Flamenco Dancing in Florentine, Israel

I have been a little bit away (in Israel) and not had time to post… BUT… that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been shooting exciting things… like flamenco dancing in a really cool neighborhood in Tel Aviv!!! Ronit is a talented dancer who has been dancing flamenco since age 6!!! When Ronit talked to me about photographing her, I immediately thought of Florentine, a graffiti-decorated, up-and-coming neighborhood of southern Tel Aviv.

We were lucky enough to have Ronit’s makeup done by the amazing Sara Rutstein, a Make-Up artist from London (her website is www.make-upbysara.com). She lives in Tel Aviv and is available for weddings & special occasions.

I was excited by the unexpected juxtaposition of the messy and alive Florentine as the backdrop and Ronit’s flamboyant flamenco outfit and accessories.

Some of these shots had a slow shutter speed so that I could show the motion of her dress by blurring it slightly. I had asked her to try to keep her face still, because I wanted to show the intensity of her glance through sharpness.

The black garage door did wonders in this series of shots.

Florentine was really fun to play around. Unfortunately, due to Israel’s harsh sun (and me liking soft, diffused natural lighting) we only had about an hour to work with, right around sunset.

Some more Florentine action! I love running through the street shots. Because Ronit has such good posture, I actually asked her to run in a relaxed way where she is almost slouched.

Dancing in some fading back light.

I really enjoy shooting dancers because they are so graceful with their bodies and know exactly what to do.

Amazing mix of colors created by sunset and the light from passing cars.

Taking a break.

Twilight.