Dance photoshoot with 16-year-old Beth

Beth’s dance photoshoot with me was actually a gift bought for Beth’s 15th birthday by her grandmother, known as ‘Grams’.

The pandemic resulted in a long postponement from our original shoot date, but the new timing meant Beth was tanned from a week in surprisingly sunny Wales during the July heatwave.

Dance is a huge part of Beth’s life. She competes in competitions as part of a dance troupe and has mastered several completely different styles at her awesome dance school, Dance Connection, including musical theatre, tech jazz, tap, modern, acro pad, ballet and lyrical.

Indeed, she spent her 15th birthday at the trampoline park in High Wycombe, where the staff were stunned to see so many dancers flying gracefully around the arena at once.

The family originally lived in Reading, but have moved out to the countryside for the space and fresh air. They love eating out together but then their interests diverge: dad Jon and 14-year-old brother Ben love to watch and play football, while Becky and Beth prefer a night at the theatre.

Their favourite shows are the musicals, including Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Miss Saigon, Les Mis and The Lion King.

Her mum and Grams both told me that their favourite thing about Beth is her sense of fun, which makes her great company. 

However, she’s clearly got practical skills as well, aside from her dance talents AND her amazing voice (she’s a Grade 5 vocalist with Distinction!). She’s just finished her GCSEs and has secured work in a sandwich shop called Soph’s Loafs.

This will enable her to earn the money to pay for driving lessons. Once she can drive, she can get herself to the dance studio where she’ll be spending the next year helping out and learning how to teach dance to other youngsters.

After that, she’s off to dance college to progress her own skills. Her ultimate aim is to work in musicals, hopefully in the West End, and hopefully in one of her favourite shows.

From what I’ve seen of Beth’s willingness to work hard, her incredibly dance talents, and her ability to formulate and carry out a plan, I’ve no doubt we’ll be seeing her treading those famous boards in just a few short years (if not sooner)!

After our photoshoot, Becky said:

“From beginning to end, this has been a fantastic experience! Sarah Plater is a true professional. As a photographer, she immediately put my daughter at ease and took the time necessary with her to make her photoshoot enjoyable, individual and special. She made this look easy as she is a truly lovely person with an incredible amount of patience. Her communication with us was outstanding and her attention to detail has created top class photographs that we will treasure forever. How could we not have bought the lot?! They are quite simply stunning.”

Becky, teen photoshoot client from South Oxfordshire

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If you’re interested in teenager and makeover photoshoots, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is a qualified professional photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.