Your body always looks most striking in motion. Our favorite images aren’t stiff poses, but moments of authentic movement. We welcome freedancers and tricksters alike, and encourage you to move freely through the shapes you want to capture.
Even the least experienced or most rusty dancer has something beautiful to offer. We work with strippers who have never taken a class, beginner studio polers, and international professionals alike.
We have ten years of studio photography experience and have captured over 10,000 pole and aerial competition performances. You know the movement that feels best in your body, and we will help you find the most dramatic lines and shapes within that movement.
Every shoot is a little bit different. The specific backdrop and lighting setup for each shoot is explained on the booking page. But no matter what, you’ll always find a welcoming, safe environment for you to push the boundaries of your own art.
Great art asks a lot of us! Every dancer we have worked with is more capable than they realize. We will ask you for more breath, more engagement, and more commitment to your dance than you usually give, even onstage. Be kind to your body before and after the shoot. Always arrive early to warm up so your body can support you.
We do not automatically retouch our images. Our lighting is designed to flatter you, and we edit with an eye toward bringing out your best. We believe you deserve to truly see yourself without a computer algorithm deciding what is beautiful about you. In case you find that something in the edits we send you is distracting or needs extra attention, we offer detailed retouching for $20/image.
Following your shoot, we will create a private proof gallery for you. This generally takes about two weeks. You select your favorite images for us to edit. Most of the time, we will edit and deliver your finished photos through Google Drive within 45 days.
IRIS SPARROW
Hey, that’s me! I am now the sole owner of Alloy Images. My photographic roots are in photojournalism and documentary work - going back over 20 years - and my pole roots run just as deep. I started pole and aerial in Los Angeles over 15 years ago and have been teaching for nearly as long. Vanessa Gray and I built Alloy Images together, grew it over years of shoots at LA studios, and eventually traveled across the globe. Over 8 years as the official photographers for Pole Sport Organization, we captured over 10,000 pole performances onstage while also offering in-studio shoots everywhere we went. Those places included studios across the US, Europe, and Asia.
These days I make my home in Portland, Oregon and work full-time behind the scenes at Pole + Dance Studios as their Creative Director. When I’m not building beautiful pole studios, it still brings me so much joy to put my well-honed skills to work capturing the magic of movement.
Alloy Images Founding Team
Vanessa woods
Vanessa Grey was a co-founder of Alloy Images, and came to pole from journalism, automotive and motorcycle advertising photography. Vanessa and I birthed Alloy into being together, combining our love of pole and aerial with our varied photography perspectives.
Vanessa handed off Alloy Images fully in 2023, to pursue a legal career. I wish her all the best in this new adventure!
mary elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth joined Alloy Images in 2018 as the organizational brain for the team. Mary answered all of our customer service emails, organized our files, and generally kept the show running while we were behind the camera for many years. She no longer works with me in this capacity, but I’m so grateful for her help in our early days, keeping us organized! Mary is currently based in Seattle, WA.