Dance Portraits - Tips

So I took pictures for my friends dance studio last year and the pictures went ok, what did not go ok was the amount of editing I had to do. She asked me again this year to take pictures and I need some help on choosing a background and any other tips.

The problem with editing was that I used a gray seamless background and it showed so many footprints and fuzzies from costumes, they looked terrible so I had to edit them out on a lot of pictures. I wish I would have noticed it at the time, I would have swept them away.

Anywhere, here is the venue and last years setup:

Aside from needing to edit the ground, what don't you like about the images?
Would, perhaps, a black seamless be better? I've had to shoot these before, and although it's not my favorite background, a muslin of some sort tends to work well at hiding any footprints. Plus they are very durable. Problem is, they are super expensive and rarely able to be used twice for the same annual event.

I would prefer the portraits to be against the brick wall.

This is what I think...Try standing back a bit further and zooming in on the subject. Also bring the model forward about two feet from the backdrop. That should blur your background a bit while leaving the subject nice and sharp. The portraits are a little dark so Add a hair light to the set up or light the background or use a white seamless and blow it out. Finally make sure you are shooting at the models waist level. Focus on the eyes and drag the camera back to waist level. Shooting from a high angle is great for a portrait but when you take a full length shot you shorten the legs. Good luck. It looks like a great place to shoot.

Agree with most of the above. Ditch the backdrop except for headshots; shoot against the brick wall and on the wooden stage if that's their usual venue. More importantly, stand farther away, use a longer focal length, and shoot from waist-height to minimize or eliminate distortion. You've got plenty of room to work in that venue, so use it.

For some of the more skilled dancers, get some action shots. Use a single bare light to freeze them mid-leap and cast an interesting shadow on the wall. Or, a soft light from the front and a hard edge light from the back.

Alternate group shot: Have the dancers stand in a line on the edge of the stage facing the audience. Put the camera on the floor at the back of the stage, put a single bare Speedlight high up in the audience seats. Use a wide-angle if you must to get all the people in the shot. You'll get a cool group silhouette with long shadows thrown onto the stage.

Personal nitpick? Make sure the camera sensor is perfectly parallel to the wall. In your group photo, see how the bricks at the top are angled down, even though the "horizon" at the back of the stage is level. Take a step to the right and turn the camera a smidge left, to eliminate this effect. Standing farther away will make things easier.

I went above-and-beyond with the portraits for my wife's dance group, building a big backdrop and set and lots of props for their portrait session early this summer. Then in October, due to space/time/logistics constraints, I did portraits of the Rocky Horror cast against the brick wall in the alley behind the theatre. Both worked, for different reasons.
... I'll see if I can post some of those when I get home, to give you some ideas. My lighting and editing style might not be appropriate for a kids' dance studio, though.

Followup. Here are some examples that might get you some inspiration.

For the portrait shoot for our dance troupe, here's the set we made in the venue. The troupe name is Moxie le Femme, and the shoot was themed around the Circus show we had in August - hence the styling. The brick wall behind the backdrop is very similar to your brick wall.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/7​417961214/

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IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/7​417947614/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/7​529643328/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/8​136946863/

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IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/8​136933573/

Great photo's...