Artist Story: Ashley Lindsey, Part One

I am always preaching that professional artists should take time to create outside of what they are paid to create... so not only through other mediums but also for fun within the medium of their profession.  I have always LOVED watching dancers and photographing them.  I was reconnected with a friend of mine from middle and high school, Ashley Lindsey, at a wedding we shot in May 2011.  He was telling me all about his professional dancing in NYC and how he guest teaches dance several times a month in other states... and that he is back in NC all the time teaching.  Right then I got the idea for us to have an artist collaboration... to have a fun shoot for me where I photograph another type of art that I love, giving Ashley photos of himself dancing as well as a work out in being photographed while in motion.

We took an afternoon and went to three different parking decks downtown.  I just decided not to try to put all my faves in one post, so this will be a three part series.  In this first set Ashley and I were getting warmed up to each other's medium, figuring out the times we needed to communicate about what was happening and the times we should let the magic happen on it's own.  It was a different type of shoot, learning to share with Ashley the lens I was using (and what that meant for the shot I was going for) and giving him an idea of what I wanted the composition to look like, what the light was doing and how he could play with that, the shapes that I was interested in within the background, etc.  I loved getting to capture Ashley doing what he loves best through doing what I love best.  Enjoy.

Check back for parts two and three of this artist collaboration...