Back Home, Can't Stop

My typical sitting lasts about three hours -- that is due to a lot of factors:

I usually run out of energy after three hours.
I usually run out of ideas after three hours.
I usually make a sufficient volume of exposures in three hours.
I usually can afford models for only three hours.

A typical sitting lasts three hours. My Model Marathon (two sittings back to back) lasted five hours. By the time we got back to my house, the three of us had been going at it for six or seven hours, but I didn't feel tired. It's that chemistry thing -- just being together & working together was energizing for all of us (at least I think so). Also, in a typical sitting, the model is fairly passive when it comes to the idea department -- after all, the model is being hired to work with the photographer's ideas. Here, we have three photographers going, and we are sharing ideas & working well together.

We land in my dining room, and while Betcee checks on her dog, Jessica notices an interesting patch of light on the floor. I live in the middle of a city in an old Victorian house -- the city has grown up around my house. Next door, to the north, is another Victorian, and the setting sun is reflecting off of its bay window into my dining room. It's old glass, so the patch of light is strong but splotchy.

Typical photographer talk:

"Look at that patch of light!" (Jessica)
"Yes, that's great." (me)
"We could use that light."
"Where is a lovely nude model when you need one?"
"You want to...?"
"Yes, hurry!"

The light is changing rapidly as the sun begins to set, so Jessica dumps her clothing, we push the dining table out of the way, and we make some pictures. Soon, Betcee joins us.

Betcee joins us just in time, before the light changes, and she also makes some exposures.

Just so you know, the entry to the kitchen is over Betcee's right shoulder, and you can see the master bathroom in the upper right of the image. Yes, I have an interesting stone tile mosaic on the floor of my bathroom -- if you are interested in that (i.e. if you can ignore the two beautiful women), click here. I haven't made photographs of that mosaic, but other photographers have. Maybe someday.

To help out the fading early evening light, we have the room lights on in the rooms you can see, but at the moment, the reflected sunlight is dominating. Light is bouncing everywhere.

In this spot, the light changes rapidly, especially because we are using sunlight that is reflecting off of a window next door. It is interesting how the color fades with the light. While we may have sucked all the viable photographs from this one particular spot, we are still not done. We can't stop. We search the house of more potential spots with natural light from the setting sun. We find some.

Ignoring all sense of propriety, the two women move on to posing in my bedroom, on my bed. I got to admit that I would never ask a model to pose in my bedroom or on my bed, but these two just pooh-poohed my concerns away. We didn't even straighten the room up any (that's a woman photographer thing), we just made exposures. (See Betcee's hand & camera in the lower right corner of the image?)

My bedroom has two french doors leading out to a small deck. Under normal circumstances, this time of day would be lousy for photography -- those doors face east & this is early evening, with the sun setting in the west. But as I said, I live in the middle of the city. Immediately to the east of me is a short, one story building, but a few blocks away, there are large 25 story office buildings that are glass & metal -- they are highly reflective, and the sun is aligned perfectly. Light flows in. And typical of how Jessica & I think, we see good light, we put a naked woman in it, and pictures happen.

At my request, Jessica checks out the light beside the french doors. Meanwhile, Betcee's dog, Francis, is crying upstairs -- dogs are just not wired for solitude. Betcee goes to get him to join us, and then she gets in on the posing fun.

Here's a humbling thought -- this is how Betcee & Francis sleep (at least, that's what I'm told). Once in contact with Betcee, Francis calms down. He's a great dog -- he has three speeds: asleep, content, and frantic.

To me, it is always interesting to me to see how different photographers can see the same subject at the same time differently. Jessica is a wonderful talent behind the lens. Betcee is a rank beginner -- this was Betcee's first time with an experienced model, yet she has made some terrific images. I hope you enjoy these images.

We started in the late morning & didn't (couldn't) stop until the mid-August sun went down. That's hours & hours of unbridled nude photography. There was no structure, just each of us appreciating light and putting a nude figure in it where & when we found it. Afterwards, when there was insufficient sunlight for any more photography, we went out & got Thai food. That, too, was fun.

I remember 'way back in college (early 70s) -- we occasionally had long weekend photo orgies, where a bunch of us photographers would go off on a location or hiking or camping and make pictures all day & all evening. I'm not that young, anymore, but we certainly worked for hours & hours & hours.