is possible that taking many photos and writing sometimes seems like much more work than is worth doing. But it is also true that sometimes you build things without realizing it. I had wanted to take pictures of rhythmic gymnastics for some time. But I do not have too many contacts in the sector, so I left it as a wish that had been left pending. And one day there is the opportunity to take pictures of Elena López Benaches. Perhaps the name, does not ring a bell. But she is an Olympic medalist: with the Spanish team she achieved silver medal in Rio de Janeiro (the Equipaso, that’s how they are called). Of course, my doubts were between zero and none. We warned Nadia Alba to help us with makeup, hair and a little assistance in costumes, and she came with her brother, Salva, a classic dancer, who agreed to collaborate as well. He helped us in this night session with Elena López Benaches.

Elena López Benaches, athlete, jumping with elegance in a black and white picture in Valencia by Sergi Albir photographer Valencia

Interrogating Elena López Benaches

Curiosity moves me, so I asked her many things during the session, even though she has a very extensive and well-documented Wikipedia page .Elena has had an ankle injury from which she is recovering during this year of rest from the competition. She was on vacation in Valencia – she lives and trains regularly in Madrid, but she’s from Turís, a Valencian town), so we took photos here, in the capital of Turia. But I asked her about life in Turís, because in her hometown she even has a street named after her and even the municipal gym is dedicated to her. “The truth”, she confesses, without an apex of arrogance “is that in the town they behave very well with me”. It’s funny because almost never get such remarkable recognitions in life. But it seems that “not being a prophet in your land” is not something that affects Elena.

Elena López Benaches, Olympic gymnast, by Archerphoto, sport photos Valencia

“I’m still not 100%”, she explains when we are preparing some plans. But the elasticity, the precision and the capacity is incredible. Normally, when doing jumps and pirouettes, there is a factor of luck for the pose to go well. It is not the case. It does not fail a single time, but when she sees herself in the photo, she becomes extremely self-critical. “In that pic I do not have the foot completely OK”. And it’s not that position it’s wrong, it’s that it’s not perfectly stretched. In addition, she excuses himself for not being able to hold for long in positions that she performs perfectly and that are almost impossible to perform. The flexibility is amazing, but his naturalness in the pose is even better.

Night photos session with Elena López Benaches, Olympic silver in Rio 2016 by Archerphoto, photographer Valencia

Rhythmic gymnastics in a deserted Valencia 

Our idea of ​​the night session with Elena López Benaches was to make different looks for an almost deserted city on a mid-August night. The idea was not to mount large sets with flashes, but to capture, especially the movement, and the contrast with some places in the city, to look for the urban texture, instead of the coldness of a studio. With the LEDs combined with the streetlights of the city we were slightly low in light, but we did get the desired atmosphere. For this session, Nadia Alba took care of the hair and makeup. “Normally we have to take care of ourselves,”Elena explains to me, when I ask her about the sponsors and the support they have.However, he confesses to me, the atmosphere with the team is very good. “We leave all the negative issues out,” she says, very sure.

Night session with Elena López Benaches, Olympic silver in Rio 2016 photos

Another aspect that we comment on is how such a visual sport does not have a greater, and better media difussion. They had a TV ad,  with Freixenet (an important cava company in Spain), that was seen and well valued. There is even a very interesting little documentary ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnjX5xD8f28 ), but rhythmic gymnastics do not have a big pull. “There was a lot of glitter on the set,” she recalls, “and it was very uncomfortable, because it got everywhere.” Sometimes in pursuit of the image professionals press a little more than necessary.

Night session with Elena López Benaches, Olympic silver in Rio 2016 valencia photographer

I’m Sergi Albir, professional photographer. If you need photos you can send me a message to sergi@archerphoto.eu or a Whatsapp to +34 644459753 today. I make photos, videos and contents both for the Internet and for other media.

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Scordae’s El Amor Brujo

Mely Zafra,Scordae,El amor brujo,Archerphoto,professional photographer Spain

Scordae has a new formation, in addition to that of his children’s orchestra. The idea is that this orchestra will be populated with young people who leave the first, but has begun with a reduced formation that will incorporate emerging values. This time they had the help of the Agrupación Musical Los Silos . The orchestra is also directed by Eros Quesada and this time they had special collaborators for the work represented. Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo does not deserve less. The cantaora Mely Zafra , the bailaora Silvia Martínez, Ángel López Carreño and Jesús Pérez as stage director completed the casting for  the Cádiz-born author most famous piece, with a libretto by María de la O Lejárraga García, although for a long time it has been considered that the author of the script had been Gregorio Martínez Sierra.

