Small business / single business owner vs. large corporate photography company

School yearbook photos are usually taken by large national or corporate photography companies that hire multiple photographers to take a large amount of photos in a short amount of time. These photographers do not know your kids by name, do not know their teachers and don't see them every year again for their school photo. The photos go to the company and mostly get edited by an editing company or AI software. You will receive your pre ordered package or can order your prints online. A big company can work with photo printers to have high volume pricing for printed products, as a small business owner, that is much more difficult.

When your photos are taken by a small or single person owned business, you will be able to contact this photographer before the session, ask to reschedule to a differen timeslot because of a soccer game they also have to be at or see if it possible to add sibling photos to your session. Your photographer knows the dancers by name or face especially when they photograph recital photos at that studio each year, this helps kids feel comfortable much quicker. After the session you will be able to reach out to the photographer for a different crop or size, if you have any problems with ordering photos online or if you like to have a special retouch request. Plus, if you need a reprint, you do not deal with a customer service employee who does not know you or your studio, but you talk to the Photographer who wants to make sure you are 100% satisfied with your photos.

Professional recital portraits vs. Cell phone camera photo

Your recital photos will be taken with professional cameras and while your cell phone camera has much improved, you might have problems with quick movements in low light environments. You might be able to capture the entire stage, but when you zoom in with your phone, your photos might look blurry or pixelated. If you are sitting in the back of the theater, you might see people sitting in front or blocking your view.

When I am hired to photograph a recital or show, I get to be in locations that give an unobstructed view, give the options to be close up to capture your dancers facial expression and have camera gear that is made to photograph in difficult lighting conditions. On top of that, I will photograph any special moments like awards, raffles or senior presentations, so you can just relax and enjoy every moment. After a recital there are thousands of photos to go through. I look at the best movements, pointed toes, amazing facial expressions and remove any photos that include poses that are unflattering or not fit for sharing online. Each photo gets edited and cropped and will be ready for printing or online sharing. After a recital or show, it will take many hours for photos to be ready to share and why professional photos are more expensive than when you take a cell phone photo.

These photos are big enough for website or social media sharing, they can be printed for your dance studio walls or a pull up banner. Plus parents can print these photos or share on social media as well.

posing for little dancers vs. teen dancers

We offer different styles of dance posing: still poses and movement poses. I typically use a combination of these throughout each session so you will have a variety of pictures. We also capture a headshot style photo of your dancer.

Still poses are poses that don’t require any movement. These are great for the little dancers. We usually move from one to the other with small adjustments, that still give a different look, but do not require your dancer to move a lot.

Movement poses are jumps, turns, or tricks that require movement while the camera is capturing. We will take multiple photos while you’re moving to get the perfect photo. Our main focus is for the dancer to be safe and not to injure themselves. That means we only let the dancer do the same jump 2-3 times. Sometimes we see that the movement does not look what the dancer envisioned and we adjust or pick a different pose.

Posing for dance group photos can be tricky. You want the group to be aesthetically pleasing, but each person should be posed differently so your photo doesn’t look stiff. Posing a group for recital costume photos can take up to 10 minutes, depending on group size and variety of posing.



The possibilities for individual poses are endless. The photographer, teacher or poser help the dancer within their level and the style of dance that also compliments the outfit and special moments and movements of the dance.

Complicated dance posing doesn’t always mean your pictures will be great. A simple still or movement pose can be beautiful! Simple poses are usually great for younger dancers.

To make sure every dancer gets an even chance to pose for their photo, they only have one or 2 shots to get the correct pose. This is not the session to try a new pose they saw on Instagram or difficult jump, because it probably won't look as good as they might see on Pinterest or Tiktok videos of a famous dance photographer, where it looks like it is one and done.

I noticed that some parents are disappointed when they see photos where their dancer's feet are not pointed correctly in a jump or their upper body looks off.

These dancers and photographers work for hours to get that one pose correctly and obviously don't show that in the video.

Visit my Instagram to look at my past work and my website to book a consultation or session with me!

Forced smiles vs. real expressions

I will never force any of my clients to smile for photos if they don’t want to - especially kids and teens. Their photos should be a true reflection of them. 

This can be very difficult to navigate as a parent. After all, you don’t want your kid to look miserable during their photo session. But there are so many other facial expressions that work well with teens. They can make a fierce face, or smile slightly with their mouth closed. They can look thoughtful or strong. There are so many possibilities!  I try to make them laugh by making a silly joke or do a silly dance and that usually helps to make them smile. I also often go lay on the ground to photograph them and that always makes them laugh too.

I want dancers to feel they can truly be themselves in their photos - It’s important for kids to have a realistic representation of themselves in photos - it boosts their confidence and teaches them that they are perfect just the way they are. When they look at their photos, I want them to recognize themselves and feel beautiful. 

Editing: Basic edits vs. extended backdrops

For school photos you usually need a small size backdrop that only shows behind the child's face and chest. For dance recital group photos you need a 10 x 20 feet backdrop and a similar sized backdrop that covers the floor. The flooring needs to be safe for dancers to jump on as well as holding large groups of dancers. Tap shoes can damage a paper backdrop, glitter and feathers need to be removed after each group photo and we adjust the bottom backdrop often to make sure it is nice and smooth.

Even with the big backdrop, we need to extend the backdrop in Photoshop to make sure hands and feet are included in each photo. This will take additional time and sometimes additional cost to make it look the best.

With large group photos we also want to make sure everyone looks their best. Sometimes one dancer's eyes are closed or they look at the other direction. We will take multiple photos of a group and will replace someones head in Photoshop to make sure everyone looks at the camera.

We ask for dancers to arrive camera ready and making sure that everything in their costume and hair and make up looks good before they step in front of the camera. Any retouching that needs to be done afterwards will be an additional fee.

I carry this value into my editing process, too - It is my policy to never photoshop dancer's bodies. My editing process is subtle. I correct and adjust lighting, color and contrast to give you the best quality image, but I will not change features of dancer's face or body.