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Dark Practice

This is a young ballet student photogaphed in a practice studio in a theater in Beijing, China.

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psychodaddy 1 year ago

Fantastic!
regards

ed nadel 2 years ago

absolutely stunning construction
coupled with emotion of the dancer

Toffeur 4 years ago

Great!! Poetic!
I love it!

King Douglas Thanks, Toffeur. I haven't yet commented on your brilliant work, but I will by the end of the day.

Ulf Börjesson 4 years ago

Yeah, this is great, in all aspects!
U

King Douglas Ulf,
Not my usual style, although I have great appreciation for those who do this type of thing well, again and again.

This was shot in Beijing, China, in 1980. The little girl is a local student who was enlisted to participate in a performance by the Boston Ballet Company. I was there as the official photographer for the China portion of their world tour.

Thanks very much,
King.

Ulf Börjesson Great story too :)

Jure Kravanja 4 years ago

excellent

King Douglas Thanks very much, Jure.
King

handy 4 years ago

the pics has an "old" feeling to it.. i like it.. always love ur works..

King Douglas Thanks very much for writing, handy. Glad you like this shot.
K.

Rui Palha 4 years ago

Excellent and very beautiful work, King.

King Douglas Thanks, Rui...much appreciated.
K.

MarieM 4 years ago

fabulous work, and how it shows so well what I think of dance.
Best wishes King.
marie

King Douglas Thank you, Ancolie.
King

Tracy Martin 4 years ago

I am not so into the 80's disco glam shots but this really turns my crank. It is beautiful. :)

King Douglas Tracy...I have no idea what images of mine you consider to be "80's disco glam shots." Are you talking about my two recent rejections? I said to myself before submitting them, "I wonder if the OE screeners like 80's disco glam shots?"

What a slap in this 63-year-old face. I don't go around insulting you or your work. Oh well, I can't hold a grudge agains anyone whose work I admire so much, or who is such a good cook. I forgive you and I'll try not to submit any more images that you are likely to derrogate. :>) and again, :>)

What relief that you seem to like this image. Thanks for that.
K.

Tracy Martin King, I was talking about the 2 images that were already published (LASER Venus & UFO Bride) and I did not insult your work, I said that I was not so into it which is a personal preference alluding to the style of work that I like.

King Douglas Tracy,
I know you didn't mean to be insulting, but it is for the person on the receiving end to decide whether or not they feel insulted. I despise 80's disco-glam myself and was honestly embarrassed to have my work identified that way.

Both Laser Venus and UFO bride are appropriately theatrical and I was breaking new ground in working with high-powered lasers in the studio with ballet dancers. The two photos are at opposite ends of the range of the images I created in my studio with the collaboration of the laserist.

These images helped my careeer by reinforcing my reputation as a photographer who could create high-tech special effects in camera.

To label either of those photos as 80's disco glam is, I think, to be ignorant of the technical achievement and to trivialize what other folks seem to think is inspiring or at least admirable.

Okay, I'm beating a dead horse. I was teasing you for inadvertently providing me with an opportunity to feel insulted. Let's not sweat the small stuff.

Anna Lepke 4 years ago

Great. This is the kind of picture for me to illustrate the hard and lonely work of a dancer. Have never been a ballet dancer my self, but that's how i picture it. I love the editing and the composition. I start being a fan of your work. ;)

King Douglas Anna,
You have expressed what I think was in my head when I took this photo. We can be fans of each other's work! :>)
Thanks,
King

Jacob Jovelou 4 years ago

This is nothing but superb. Congratulations!

King Douglas Jacob,
Be careful..you make so many comments and look at so many wonderful photographs by OE photographers, you may run out of adjectives. :>)
Thanks very much. I'm humbled by your praise.
K.

Jacob Jovelou In fact, I don't write "civil" comments very often, only when it is very good. :)

Andrew Stewart 4 years ago

I have really enjoyed looking at this King. Your processing has added such feeling to it.

King Douglas Thanks, Andrew. It needed something. The original of this was a high-speed tungsten Ektachrome slide, pushed one or two stops (I knew I needed the extra speed, so marked the roll for extended development).

Ilja Hackman 4 years ago

Absolutely fantastic mood in this, King!
The lighting is just great and that reflection on the mirror really adds to this too!
Royal stuff!! :)

King Douglas Ilja,
I can't take any credit for the lighting (it was really very dark), but I appreciate the compliments.
Thank you! and thanks also for the pun on my name.
K.

Ilja Hackman Sure you can, King.. Even though you didn´t create the lighting, you saw how the dim light fell on her neck and brought up the strech she was making and made it the object of this pic..
Thats what I think..
:)

Elisabeth Gustafson 4 years ago

Beautiful.. Love the mood, the presentation is so delicat, the editing gives a strong caracter to the moment.
/
Elisabeth

King Douglas Thank you so much, Elisabeth.
King

Claudio Solera 4 years ago

Graet pw. Chapeau! Ciao,Claudio.

King Douglas Thanks, Claudio.
I don't know what "pw" stands for.
K.

Claudio Solera "postwork". Ciao,Claudio.