Mely Zafra,Scordae,El amor brujo,Archerphoto,professional photographer Spain

 

El amor brujo,fotografo Valencia,Archerphoto,Scordae,Mely Zafra,Silvia Martínez,Ángel López Carreño,Eros Quesada ,dance photographer Spain

Playing at home

The place chosen for the premiere was the Teatro Tívoli de Burjassot , in Valencia. Eros Quesada is native.  He told me that he has been working on this show for a year. The fantastic reception of the public, this time, was undoubted. The full auditorium, a couple of encores and a wine of honor after are clear signals that the members of the new Scordae (not so new, if we consider that some are the teachers of the original Scordae) are ready for this new adventure.

Silvia Martínez,Scordae,El amor brujo,Archerphoto,professional photographer Spain

Eros Quesada’s El Amor Brujo

This particular work of Falla has different versions. The one chosen for the representation is the original 1915 with staging. It has a different script to the versions that later became popular. There are others, such as the sextet, the small orchestra for concert, and even more, that Falla arranged for different configurations. The work did not have this title originally, but it was called “Gitanería”.

It premiered with little success and harsh criticism at the Teatro Lara in Madrid, a fact that motivated the revision of the work to give it a better reception among the public.

Silvia Martínez,Scordae,El amor brujo,Archerphoto,professional photographer Spain,dance photographer Spain,Valencia Eros Quesada,Scordae,El amor brujo,Archerphoto,professional photographer Spain Silvia Martínez,Mely Zafra,Eros Quesada,Scordae,El amor brujo,Archerphoto,professional photographer Spain

El mismo post en español, pero con fotos diferentes – The same post, in Spanish (but different pictures): http://www.archerphoto.eu/el-amor-brujo-de-scordae/

For more information about Scordae:

Scordae website (in Spanish): http://www.scordae.com

Performance of Scordae at the City Hall of Valencia (also in Spanish)

Scordae’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scordae/

For more information about Manuel de Falla: http://www.manueldefalla.com/

My name is Sergi Albir, I am a professional photographer. If you need any kind of photos, you can contact me with an email to sergi@archerphoto.eu or a Whatsapp at +34644459753.

Copyright 2017 Sergi Albir

 

Carmen Álvarez videobook

Carmen Álvarez Videobook Valencia

August was finishing and I was shooting a session that was intended to be a fairly quick question but we ran lengthening lot. We were so into job with the look of ballet that lasted nearly twice as expected. We had prepared it enough, with outfits by Nadia Alba and Carmen Alvarez as a model, and the results were pretty good. However, a problem of saturation of work, I could not get it to this blog, but I showed some photos on Flickr and Facebook and Nadia made her post, I recommend that you read after seeing this entire article (if you speak Spanish. If you don’t the pics are OK, and Google Translate can be an option). However, here it is Carmen Álvarez videobook.

While there are many photos available, Nadia hadn’t the videobook we did for Carmen. It’s a little fashion film and a little videobook. But even if half of those things, I do not see a problem because all serves as a sample of what can be achieved with a few days of intensive work.

 

https://vimeo.com/188855312

Carmen Álvarez en la sesión de su videobook

One of the noteworthy things about this video is that we were testing a Panasonic VX980, which has not given a bad result. It’s not like working with a DSLR, but is much more comfortable in terms of autofocus, it’s lighter and generally more intuitive. In terms of quality it works well enough as long as we do not get into almost total darkness. For photos, as usual, my EOS 5D Mark III. We were shooting in Valencia, Spain. You may have seen some of this place in movies like Tomorrowland and you will see it in Doctor Who.

Carmen Álvarez videobook. Ballet look.
Carmen Álvarez

Here, in addition to the video, are some of the photos we did and did not use it in Nadia’s post. Probably this gallery will be expanded because there is more material that I’ll love showing from the same session.

I am Sergi Albir. I make professional content: photo, video, radio and more. If you need quality material to social media or advertising, you can contact me on +34 644 459 753 or sergi@archerphoto.eu

 

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