Ballet Photography

Adeline Wylie - May 2025

A photographer friend of mine, Pat Berrett, and I got together with dancer Adeline Wylie for an outdoor photoshoot in the early morning.

Pat knew of some cool locations in the area and introduced Adeline and myself to this amazing white rock structure, as well as a lovely trail that had a large view of a valley.

Below are my favorite shots from the shoot, as well as a short interview with Adeline.

What’re 2 favorite ballets of yours? (And why are they your favorites?)

As far as classical ballet goes, I love Romeo and Juliet. Juliet has always been one of my dream roles, and the music is so so great. John Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is also super fun and whimsical. My favorite stuff to dance and watch is new mixed rep stuff. My mom would take me to see the Houston Ballet mixed repertory shows with cutting edge contemporary ballet, which really sparked my motivation to become a professional dancer.

What’s your favorite soda flavor?

Root beer and cream soda. Specifically root beer made by breweries or craft soda companies.

What is the role of art in society?

Art is a form of expression and entertainment, but it can also persuade change, foster connection, communication, and education.

I love the way art can produce feelings and different perspectives even if the audience speaks a different language or comes from a different culture.

Also love this quote lately about art: "Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."

Have you ever boogie boarded backwards?

lol No

What are some of your hobbies/passions outside of dance?

Connecting with nature and people, eating good food, reading fantasy, rock climbing, and making art.

How has your relationship with dance changed through the years?

My love for dance hasn’t changed, but my time focused on it has. Dance used to take up so much of my mental space and energy. It’s still a huge part of my life, but no longer my main measurement of success. Being a dance school director has also opened my eyes to how students should be treated with more encouragement and support. You don’t have to beat someone down to achieve successful.

If you had to eat cold pizza, what would your topping preference be?

Black olives, fresh basil, bell peppers, and ranch.

If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be?

Instead of comparing yourself to dancers around you, absorb and learn from them. I was so hard on myself.

If you could replace any one of the three flavors in Neapolitan ice cream, what would the new flavor be?

Let’s swap the normal chocolate for Ben and Jerries brownie core.

Where do you see the art of ballet going?

It’s hard to say, but I can think of where I would like it to go. Hopefully more diverse in terms of everything. I think we can diversify and expand while still preserving classics.

2009 Lands End Sutro Bath Ruins Photoshoot

Today we’re going back in time to 2009 to my second photoshoot ever.

Kristina Lind and Myles Thatcher at the Lands End Trail in 2009

Since this was my second shoot ever, I borrowed a Canon 50D camera with a 50mm lens, enlisted my friends who I trained with at the San Francisco Ballet School, and we shot outdoors at the Sutro bath ruins and lands end trail in San Francisco, California.

The canon 50D by the way had 15 megapixels. To put that in perspective, the latest iPhone here in 2025 has 48 megapixels. (Of course, photography isn’t all about the megapixels, but it’s still wild.)

My friends in this shoot are Kristina Lind, Myles Thatcher, Dylan W and Nicole Voris. During this timeframe, we had all recently finished (or were close to finishing) our training at the San Francisco Ballet School. We were all hungry for life and at the start of our professional careers.

This shoot hugely propelled my confidence forward in photography. At the time I was guessing I could create images that entailed high level ballet technique, but on top of that, I also wanted to convey a sense of movement, a sense of whimsy, and a sense of emotion. (All the things I think ballet itself is.)

I’m still a big fan of these images. I can see where my photographic flaws were, but overall, I look at these images with joy. We had a lot of fun creating them and the reception they received at the time was so strong, I recall it hugely motivated me and gave me the confidence that I could actually achieve the photographic goals I wanted to.

What’s also fun when looking at photos from the past is to see where the dance careers of everyone ended up. Kristina Lind danced with the San Francisco Ballet, then Dutch National Ballet and then Bayerisches Staatsballett. (And she is currently a principal dancer there)

Myles Thatcher joined San Francisco Ballet the year of this photoshoot as an apprentice, and he is now a soloist there and a respected choreographer in the dance industry.

Nicole Voris (Who is also my wife as you all know!) Toured with San Francisco Ballet, then danced with Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, and then danced commercially in Los Angeles. She now does repertoire dance work with our friends who are choreographers, and she also choreographs herself. (She is also an exceptionally talented dance teacher)

Till next time!

-Oliver Endahl

Kate Huntington in LA

Kate Huntington and I got together for a quick shoot at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California.

It had rained the night before our shoot so the air was extra clear, which created beautiful light for our early morning shoot.

You can follow Kate on IG here @K8Huntington

-Oliver Endahl

Zahna Simon in San Francisco

Zahna Simon is a deaf dancer located in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the company and festival assistant director at the Urban Jazz Dance Company and is extremely talented.

