Flash dance

Simon Fox knows all the right camera moves to capture incredible portraits of dancers in motion

- Simon Fox

The beauty of dance is that it can convey so much emotion from a single pose and, when paired with a stunning setting, a photo of a dancer can become a story. Dance photography is an incredibly challenging niche. You will experience many moments when you curse yourself because of one bit of motion blur on a pointed toe or that single passerby who walked into the shot. Patience is vital, even the most seasoned dance photographers can spend hours trying to get the best shots. But even a seemingly perfect image could be rejected by the dancer on technical grounds, because of their hand or foot placement... Communication is imperative. Get it right and the shoot will flow as fluidly as the dancer’s graceful movements.

How to photograph dancers

1. Need for speed