Can I call or e-mail Melbourne Dance Photography to discuss a shoot before booking? Please do — our contact details are here.
The listed photography options don't suit — can we arrange something else? Indeed — the listed packages are only our most popular options, please feel free to call or e-mail us to discuss photography specific to your requirements.
Do the listed prices include GST? Yes, all prices listed here include 10% GST. Professional dancers or dance schools may be eligible to claim GST back as an input expense.
Where are your studios? Melbourne Dance Photography uses professional photographic studios in North Melbourne and St Kilda East.
What facilities are at the studios? Both studios have bathrooms, changerooms, kitchenettes and tea and coffee facilities for your use.
What backgrounds and floors do the studios have? Black and white backgrounds are standard at both studios. The St Kilda East studio is large, with a polished wood floor, and is suitable for all dance photography including pas de deux, leaping and jumping. The North Melbourne studio is smaller, but has a gloss-finish white concrete floor and a "cyclorama" giving an invisible transition between wall and floor.
Can I choose the studio? Ordinarily Melbourne Dance Photography will select the most appropriate studio for your photography, however if you have particular ideas, please let us know when you book.
Do you air-brush photos? Melbourne Dance Photography does not apply substantial air-brushing to folio photographs. Where necessary we will correct minor cosmetic blemishes (small bruises, spots, etc.), but we do not apply wholesale digital manipulation to images.
What do you mean by toning of photos? Toning of photographs is simply the adjustment of the image colours to achieve a particular effect. Converting a photograph to black-and-white is one example of toning. We can apply an almost infinite range of colour tonings to your photographs. Our most popular tonings are shown here.
What do you mean by editing of photos? Editing of photographs includes simple adjustments such as straigtening a vertical or horizontal; cropping the image to a different size (possibly to remove distracting background elements); fixing of minor skin blemishes; sharpening of eyes; and so on.
What do you mean by "raw" / "direct-from-camera" / "unprocessed" / "unedited" images? Melbourne Dance Photography uses high-end digital cameras. Images taken directly off the camera, without any toning or editing (see above), are called raw images (or sometimes unedited, direct-from-camera or unprocessed images). Ordinarily raw photographs are good enough to create for example an album of photos, but for specific uses such as model folios and dance school advertising, editing and toning is normally advisable.
Do you have a current "Working with Children" check? We applied for the Working with Children check on 13 May 2009 and will update this information as soon as the outcome is known.
Are any discounts available? The main way to obtain a discount when booking studio photography is to book an extended shoot for yourself and another dancer at the same time. This saves you money because it saves us studio costs. You get the same photography time as for a standard shoot, at considerable discount.
Is a deposit required? Yes, a deposit is required to confirm your booking and to reserve the studio for your photography.
What is your cancellation / refund policy? Your deposit for studio photography can only be refunded if you give at least 72 hours notice of a cancellation.
I am under 18, can I still book photography? Yes, but you will need to have a parent or legal guardian book the shoot with Melbourne Dance Photography. A parent or legal guardian must also attend the photography session with you.
Can I bring my friend / parent / dance teacher? Yes, but just one person please. Dancers under the age of 18 must attend with a parent or legal guardian.
Who does my make-up? Melbourne Dance Photography recommends you do your own make-up. If you want professional make-up we recommend you arrange for a make-up artist (MUA) to attend your residence prior to coming in to the shoot. While we can provide a professional MUA at the studio, your shoot time will be substantially limited by the time taken by an MUA.
Who does my hair? As for make-up, we recommend you do your own hair.
How much clothing should I bring? You should plan your outfits for the shoot ahead of time so you make the best use of the studio shoot. Melbourne Dance Photography recommends preparing at least five costumes, ideally eight or ten.
What outfits do you suggest? Bring casual rehearsal outfits, as well as performance costumes. Classical ballerinas should bring half and/or full tutus, pointe shoes, dance tights and leotards.
Can I use Melbourne Dance Photography's wardrobe? Yes you can. We have a range of leotards, leggings, leg warmers and net and mesh tops that you may want to use or incorporate with your own clothing. If you are after something specific, please ask to see if we can help.
What happens after the shoot? Three working days after the shoot, you will be provided with a web page that allows you to view the raw photographs from the shoot. You can select up to 60 of the photographs, which will then be edited and toned by the photographer. The final image set of between 60 and 90 images will be provided on CD within 10 business days of receiving your image selections.
How do I end up receiving up to 90 images, but only choose 60? Some of your chosen images will be presented to you with multiple tonings, for example in black-and-white, and also in high-contrast colour.
How do I get prints from my images? Since we provide you with a CD of the images from the shoot, you are free to take that CD to your local photo shop for printing.
Can I order professional prints from Melbourne Dance Photography? Yes indeed you can. We can prepare individual images for professional printing, and provide such printing at very competitive prices. Printing is available to standard photographic paper, or a range of art papers.
Are any discounts available? Melbourne Dance Photography can offer a small discount to schools for second and subsequent photography bookings.
Is a deposit required? A deposit is required to confirm studio photography, but not performance or dance class photography.
What is your cancellation / refund policy? Your deposit for studio photography can only be refunded if you give at least 72 hours notice of a cancellation.
Some of our dancers are under 18 years of age — can you photograph them? Yes we can, but your dance school takes responsibility for obtaining parental permission for your under-18 dancers to be photographed, regardless of location.
Who does make-up and hair for our dancers? Typically we expect the school to make its own arrangements for hair and make-up. Professional hair and make-up can be arranged but is generally rather expensive.
What happens after the shoot? Three working days after studio, performance or dance class photography, you will be provided with a web page that allows you to view the (unedited) photographs. Your artistic directory and/or choreographer will then select those images your school wants to use, and we will prepare them as you require. For 2½ hour (5 hour) studio shoots the editing and toning of up to six (twelve) photographs is included in the price; for performance or dance class photography, editing and toning is charged per image.
Does the school get the photographs on CD? For performance and dance class photography, your school will receive a CD containing all the unedited and edited photographs. Studio photographs are not provided on CD, as the purpose of studio photography is usually to produce particular images for advertising or graphic design. Melbourne Dance Photography is best-placed to provide the final images in the correct format to publishers and/or artists.
How does the school get prints from the images? For performance and dance class photography, you can have prints made directly from the CD by your local photo shop. Prints of studio photographs can be ordered from Melbourne Dance Photography (see below). If this does not suit your particular requirements please do call or e-mail us to discuss what you need.
Can the school order professional prints from Melbourne Dance Photography? Yes indeed — we can prepare individual images for professional printing, and provide such printing at competitive prices. Printing is available to standard photographic paper as well as a range of fine art papers.
What other post-photography services do you offer? Melbourne Dance Photography offers additional customised items for your dance school such as Annual Dance School Calendars, Dance School Posters, and more. Please see here for furtner information.