Nick Fancher 3/18/23 Nick Fancher 3/18/23

A Study of Form: High Contrast Black and White Dance Shoot

A study of shape and tone. Thanks to @kristielatham for bringing power and grace to every shoot, and thanks to the @ohioartscouncil for the grant which allows me to make art.

Nick Fancher 10/5/21 Nick Fancher 10/5/21

Bold Colors and Shapes with Ballet Dancer Kristie Latham

My latest shoot with dancing queen, Kristie Latham. We’ve been shooting together for over a decade now and it’s fun to look back at how our work together has evolved over the years. I started off with a simple color and shape study with the Lindsay Adler Optical Spot (Kristie styled her wardrobe). Then I finished the shoot with some long exposure work (I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this technique).

Nick Fancher 9/29/21 Nick Fancher 9/29/21

Shoot with Ballerina Francesca Jordan Dugarte

My latest attempt at capturing the beauty of movement over time. Been exploring long exposures while rotating my @prismlensfx linear filter and multi-strobing my flash. Excited at the possibilities! Also really loving the hard light and fast falloff I can get with my @lindsayadler_photo @westcottlighting Optical Spot.

Nick Fancher 9/17/21 Nick Fancher 9/17/21

Interplay: Exploring the Relationship Between Light and Movement with Dance Couple Carly and Gabe

Last October I began experimenting with wrapping dancers in LEDs and making long exposures in the dark. In essence this turned the black room into a blank canvas and the lights turned the dancers limbs into (light) paint brushes (check out the old post here). Since that point I had it in the back of my mind to use this technique when photographing a dance duo to see how their light trails interacted. That time has finally come…

Nick Fancher 5/17/21 Nick Fancher 5/17/21

A Fixed Point in Space Over Time: Photo Shoot with Ballet Dancer Kristie Latham Zurmehly

In my art my go-to techniques all center around the passage of time. Take this shoot with Kristie, for example. I made long exposures and multiple exposures in order to observe how she moved through a fixed point in space over time, which I otherwise wouldn’t be able to see with my naked eye…

Nick Fancher 4/16/21 Nick Fancher 4/16/21

The Many Ways to Photograph a Dancer: Shoot with Ballerina Caitlin Valentine

I’ve been working with dancers for over a decade and I still struggle to come up with fresh ways of capturing their movement in a way that conveys their power and grace. But this challenge doesn’t keep me from trying…

Nick Fancher 10/5/20 Nick Fancher 10/5/20

Long Exposures with Dancers Wrapped in LEDs

In my last post I mentioned how I’ve struggled for years to capture the essence of a dancer in a single frame. These are more attempts in this ongoing quest…

Nick Fancher 10/2/20 Nick Fancher 10/2/20

A Window to the Soul: Long Exposures of Ballet Dancers

Sometimes all you need is time. I photographed Caitlin and Karen last week, two dancers from Ballet Met. The sessions were deceptively simple. A dancer, a window, and a tripod. For some of the shots I froze their movement, highlighting their pose and their poise. I also explored making long exposures in an effort to capture the grace and fluidity of their movements (for years I’ve struggled to adequately capture a dancer in a single frame). I also used my fungus-filled lens on a few of the long exposures, resulting in especially ghostly images. Here are some of my favorites: