Happy L

[Airy]

Df + Voigtländer 58/1.4 at f/2.8. Just a candid shot (she was delighted by the Nth video record of her dancing in the shallow fountain water).

[Frank Fremerey]

Very nice full body expression. Lovely.

[Airy]

thanks Frank. Besides, I had my camera ready in the secret hope she would lose balance, but that's a low probability event with ballerinas...

[Akira]

I simply wondered how she could keep the balance in such a tricky poise while showing such a natural expression.  But that makes perfect sense if she's ballerina.

Not only the expression on the face but that on her hands are perfect in the scene...

[Airy]

Her right foot is resting against the ground, which helps.

Concerning her hands, well observed.

1) part of ballet training is to control the hands so they look relaxed while all muscles elsewhere are working ; for instance, they would never exhibit a fist or a stretched finger, by the way reducing the "vocabulary" quite a lot. Clearly, she's not in ballet mode here, being completely absorbed by the critical review of the videos. Good opportunity for candids given her general camera- or audience-awareness (that comes from her profession).

2) in the present case, I picked the shot from a longer series precisely because of the "expressive" left hand.

[Akira]

I think the expression of her left hand is rather typically feminine.  So, as you say, you captured the moment in which she returned to her usual self from the professional ballerina mode.  The selection is very appropriate for the purpose.

On the other hand, the way she supports her whole body just by anchoring the toe of her right foot should be the result of her professional hard training.  If I would do the same, my calf would surely be cramp.   

[Airy]

Variant obtained by in-camera processing

[Airy]

and a B&W one. I have done some effort to reduce the nervousness of bokeh in some areas. In this respect, the Voigt is a good lens, but direct sunlight on trees produces gritty patterns.
The main problem is a loss of (color) contrast between head and trees in the background.

[Akira]

Hmm...to me, the initial version looks the best.  In the second version, the color of the clothes the blurred couple are wearing is a bit obtrusive.  In the B&W version, the foliage over her left shoulder is, again, a bit obtrusive.

[Airy]

agreed and agreed. In the first, I did "tweak" the clothes, not in the in-camera version. In the third, one solution would be to lighten the greens.

[Akira]

In the third, one solution would be to lighten the greens.

...and then convert to B&W?  That seems to be promising.

[Frank Fremerey]

The skin tones on the most beautiful legs set the tune for the first shot. Do not change anything

[Airy]

Another try via photoshop. I am still not satisfied.

[Mongo]

Mongo agrees that her whole body expression was in tune with her emotion in this image. It seems that some news can sometimes be good news. Of the monos, the last mono posted works best for Mongo

[armando_m]

I  like the first one ,