Tanzschule Weiss – Abschlussball
Dance and event photography from the Tanzschule Weiss graduation ball in Offenbach. The final ball of the Weiss dance school. A large hall, hundreds of…
The final ball of the Weiss dance school. A large hall, hundreds of guests at laid tables, a live band on stage and the school's name on the screen above it — and in front of that the floor, where the graduating couples turn in evening dress and suits. Plus the hosting at the microphone, two women talking in front of the full hall.
Photographically that is three jobs in one night, and they need three different set-ups. The full hall from above needs depth of field and a raised standpoint. The hosting needs a medium focal length and a background in which the audience stays readable. And the couples on the floor need a wide aperture and a short shutter — under light that changes color continuously.
For the dancers it is a one-off evening, and that sets the priority. A final ball is not repeated; miss a couple during their routine and it cannot be restaged. So during the dances nothing is changed, nothing is reloaded and no position is searched for — that happens in the breaks between.
Stage light that switches on the beat is not a random problem but a rhythm. After two or three numbers you know which color lasts how long, and you shoot in the seconds when the light is bright and reasonably neutral. The alternative would be an on-camera flash, and that takes from a ballroom exactly what makes it one.
The frame of the hosting is deliberately not made from the front but at an angle, with the hall in the depth. That way the audience they are speaking to stands behind the two women — head-on there would have been a black wall.
- Location
- Offenbach
