This one doesn't count

Joselyn Simms
Photograph by Tom Atwood

"This one doesn't count," I said to Joselyn Simms as I took this picture. I say that when I'm shooting a test photo to check the lighting and exposure. Or to make sure I have film in the camera. I mean, a memory card. I've noticed, though, sometimes these photos that "don't count," can make for interesting, revealing and, occasionally, very good portraits. The guard comes down. The subject relaxes.  But for Joselyn, a dancer, the gracefulness remains, almost as if it has nowhere else to go, even when she isn't "posing." Maybe it's the training? Shutter: 1/640; Aperture: f/2.8; ISO: 100; Focal length: 35 mm