The third lighting set up was designed to create images that showed the movement of the dancers. The technique is both simple to understand and difficult to execute perfectly. Using long exposures, it uses a combination of flash (to freeze action) and a continuous light to allow the shutter to record the movement. Depending on whether you set the flash to fire at the start or the end of the shutter time determines where the image will be sharp.

We used the stage area as it gave us plenty of space for the dances to move we could utilise the dark curtains and it was well away from the other lighting stations so that the images would not be affected by those stripes.

This type of photography is quite tricky for the dancer as they need to a key point on the stage at exactly the right time that the flash fires. Therefore it takes a lot of shots and a good deal of luck to nail the perfect image.

As can be seen below a lot of the early images were not up to par.

With the second dancer I tried a slightly different approach and then relying on the flash firing automatically, I brought in my speed light light and manually fired several times while the shutter was open. this has the result of freezing the action at several points in the capture.

This type of photography is both fun and frustrating. You never know exactly what you were going to end up with. each image can be a surprise or let down. But it is in that not knowing that the real enjoyment comes.