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The
first image using the subtly changed lighting,
and it is a good start. However, remember
my posing nit, where I don't like when a model's
limb is pointing at the camera lens? Look
at Kristin's right thigh -- it has all but
disappeared, and I don't like how it looks like
her knee is growing out of her hip.
Still,
there's plenty here to be encouraging -- the
soft shadows and the subtle highlights create a
good feeling of depth to the image.
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(Still
playing with the tall-narrow
cropping).
There
are pluses & minuses to this
image. The "limb
pointing at camera" nit has
been corrected. However,
Kristin has turned a bit towards
the main light, which reduces
those soft shadows that I worked
to get.
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The
challenge of a sitting is to evaluate what you
are seeing continuously and to make the
necessary adjustments. Take that image
above -- I liked the pose, but I didn't like the
position because the pose was open to the main
light, which caused those subtle soft shadows to
disappear. How to fix it?
Simple. I ask Kristin to give me the same
pose's mirror image, with her facing away from
the main light. Here's the result.
What do you think?
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Okay,
I finally admit that I'm
struggling with that main light
placement. I think I wanted
more shadows, so I make additional
changes to the lighting. In
the previous setup, the main light
was twice as bright as the fill
light, so the first thing I do is
to make the adjustment so that the
main & the fill light were
equally bright. Next, I
moved the main light back some
more. I might have even
switched from a large soft box to
a medium-small soft box.
I
like the results.
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Much
better! This was the kind of light I had
envisioned. Also note her leg position --
with her right leg over her left, I don't have
that "limb pointing at the camera"
nit, but if her left leg was over her right, I
would have had that nit.
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Like
I said, I like asking my models to
twist & stretch -- it makes
their figures look great.
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I
like natural gestures. Also note the
relative positions of Kristin's elbows.
With the right elbow high, there is no
"limb pointing at the camera" nit
issues, but if her right elbow was low like her
left, there would be that issue. I just
naturally select the poses that avoid that
nit.
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Okay,
this pose is a little on the
"cheesecake" side, and
her left thigh is pointing at the
lens. Still I like this
image.
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| Okay,
throughout the time working with the
studio lights, the digital camera was
becoming unstable. Soon after I
made the exposure above, it just
stopped working with the
strobes. My studio strobes are
maybe 15 years old, and digital
photography just wasn't a
consideration when these lights were
manufactured. Now, digital
photography is much more
prevalent. In fact, I've come to
use my digital camera more & more,
for a lot of reasons:
- Nothing beats that instant
gratification of seeing the image
a second after it is exposed.
- It is also helpful to be able to
show the model some images, so
that you can discuss what you are
looking at & how you might
want her to modify her posing.
- With my eye problems, I have
trouble focusing my film
camera. While I hate letting
the digital camera make decisions
for me, the auto-focus has proven
helpful while I seek help for my
occluded vein.
- While film still provides much
higher quality results, digital
photography is quicker &
cheaper.
- I love the pivoting/swinging LCD
screen, allowing me to compose
images from unusual angles.
I just wish there were good DSLRs
with such screens, but to date,
there really isn't.
I
had been using a hot-shoe-to-PC-Xsync
adapter from the digital camera's
manufacturer, it was now clear that it
didn't protect the camera from the
strobe's voltage. While I sent
the digital camera back to the
manufacturer for repairs, I called the
strobe light manufacturer, and they
had a special voltage protector for
adapting their lights to digital
cameras. So, hopefully, this
adapter will protect the digital
camera in the future, once it's back
from being repaired.
Still
it was frustrating. Kristin had
expressed an interest in doing some
light bondage posing, something I
haven't done in a while. We even
made arrangements for her boyfriend to
be present & for him to act as a
rigger. We were saving the
bondage stuff to the end, because we
were concerned that any ropes would
leave marks in Kristin's skin.
But
the digital camera simply didn't last
long enough, and my eye was not in
good enough shape to focus the film
camera. So, even though we were
only 2/3rds of the way through our
time, I just had to give up & send
them home. (For the record, I
paid Kristin for the full session -- I
figure it wasn't her fault that my
equipment failed, and she made the
commitment to travel all the way here
in the expectation of being paid.)
As
I write this, it's roughly two months
after this sitting's date. The
camera has been repaired & appears
to be working well, but I can't say
that I trust it. My eye is much
better, and although focusing is a bit
of a challenge, I can do it. So,
hopefully, I'll be able to pick up the
pace shortly. (In fact, as I
write this, I had another sitting
about a week ago, and another one
scheduled in about a week.)
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