Have you always wanted to capture the excitement and emotion of dancing?
Do you want some easy steps to enable you to take great dancing photos?

If the answer is yes to these questions, then read on.

1. Take your photos from a low angle position. This in its self will produce an exciting photo that will stand out. If you are taking photographs at a wedding, then the venue will often be devorated elaborately, so make sure you include the background detail in your photograph.

Don't be tempted to use a zoom lens - on a crowded dance floor other people will get in the way of you and the person you are trying to photograph. Be confident and get close up to the people you want to photograph. You may have to stand amongst the dancers to get the right shot.

2. To get the most dynamic selection of dancing photos, you need to move around the floor - don't be tempted to only shoot from one side. It is a common trap that many photographers fall in to. Secondly, if you want to photograph one or two people inparticular, do not seperate them form the others. You want to try and capture the excitement of the other dancers as well.

Take photos from unsual angles. If you are lucky enough to be using a digital camera that has a rotating screen, then this will allow you to hold the camera high above your head and take a photo looking down at the dancers. In contrast to this you can take photos from waist level, looking up at the dancers. Even if you do not have a camera with a rotating screen, try shooting from these positions anyway - you'll be suprised to learn that you will still get some good results.

3. You will need to use a flash, but don't use the internal flash as they produce very flat lighting. Use an external remote flash unit, and get someone to move around with you while they hold the flash. The second advantage of an external unit, is that with the flash unit away from the lens, you will not get the red eye effect appearing in your photos. Let's face it, red eye reduction functionality on cameras rarely works anyway.
If I haven't already sold you on the advantages of using an external remote flash unit, also bear in mind that you will be able to shoot longer distances - internal flashes barely have a range of 4 meters.

4. For some of your dancing photos, try using a slow shutter speed. Now this might seem strange, but hear me out. With a slower shutter speed, you introduce a small amount of blur into the background of the shot, capturing the motion, yet still getting a clear picture of the dancers in the middle of your frame.

5. Lastly, I always advise using a tripod. This is useful if you are following the movement of people across the dance floor, in a panning effect, and also produces better shots when using slow shutter speeds.