We used a variety of locations in SF, including the Sutro Bath Ruins, Ocean Beach, the Hidden Staircase, and Sutro Heights Park.

You can follow Zahna on Instagram here @DeafEnPointe

-Oliver Endahl

The Pointe Shop 2024 Models

Jane Woodford and June Freeman are the 2024 Pointe Shop Models.

For this session with them, we shot in the Orange County area in Southern California.

Both June and Jane are extremely talented and this shoot was absolutely epic.

You can follow them on their IG’s below, along with the Pointe Shop.

@JuneDelilahFreeman

@Jane_en_Pointe

@ThePointeShop

Till next time,

-Oliver Endahl

Briana Baldovinos Colorful LA Studio Photoshoot

Briana Baldovinos

Colorful studio photoshoot in Los Angeles

This was the first photoshoot Briana and I did together. I had seen this colorful photostudio available for rent in LA and thought it would be a great location for us to utilize.

I loved the vibrant colors of this space. I think bright colors are underutilized in art and pop culture. Probably because colors are the “standard” of photos, so people equate less color (black and white) to be more “meaningful” in their expression. (But both black and white and color, are equally valid in their artistic expression.)

Briana brought a great charisma and achieved excellent ballet lines that played well with the lines of the furnishings.

For the lighting, there was one large window located on one end of the studio that we used as our main source. It was an overcast day, so the light came in soft and diffused.

I’ve been photographing for around 14 years so I can shoot quickly when I need to. Briana had done many photoshoots before and is a pro, so we were able to create all these images + more in just a 2 hour time period.

You can follow Briana on IG at @Briana.Ballerina and you can keep up with my work right here on the Zine.

-Oliver Endahl

Peyton Szuberla Summer 2023

Peyton Szuberla

At the Noguchi Gardens and in studio

Peyton Szuberla and I shot at a public sculpture display called “Noguchi Gardens” located in California.

The garden sits between some business buildings and a parking garage. It’s less of a traditional garden and more like walking through an outdoor museum filled with huge pieces of art. It’s kept insanely clean and is often used for various photoshoots. (I had never shot there, but the location had been on my radar for years) While we were there, there was two wedding parties and some locals snapping photos and enjoying the sights.

There’s several very large pieces of art that each individually stand on their own, and together they all combine to form one grand piece which is the garden itself.

It wasn’t until after our shoot that I researched to find out more about the location. It turns out it was designed by renowned artist Isamu Noguchi.

Here is the Wikipedia headline info about Isamu Noguchi;

“Noguchi Isamu (November 17, 1904 – December 30, 1988) was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces, some of which are still manufactured and sold.”

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isamu_Noguchi )

How wild that he designed sets for Martha Graham? You can see in his work that it absolutely lends itself to dance with all the curves and aesthetically pleasing shapes.

Here is more information on the garden’s from the official website;

“Commissioned by the Segerstrom family in 1979 and completed in 1982, Isamu Noguchi’s California Scenario is recognized as one of the country’s preeminent sculpture gardens and the most vital publicly accessible outdoor sculpture oasis in Southern California. One of the artist’s most important public sculpture gardens, its design symbolizes various geographical characteristics of California, incorporating indigenous plants and materials.”

( https://www.southcoastplaza.com/stories/2016/12/noguchi-garden/ )

Everything looks so beautiful and intentional at this place that at one point I thought an outdoor garbage can was an art piece. (Which I thought was especially funny since in the movie “Wonder Woman 1984” they make this exact joke as they stroll thru an outdoor sculpture garden.)


After we finished at Noguchi, we headed to a photo studio that we had reserved for 2 hours. The studio had skylights above a cyc-wall, so we used all natural light for the set up.

Peyton’s Mother, Jessica, was the stylist for the shoot. I told Jessica for colors and outfit inspiration that we wanted anything neutral for the gardens, and for the studio we wanted anything “Barbie” centric. (That movie has amazing fashion and both Jessica and myself were inspired by it)

Jessica knocked it out of the park on both themes.

Love these gloves and the lines they created with Peyton’s port de bras

This converse look was especially fun to shoot. Peyton’s movements maximized the flow of the blue top and really brought an electric energy to the look.

Towards the end of our time we started losing light, (we shot at the studio from 6-8 PM) So Peyton wore this unique white fluffy top that we paired with a maroon leotard. The white top picked up the remaining soft light and Peyton’s body was nearly silhouetted.

This was a phenomenal shoot. I was feeling extremely inspired by the Noguchi Gardens, Peyton’s movements and Jessica’s passion/great taste for styling.

Keep an eye on the Zine fore more shoots with Peyton and Jessica Szuberla.

-Oliver Endahl