This Month in Photo of the Day: Your Photos With Tips From Photographer Catherine Karnow

Photographers are always trying to get backstage during a performance because this is where the real gems are, those moments in between. This is a perfect example. This image has all the grace and beauty that the ballerina might express onstage, yet she is in her own world backstage.

In this captured moment, out of the limelight, the ballerina is awash in shades of blue. She becomes a semi-silhouette, and this shows her form so beautifully. The slight movement in both her arms emphasizes the perfect shape of her hourglass figure. The slight profile of her face adds the final grace note.

Finally, I love the small, out-of-focus figures at the end of the stage, perfectly placed between the tall curtains and just above the ballerina's arm. The space between her arm and the figures is essential.

Photo Tip: Get out of the audience and away from the actual performance. Magic moments can be found backstage or in the curtains, at the edges.

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