End of year dance concerts are one of the most amazing and totally overwhelmingly stressful events on a dance teacher/studio owners calendar.There is SO MUCH to think about and organise, whether it be costuming, extra rehearsals, choreography... the list is never-ending and then BAM! Your photographer asks for your photo day schedule or timeline and you haven't even got half of the costumes together yet!We are dance teachers as well, so we totally get it, and that is why we are coming to you with a helpful guide to planning your photo day! Step 1:Tally up how many group routines you have and how many dancers in each group - the best part is, you probably already know this!Step 2: Make a list of the groups and alternate the ages where possible;Tinies JazzJunior BalletTinies BalletJunior JazzTinies TapJunior Tapetc etc..Step 3:Allow 15 minutes for each tinies group and 10 minutes for every other group - if you have merged classes to form a big group, it's best to photograph per class not the whole group, as they probably won't fit, but we can always discuss it!Step 4:
Give your draft schedule to us so a discussion on timing can be made.For example: a lot of our first time dance school clients will schedule 20-30 minutes per group, but we shoot super fast and always have a photographer and posing assistant on hand, so most times we actually power shoot and run ahead of time! Plus if we look at the schedule we might be able to make suggestions!Step 5:
Ask the class teachers to prepare a group pose and individual pose in class prior to the photo day! This is a great way to ensure a photo day runs smoothly because the dancers don't feel confused, in-fact they often feel so confident they nail their poses and have the best time! Side note: group photos are obviously important, but we suggest prioritising the individual photos, as these are the ones parents want more!

BONUS TIP
Have a teacher/assistant teacher, sit in on the photo day to assist the day running to time and deter any troublesome kiddies from running rings around the photographers!
Want to see an example of a photo day schedule?! Ofcourse you do! Here it is!If the thought of putting together a schedule like this is way too overwhelming, send us a list of routines with the amount of dancers and we will do it for you!*this only applies to our clients*We hope this helps!
Concert season is stressful, don't forget to make time for yourself in all of the craziness whether it be with a glass of wine or a date night!From your favourite photographers!
Kate & Nick | Pointe Shoot Love Photographywww.pointeshootlove.com.au

DANCE STUDIOS: 5 steps to plan your photo day!