I met Brittany Storm at a yoga festival where I had set up a booth. I’ve shot tons of yoga, have 4 yoga teaching certifications myself, and was really working my table hard making an effort into drumming up some business. I blew a bundle making my table look exciting…I hung up christmas lights, bowls of chocolates…the works. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I could not help but notice a very strong dancer’s walk…

Brittany was also working a table at the event, we chatted and Brittany introduced me to the world of Aerial Arts. I didn’t know it until I shot Brittany Storm, but I found out I had a knack for shooting Aerial. I think the reason is the mix of rock photography I do, catching  a jump on stage during a concert with challenging lighting conditions and the yoga teacher training I’ve done (I understand the what a pose looks like when it hits it’s mark).

When I was a kid, I was transfixed by the paintings of the Sistine Chapel…look at ‘em…they are all hanging down from the heavens looking at you like Britt!

How I Photographed This:

What you see here in the Brittany Storm photos is a combination of lighting techniques: some are strobe, which I used either a single 4 footish by 6 footish soft box, or two of them…one on either side. And then in some I used a 1000K Fresnal. And a reflector. …When shooting with hot lights, I try to keep the shutter at around 250 with aerial. I’ve noticed that 250 generally stops motion of hair on stage during a concert, but not every time in aerial. Probably because the hair is flying from a spinning source…like how the solar system is spinning from spinners, around more spinners…

I asked Brittany to fill us in about how she got into this…it’s so beautiful to witness a silks performance. Brittany’s story is below the following set of photos:

I spent my life as a gymnast and moved on to a career coaching gymnastics. While working at a gym I helped open here in North Carolina, a guest aerialist demonstrated silks for the young girls I coached.  I couldn’t help but to try it for myself. It only took one lesson and I had fallen in love.

I began training on various aerial apparatuses but the fabric has been my first love.  Dancing in the air using the fabric to hang from, I wrap it around me in various ways to support myself as I create shapes, hang out in poses or even drop from the top to the bottom of my silk. The uses of the fabric are endless and versatile as it allows me to showcase flexibility and strength and caters to my daredevil side.

As a professional circus performer and instructor, I specialize in aerials, hand balancing and acrobatics offering solo and duo performances to spice up any event as well as private lessons and group classes.