In Austria, it is common for the final class of each Gymnasium (high school) to organize a ball. This is the Maturaball, one of the highlights in every school year (Matura is the diploma from Austrian secondary school qualifying for university admission or matriculation).
The ideal is the annual opera ball in the Vienna State Opera. So the Maturaball is prepared for weeks and held in a prestigious house. The setting must be festive and the pupils of the upper classes prepare themselves for this event in the dance schools.
The ball starts with an elaborate choreography and a special dance performance (this year "carnival" was the motto). Afterwards, the dance floor is open for all guests and - according to the Viennese model - the first dance of the evening is a Viennese waltz.
On the last Saturday I was at the Maturaball of my son and I took some photos. In the picture you can see students dancing the opening waltz.
Linz, Palais Kaufmännischer Verein (Upper Austria).
Szene wie aus einem Traum - das Sepia wirkt toll.
Ich wünschte hier würden die jungen Leute auch Tanzen lernen. In Deutschland hatten wir auch Tanzstunde und Abschlussball, aber nicht so feudal.
@irisn Danke, liebe Iris, für deinen netten Besuch!
Der Maturaball ist schon ein wichtiges Ereignis bei uns. Es ist eine Prestige-Angelegenheit, dass sich jedes Gymnasium bei so einem Ball möglichst gut in der Öffentlichkeit präsentiert. Dazu gehören die Räumlichkeiten, die Tanzeinlagen der Schüler und Lehrer, das Organisieren der Musikkapelle, Disco, Tischreservierung, Tombola, Saaldekoration,... Die Schüler der Abschlussklasse haben dafür sehr viel zu tun. Auch die Werbung ist ihnen aufgetragen - schließlich ist das Organisieren eines derartigen Balls mit hohen Kosten verbunden - alleine die Saalmiete macht einen hohen Betrag aus. Das muss alles mit dem Verkauf von Ballkarten und Spenden von Sponsoren erwirtschaftet werden. In der Regel bleibt aber einiges an Geld übrig, das die Schüler, die mitgearbeitet haben, unter sich aufteilen. Oft wird davon auch die Matura-Reise nach dem Abschluss des Schuljahres finanziert.
@marshwader
Thank you, Madeleine, for your nice comment!
The processing: I can not repeat all the detail steps - usually I make many attempts in different directions and much of this I forget - this is the important initial "experimental" phase. Usually I have a certain pictorial idea, which results from the impressions when looking on the photo, but this can change very much in this first phase. It may be that by accident I take another track, very divergent to the original intention.
The initial photo for this image seemed to be unusuable at first sight: badly exposed, exposed for so long that some figures were out of focus or "double". But that was appealing me - a good expression for movement. The image you see above is only a very small crop of a photo that is overall dissonant, random, not composed. It depends on the right cutting. The colors in this photo added little to my intentions to a good expression. Therefore: remove the colors completely. With the filters from Silver Efex Pro I tried a few settings. The vignette has a good effect in this case: the arms of the ladies on the left and on the right lead beautifully from the bright "frame" into the picture, take up the arm of the woman in the foreground thematically. The bright arms are important, they lead through the image and support the movement that goes through the image. Now it is important to find the right relation of light and dark - you have to try it out. In the end: Focus on the couple in the foreground - here the heads are complete, the other pairs dissipate in the shapeless background. This pleases me: the man looks to the right, the woman to the left - a nice contrast. Also nice: the view from the face of the woman in this perspective - the cheek, the eye area, the neck, the hairstyle - I find pretty. The man - masculine, determined, striking (well, a cliché, but the whole ball follows a cliché). All around the figures dissolve to the edge, but still give an idea of cheerful mood, their mimic and gesture still resonates with. I added the grain, I also liked the sepia tone - I think it supports the basic mood, the flair, the atmosphere of the picture.
November 28th, 2016
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In Poland we also having Maturaball. It starts with Polonez dance.
Thank you very much for your nice comments!
Ich wünschte hier würden die jungen Leute auch Tanzen lernen. In Deutschland hatten wir auch Tanzstunde und Abschlussball, aber nicht so feudal.
Der Maturaball ist schon ein wichtiges Ereignis bei uns. Es ist eine Prestige-Angelegenheit, dass sich jedes Gymnasium bei so einem Ball möglichst gut in der Öffentlichkeit präsentiert. Dazu gehören die Räumlichkeiten, die Tanzeinlagen der Schüler und Lehrer, das Organisieren der Musikkapelle, Disco, Tischreservierung, Tombola, Saaldekoration,... Die Schüler der Abschlussklasse haben dafür sehr viel zu tun. Auch die Werbung ist ihnen aufgetragen - schließlich ist das Organisieren eines derartigen Balls mit hohen Kosten verbunden - alleine die Saalmiete macht einen hohen Betrag aus. Das muss alles mit dem Verkauf von Ballkarten und Spenden von Sponsoren erwirtschaftet werden. In der Regel bleibt aber einiges an Geld übrig, das die Schüler, die mitgearbeitet haben, unter sich aufteilen. Oft wird davon auch die Matura-Reise nach dem Abschluss des Schuljahres finanziert.
Thank you so much for your kind comments!
@vesna0210 No, the young man ist not my son. I do not know the people in the photo.
Thank you, Madeleine, for your nice comment!
The processing: I can not repeat all the detail steps - usually I make many attempts in different directions and much of this I forget - this is the important initial "experimental" phase. Usually I have a certain pictorial idea, which results from the impressions when looking on the photo, but this can change very much in this first phase. It may be that by accident I take another track, very divergent to the original intention.
The initial photo for this image seemed to be unusuable at first sight: badly exposed, exposed for so long that some figures were out of focus or "double". But that was appealing me - a good expression for movement. The image you see above is only a very small crop of a photo that is overall dissonant, random, not composed. It depends on the right cutting. The colors in this photo added little to my intentions to a good expression. Therefore: remove the colors completely. With the filters from Silver Efex Pro I tried a few settings. The vignette has a good effect in this case: the arms of the ladies on the left and on the right lead beautifully from the bright "frame" into the picture, take up the arm of the woman in the foreground thematically. The bright arms are important, they lead through the image and support the movement that goes through the image. Now it is important to find the right relation of light and dark - you have to try it out. In the end: Focus on the couple in the foreground - here the heads are complete, the other pairs dissipate in the shapeless background. This pleases me: the man looks to the right, the woman to the left - a nice contrast. Also nice: the view from the face of the woman in this perspective - the cheek, the eye area, the neck, the hairstyle - I find pretty. The man - masculine, determined, striking (well, a cliché, but the whole ball follows a cliché). All around the figures dissolve to the edge, but still give an idea of cheerful mood, their mimic and gesture still resonates with. I added the grain, I also liked the sepia tone - I think it supports the basic mood, the flair, the atmosphere of the picture.