I highly recommend Carl Sermon for gorgeous photos that capture a dancer's beauty and personality. I attended one of Carl and Ma*Shuqa Mira Murjan's Diva Day photo sessions and had a blast, in addition to learning a lot about posing for photos. The photos that resulted from that day were beautiful and glamorous.
Before the other Diva Day participants and I got in front of the camera, Ma*Shuqa (who is also a photographer) and Carl coached us on how to pose and other ways to shine. They gave us a handout detailing the information so that we didn't need to take notes. I arrived in full makeup, and Ma*Shuqa helped ensure that I looked my best (little extra powder here and there, no lipstick on the teeth, and so on). Ma*Shuqa has a massive costume collection and offered me one of her hip scarves, a couple of veils, and some jewelry to vary my look.
Ma*Shuqa and Carl put on the music of our choice: they have a huge library of belly dance music, or you can bring your own music. The other dancers and I took turns in front of the camera. I have had professional photos taken before and had been so nervous that I could barely hold a smile, but I felt really comfortable in front of Carl's camera and had a lot of fun. He and Ma*Shuqa are really encouraging and coached me on poses (a lot of them involve actually belly dancing to get an action shot). I felt their commitment to helping me get great photos.
Carl took about a hundred photos of me. The photos appear on a screen on the wall almost in real time so that you can check them out if you're aiming for a specific look. I loved the way my photos turned out; Carl's action-shot method works really well for achieving relaxed poses and facial expressions. Carl will touch up your photos as needed too; for example, if lipstick wound up on your teeth.
I enthusiastically recommend a photography session with Carl and Ma*Shuqa. Diva Day was an enjoyable, informative, and affordable way to experience a photo shoot and get some fabulous photos (the photo of your choice is included in the Diva Day price; additional photos are extra but reasonably priced). Based on my Diva Day experience, I think that a full photo session would be completely worthwhile, especially for someone with several costumes. read more