The middle fork of the Flathead River is one of Montana’s premier whitewater rivers and the landscape is world class with the deep emerald greens and sapphire blues of the water.  Because of scheduling conflicts the only time we (Keiko and I) could arrange for this shoot was in the evening.  My major concern with this location is that it is a very popular ‘swimmin hole’ for locals and park employees…not to mention fisherman, rafters and kayakers.  We got all of that and then some.  As I had expected Keiko was the consummate professional that I saw in all the dancers from Northwest Ballet Company.  The rocky shoreline was trickier than I had expected for footing, but Keiko persevered.  Keiko is a two year veteran of the Digitalmontana Ballerina Project.

When we started, the sun was still higher in the sky than I wanted.

But as the shoot progresss the lighting became more even and softer:

The gracefully arched bridge gave us an added architechtural element that reflected the grace and movement of Keiko as she danced along this beautiful stream.

During our shoot, not only did we have many obstacles to work around, like people jumping off the bridge in the background, we also had a special visitor inspect the set:

As the sun dropped below the horizon the light became magical and we shot until it was nearly black:

Thanks, Keiko, for your amazing performance and thanks, also to Megan (from the Avalanche Gorgeous shoot) for providing her help on the set and technical advice to Keiko.

A slideshow with more images can be found here: River Dance.  If you do not have the Photodex plug-in you will be asked to install it on your computer.  It’s small, easy and safe.  It’s a great way of sharing your important slideshows with friends and family.  Go see Keiko’s River Dance images!

Blessings! D.