King Douglas Of course! Thanks, Claudio.
K.

Thomas Ljungberg 4 years ago

Snapshot or not does not matter. This is really good King. Not only have you very succesfully enhanced the mood in your postprocessin. But the composition is splendid! The dancer, her reflection and the highlight on the wall makes such a balance eachother so perfectly. Take away anyone of them and the picture would not work IMO.

Definitly my favorit of what you posted so far! This is a snapshot of real life!

/Thomas

King Douglas Thomas,
I don't disagree with your assessment. What I mean to say is that unlike much of my work I had no control over the lighting or the subject. This is my version of "Street" photography, where the photographer has to be very sensitive and aware of the situation, the environment and his subject, compose on the fly and be ready at what Cartier-Bresson called the decisive moment.

I used the word "snapshot" because I cannot compare my "street" work to that of any other street photographer who contributes to OE.

Thanks very much for your support and your kinds words,
King

Thomas Ljungberg "I had no control over the lighting or the subject". LOL, welcome to the "real" world King! I think you would do a great job "in the street"...
/Thomas

King Douglas Thomas,
I baited my hook and threw it in and you bit. How gratifying. Yes, I'm admitting that have often had the benefit of such control and enjoy it, and that Street Phoographers work without that advantage. But to each his own. I have a great appreciation for street photography, but my early goal was to make a living by executing ideas, rather than waiting for things to happen. Therefore, I'm not very good at waiting for things to happen.
Thanks for your follow-up.
King

Fulvio Pellegrini 4 years ago

beautiful texture, composition and pose...what else ..mmm:-)))
F.

joan kocak 4 years ago

you really ARE the King! THis is wonderful

King Douglas Oh, Joan...I've seen the masterpieces in your portfolio. I'm new here, just two weeks, and I haven't had enough time to comment on my favorite work by others, but you will be hearing from me about that.
Thanks very much,
King

Ralf Stelander 4 years ago

I love the reflection, perspective and not the least the title, King!

King Douglas So you are a title connoisseur in addition to your other talents? I was pleased when I hit on what I thought were the right words to sum up this little image. The reflection is important in this composition, isn't it?
Thanks, Ralf,
Knig

Emily Bem 4 years ago

I agree with Angela. I think this is my fav of yours...thus far, anyways :) So much soul here. The tonality is down right breathtaking.

King Douglas Emily,
I'm just emulating my OE heroes and trying to tiptoe past the screners with a very grainy image. The grain is obscured a bit by the patina/texture overaly. I do like this, though, and appreciate your kind words.
Thanks very much,
K.

Angela Bacon-Kidwell 4 years ago

This is my most favorite of your so far. So love this one. Just so beautiful.

King Douglas I'm told this could be mistaken for a Bacon-Kidwell, so, if true, it is natural that you should like it.
I like the shot, of course, or I wouldn't have submitted it. As you know, it has been sitting unpublished in my archives. You and OE have inspired me to put a few touches on this that make it stand out. Now I'm going to post it on my website for the first time.
Thanks for your comment.
K.

Renato Manzi 4 years ago

Bellissima King!!

King Douglas Grazie, Renato. I'm very pleased that you like this.
K.

Jef Van den Houte 4 years ago

Grain and texture give this image really add to the visual impact of this image

King Douglas Thanks, Jeff.
K.

Daria Endresen 4 years ago

Beautiful and moody.. like it very much, King :)

King Douglas Thank you Daria. I'm getting better reception on this image than I expected. It's just a well-composed, grainy snapshot, in my opinion, although I worked in post-processing to established a mood.

lucian olteanu 4 years ago

Mark told me that you are sport...I can see,a tough one and grainy!lucian

King Douglas lucian,
I am fascinated by what you wrote. However, I don't know what you mean to say. Will you write it again, please, in different words?
Thank you,
King

Michael Jakesz 4 years ago

Wonderfully moody, as the guys mentioned below as well.
The tonality and the texture, kind of remind me of Angela's work.
Is that weird? (I meant it in the best possible way.)
Amazing shot!
Michael

King Douglas Well, of course, you have given me the highest compliment to compare this humble little snapshop to any work by Angela.
Thank you!
K.

Mal Smart 4 years ago

Gosh! Packed with mood. Beautiful image. mal

King Douglas Mal, I'm glad you sense mood in this image. I did.
Thanks,
K.

Vernon Trent 4 years ago

this is stuff for my grain addiction :-)

King Douglas I'm with you, my brother. Thanks,
K.

Daniel Hasselberg 4 years ago

Fantastic mode!
Well done! Love the grain!

King Douglas So pleased that you are not put off by the grain and the added patina.
K.

Andreas Kauppi 4 years ago

Love it!

King Douglas I love it that you love it!
K.

Codrin Lupei 4 years ago

I know that this is one of the most grainiest pictures of you, (seen the discussion in the critique forum :-)), but it's probably one of my favourites from you, and not only because of the grain. Great, great work! I love it!
all the best
Codrin

King Douglas Codrin,
I like all photos, even snapshots, especially those that move me, involve me emotionally or even intellectually. I am very pleased that you like this grainy little image.
K.