Photographing the Australian Ballet's Swan Lake ahead of their UK tour

A bold vision captures a real life version of a famous ballet

When the Australian Ballet brought their award-winning production of Swan Lake to the UK, I was tasked with shooting publicity images ahead of the opening performance in Wales. The assignment sparked a wild idea that I couldn’t let go: what if I captured the principal dancer standing on a lake, as if she were floating like a swan herself?

The Concept

The vision was vivid - a ballerina, poised on the water’s surface, embodying the spirit of Swan Lake. To make it happen, I imagined placing the dancer on a hidden platform in Cardiff’s Roath Park Lake. It was an ambitious idea, bordering on outrageous, but I knew I had to try.

I pitched the idea to the Millennium Centre’s publicity team and to my surprise, they were enthusiastic and got in touch with the Australian Ballet, who were bringing Graeme Murphy's award winning Swan Lake to the UK. My next hurdle was securing permission from Council’s Parks Department. I spent weeks navigating the bureaucracy, organising test shoots and collecting approvals. It seemed like every step could be the one that sank the whole project. Any one of the stakeholders could have simply said no and my dream would have been dead in the water.

Making the Impossible Possible

With only two days to go before the shoot, I was sawing the legs of an IKEA table, making them shorter and reinforcing it with weights to stabilise it in the lake - painting it black so it would vanish against the water. I then waded out to the site, testing the platform myself - knowing if it could hold my weight, it would be more than stable enough for a much lighter professional dancer. Then, in a flurry of last-minute approvals, the Parks Department, the Australian Ballet, and the Millennium Centre all gave their green lights. Somehow, the impossible had become possible, and we were set for the shoot.

The Big Day

We arrived at the lake at 5 AM to prepare for the 6:30 AM shoot. The early morning was cold, the park was nearly empty and the light was perfect - soft and diffused, adding to the ethereal mood I wanted to create. My friend and fellow photographer, Betina, handled the lighting, stationed on a small boat with a powerful studio light to illuminate the scene.

Then, just after 6 AM the Australian Ballet’s Elisha Willis, who would be playing the lead role of Odette in Graeme Murphy's award winning production of Swan Lake, stepped out of the car. She was in full costume, clutching her ballet shoes in one hand and wrapped in a thick fleece to ward off the chill. Her confidence was contagious. “Let’s get this show on the road - or rather, on the lake,” she said with a smile, and I knew we were about to capture something extraordinary.

Capturing the Perfect Moment

We positioned the table 10 meters from the shore, precisely at the point where the water was deep enough to hide the platform. I set up my camera roughly 40 meters away, ensuring that Elisha appeared to be floating in the middle of the lake, while Betina was on the lighting boat casting a gentle spotlight on the dancer. The real wild card of the shoot was the swans themselves - an element we had the least control over - as another ranger circled in a second boat, tossing bird seed to coax them closer to the frame.

Then as the swans followed the second boat, Elisha took her position on the hidden table, her movements perfectly echoing the grace of the swans around her. I called out adjustments from the shore, and with each slight shift, the image came together. Finally, the swans drifted into frame and with a few clicks of the shutter, we had it. A ballerina, seemingly floating on a still lake, surrounded by real swans- the shot was everything I had imagined.

The image was featured in newspapers and promotional materials, captivating audiences and perfectly capturing the magic of Swan Lake. It remains one of the most memorable and significant photographs I’ve ever taken.

Feeling the Cold: The Australian Ballet’s Elisha Willis stays warm on the hidden table during the shoot

In the rain: Colleague Betina points the light during a test shot, as the parks ranger steadies the boat

In an Era of AI and Photoshop, Why Real Images Matter

In today's world, where AI-generated images and Photoshop manipulation can effortlessly create fantastical scenes, it’s easy to become desensitised to visual wonders. But this image of Elisha on a lake at dawn was real. There was no digital trickery, no artificial rendering, only the raw elements of a brilliant dancer, a photographer, lighting and a lake. It was the careful orchestration of every detail, from the hidden platform to the swans drifting into frame that made the image work. Knowing that every element in the frame was authentic, achieved through effort and creative problem-solving, made the final result profoundly rewarding. It was a testament to the enduring power of real photography - the beauty of capturing a fleeting moment in a genuine, tangible way.

Final Thought

This was a shoot that brought together creativity, teamwork and more than a little madness. It’s a testament to how the craziest ideas can lead to the most impactful images. The process was exhilarating, sometimes terrifying, but always worth it. That shot of a ballerina, poised like a swan under the first light of day, remains a career-defining moment and a vivid reminder of the magic that happens when you dare to take a risk.