One immediate advantage of working with someone multiple times is that you feel more comfortable experimenting.  I'm happy to say that our first roll was an experiment for us -- we made several exposures outside in my neighborhood.  I'm also happy to say that that first roll wasn't successful -- the concept was good, Barbara was lovely (as usual), but I had set up my camera a bit too far away.  I don't know exactly when it happened, but somewhere as I got older, I was too afraid of failure to attempt ideas outside my comfort level.  That's a bad habit for an artist.  Barbara gave me confidence to try -- I'm sure we'll try again, and hopefully do better the next time.

The Stool:  After our outdoor exposures, we returned inside to work in my studio.  Barbara liked this, because it was warm in the studio, and I had some specific ideas I wanted to try.  The first one resulted from my thinking that I always stayed a constant distance from my models.  I wanted to get a bit closer.

So, I gave Barbara the challenge of perching on top of a stool, a departure from the more comfortable posing box.  Balancing on top of the stool (I insisted that her legs didn't dangle) was a bit of a distraction.  It's a bit devilish of me, but I like to keep models occupied when I photograph them.

Here are some more pictures from the stool:

Staying Close On The Posing Box:  I wanted some more horizontal poses, so we moved to the posing box.  I like the some of Barbara's figure is in shadow, against a mid-toned background.  That creates a nice curved line that defines her wonderful figure.

This last picture (above) is exactly what I was looking for -- a subtle shadow defining her figure.  I especially like how that shadow defines her back.

I wish I could describe what happens in a modeling session, especially a nude one.  Someday, I'll write a three-act play, with each act being a different modeling session. 

Sometimes, a model remains distant & unaffected by the experience.  Usually, such sessions are disappointing to me -- I like to see a connection between the model & photographer in the resulting pictures.  When that happens, the model usually isn't invited back.  

But on special occasions, I get to interact with a real person.  I think it takes a lot of courage to pose nude.  During the session, I'm always respectful, and I do everything I can to make the model comfortable.  

After a few sessions with Barbara, I think we've become very comfortable with each other.  Sure, Barbara has a world class face & figure, but her real strength as a model is her ability to be open & generous & connected with the photographer.  Our relationship, and the images we've created together, is not sexual or romantic or glamorous, but there is a special & unique kind of intimacy after a few sittings and several conversations.  And I love when that happens -- that human-to-human connection is why I photograph people.  

"Nude" = "Naked" = "Vulnerable".  This day's conversation was a little intense & personal.  This resulted in some intense images.   Above is the one I'll share on this web page.

Here's a couple of high light pictures, our next set-up. 

Barbara has it all -- a world class figure, fine skin (which I think are shown well in these pictures), and on top of all that, she moves real well.  

The Final Set-Up:  I liked this lighting from ground level, too.  So, I left the lights alone, crawled on the floor, and made these final exposures.  

There are a couple of Barbara on
 the updated String Thing page.