The thrill of being caught up in the moment

[Quixotic_Dancer]

There are a few things going on right now that are getting me down, and I tend to dwell on and stew about those although I have much for which I'm thankful.

 

However, yesterday, I did something that completely involved me, that left no room in my brain for my grievances and anxiety and regrets. It was thrilling, and I wish I knew how to repeat that experience, the internal experience.

 

This summer, I am volunteering with a local dance troupe. I answered a recent ad in the paper because they were looking for volunteers to help with computerizing their financial records. I'm hoping to find a financial job with a non-profit when I move to a large city in two months, and I thought that this would give me some helpful experience and resume material (I feel a bit sheepish admitting that, yes, this particular act of volunteerism was selfishly motivated).

 

At the volunteer orientation, the creative director mentioned that she would need some help with an upcoming outdoor performance. Before she even went down the list, I raised my hand and asked if she needed anyone to take pictures because I have a digital camera that I like to fool around with . She smiled and said that, yes, that was one more thing she could check off her list.

 

I was a bit nervous, but excited before the performance. I am very much a photography amateur, and my camera is nothing special, just an early-model Nikon digital with a slight zoom capability, but I enjoy the creative challenge of taking good shots, framing them nicely, etc. The director introduced me to the dancers, who were all very nice, and I received their permission to move around and behind the stage during their pieces.

 

The entire performance lasted one hour, and in that time I took over 100 pictures. I had never had an experience like that while trying to capture something on film (I take most of my pictures on vacation, so they tend to be of landscapes, buildings, or static people). Here, I was constantly on the move, looking for the best shots, darting to the side of the stage, the back, the front, crouching down to create the least distraction for the dancers and the least obstruction for the small audience seated on the grass. The performance pieces were wonderful, and I found it thrilling to view them through my camera lens, and immensely satisfying when a dancer held a gorgeous pose and I was able to capture it.

 

After the performance, I showed a couple of the shots, via the small screen on the camera, to one of the musicians. He exclaimed that they were very good and called over the dancer featured in those shots to see them. That dancer asked me for copies. The compliments were a great ego boost, but really, I think i would have been on a high without them. As I walked home, feeling light and cheerful and energized, I realized that for that hour, there had been nothing in my head but those beautiful dancers and the challenge of trying to frame that beauty in my lens.

 

Unfortunately, later that evening, I looked somewhere I shouldn't online, and found information on the last guy I'd been involved with, the one I'm still laboring to forget. So, wouldn't you know it, I sabotaged my own great mood. Still, I remember how it felt. I don't know if I'll ever be able to photograph dancers again the way I did yesterday, but I'd like that same level of mental involvement. Suggestions are very welcome.

[reasontosigh]

Oh, what a feeling...........

 

I know exactly what you mean.

 

Quite a few of my friends here are musicians, most in local bands. When I started taking pictures of them way back when (which was suggested to me by one of my best friends, who was a rock photographer himself) it was mostly for myself, and for other fans of the bands.

 

A couple months ago, a picture I took of one of my best friends a while back was used on the inside cover of a CD of one of his friends that he played on. My first published picture! Wooohooooo!!!!!!!

 

Things are now starting to take off for me down here - it's a bit crazy sometimes since I have to juggle a lot of other things (like work -bleah! ) but I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Has the creative director of the troupe seen them yet? I'm thinking she may submit a couple to the local paper or something. Or use them in a future program, maybe. Then things will really take off for you too!!!!!