Along with politicians and bureaucratic red tape Washington DC has a vibrant and exciting belly dance community. I had the privilege to meet many new dancers and catch up with one I knew. I also got to hang out with the photo department of my sister company; Roll Call Newspaper , covering Capitol Hill Since 1955. Trotting around the hill was quite a blast. I felt quite proud to show off my new Canon 5D and F1.2 85mm to the press photographer boys there and they dazzled me with many of their award winning photographs.

My annual bulk photo shoot was hosted at Artemis Studios  by Kostana. I photographed 14 dancers in one weekend. It was an intense experience to be completely emerged in capturing the dancers' essence. I took the opportunity to create a questionnaire about their experience having a photo shoot. Many answers were affirmations of what I believed or already knew from our discussions before and during the shoot. But some answers brought a new understanding to me.

Most of the dancers were going to be placing the images on their websites, business cards and general promotional material. These types of photos primarily need to show the face well as well as show the shape of the person's body well. Also, sometimes the dancer wishes to use a prop to demonstrate that she has particular skills. One of my questions was: "In your research of business cards and website photos, what made images memorable to you?" The main comment was expressiveness, and second was the lighting. Several noted the shot I took of Artemis.

People are often very nervous when they walk in. I asked what their biggest concern about the shoot was. Most dancers worried about their makeup, skin and looking overweight. Many things can be fixed digitally by a Photoshop artist. It is an extra step the people need to do before using photos for promotional material. All the supermodels get that treatment, why shouldn't dancers avail themselves of the same tricks of the trade? A common thing is the back roll or the removal of an unsightly facial zit. Vogue would never tolerate that!

I work very hard at trying to make dancers relax. I am aware that being a model in front of a camera is nothing like dancing for an audience. I absolutely adore seeing the transformation occur in front of my eyes. Seeing a lady timidly walk into my studio in her skanky sweat pants and then she blooms into an elegant beautiful artist being caught in a moment of joy. It really gets me all teary-eyed. I feel that I am photographing a very easy subject because every one that has come before my lens has had this amazing sparkle of beauty. Dance sheds all physical form and manifests in the essence from within. The people surveyed said they left the shoot feeling totally relaxed; although some worried that they may have forgotten something. 

Marta knew she would be nervous and brought a goofy friend along to make her laugh. First photo is at the start of the shoot the second is later on in the shoot feeling happy and relaxed.  

I always had in my mind that since I was a female photographer that it was a huge selling point. I have had several people tell me that I was the only photographer that never asked them to take their clothes off for nude photos and that they were so thankful. I put on my questionnaire asking if they felt any different with a male or female photographer. The first few questionnaires I read had exactly the answer I expected. They found that they could be themselves more so with a woman, and less self-conscious of their looks than if the photographer was a man. But as I read on, I saw that several people didn't think that it mattered what sex the photographer was (as long as the person made them feel comfortable).  I also asked what sex they thought their photos were being marketed to. It was pretty 50-50. Some even found that most of the time it is women who are doing the hiring. So I guess I'll have to shed my sexist sexy thinking.

I asked my DC models to use three words to describe the feeling of what they wanted to capture. The most common words were: joyful, happy, majestic, timeless and not the stereotypical images of sex and seduction. They wanted their photos to read very professional and devoid of any particular slant.

Sultana posing the next frame she couldnt resist joking around and making a kissy face.

The end result is a blurry line for me. I hesitantly put in this question: "In making a good photograph, what percentage is it the photographer and what percentage is it the model?" The answer was 50-50. Often I feel that what I do is just the stage or a platform. I am nothing but the vessel to deliver the art. The model is everything. Another part of me sees the horrible photos of the same dancers that are out there in the world and see that there is clear value that I am giving that other photographers are not. I think now that the question was too simple and the answer is more complex. It is not just the backdrop, lights being set up, camera in hand and pretty girl flopping around. There is the intangible connection, an instant and emotional aspect that results in a compelling image. That it is something that may actually have nothing to do with skill on anyone's part. That is only to do with fleeting moment of an emotional sparkle. I believe I need to explore this concept more.

When it comes down to picking the shots people use, it has always been a mystery to me why people pick the shots that they do. I offer packages that include a certain number of shots from the shoot. When I look at an entire shoot, usually there is one shot that is an obvious must have, and then beyond that I often don't pick out the same shots they do. I asked them if they ask others for help in picking. Most said they get some feedback from family and friends, but mostly make the choice on their own. Last year Inanna took 10 months to pick out her pictures after asking everyone she could think of to review them with her. She came back this year with a firm strategy for the shoot in mind; let's see if it makes it easier for her to select. Both this year and last year Sultana picked her photos on the spot and walked home with them. Artemis, Nimeera and Gerson didn't want to have to limit them in anyway and just bought all the images from the entire shoot, never having to choose.

During my breaks from shooting I was treated to earfuls about the wonderful goings-on in DC. It opened my eyes to yet another entirely new and full dance world. Gerson was working on a body core strengthening DVD. Nimeera (www.nimeera.com) had her store opening the next day, Cleopatra's Closet (www.cleoscloset.com)  will be the first east coast store dedicated to belly dance gear. (265 South Van Dorn Street Van Dorn Plaza Alexandria , Virginia ) Samira Shuruk (www.samirashuruk.com) told me about her hip belly dance class TV show on a Persian TV station. Kostana (www.raks-n-rhythms.com) told me about the various workshops she is hosting in DC during the coming year. Athanasia was trotting off to the NYC Javits Centre that next day for a trade fair. Artemis talked of her upcoming DVDs. Nesma went off topic and delighted me with hilarious emergency room antics stories from her nursing job. My assistant Charleston took his job very seriously. He greeted everyone making sure that everyone was happy and that I was ok. He was so worn out by the end that I am convinced that he worked harder than I did.

Get your photo shoot with Sarah Skinner
"Specializing in belly dance portraiture"