Top Belly Dancer on Stage

Granddad · May 14, 2013

Last month my wife and I attended a belly dance festival in Northern England where one of the world's top belly dancers from Cairo, Randa Kamel, was teaching and performing.

I was shooting from the balcony with my D700 and my second hand 80-200 f2.8. Someone organising the show had the bright idea of pinning a banner onto the back curtain with "Welcome To Randa" on it. I hated that banner with a passion because it totally screwed the scene and seriously affected composition of the shots and made cropping a right pain. This was a live performance and I can tell you that this lady moves FAST! Auto focus had a hard time keeping up with her.

Shot 1 shows the stage with the banner, the other three I've worked on to burn/clone the banner out. I've also tried to compensate for the coloured stage lights that gave her a simulated sunburn.

I screwed my settings because they had new lighting which was brighter than previous years; I fixed them in Lightroom but I learned to trust my light meter and not go by what worked last year.

C&C are always welcome.

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NB The colours are a little flat in the thumbnails, see the full size versions for more accurate images.

tirediron · May 14, 2013

Nice set, especially under tough conditions!

frommrstomommy · May 14, 2013

I usually really enjoy your belly dancer photos.. but these just aren't doing it for me. I know your conditions were ROUGH, so I get that. I am just immediately drawn to her mid section in every shot and its not flattering in any photo. ;\ Sorry~!

Granddad · May 14, 2013

frommrstomommy said:
I usually really enjoy your belly dancer photos.. but these just aren't doing it for me. I know your conditions were ROUGH, so I get that. I am just immediately drawn to her mid section in every shot and its not flattering in any photo. ;\ Sorry~!

Mid section? You mean her belly? Ummmm... I think that's rather the whole point of the dance genre!

No worries, liking all my shots isn't mandatory. :lmao: In my studio shoots I concentrate on the face which is probably the difference you're seeing. In these I've brought out the lighting on the belly as much as the face. It may be that these have more appeal to other belly dancers and affectionados as most of them would know her by reputation. She really is incredible to watch, she could dance far younger women into exhaustion without breaking a sweat. The rolls, by the way, are covering muscles that would be the envy of most marines... and who would pay to see Twiggy belly dance?

By the way, just to be clear, I DO appreciate your honesty and your comment, frommrstomommy and have learned from it; if I wanted likes and wows I'd have posted them on Facebook.