Page
created May 27, 2005
Sitting date: May 4, 2005
While I enjoyed working with Kira in the living room in situ, I'd have to say that that is not really my style. I like to create light "sculptures" & place a figure in it; I like to craft special lighting for specific figures in an attempt to evoke a specific image concept. That is my strength. Those images are the kinds I most like to look at and the kind I most like to make. For this sitting, I planned to try three different things: utilizing the house & room furniture (done in the previous page), some studio images using some lighting ideas I want to try (this page), and for the finale, Kira promised to get into the shower with me & get wet (next page). Sittings are often three ring circuses -- there's a lot going on. Basically, I'm trying to manage the technical aspects of the sitting (lighting placement, background choices, props if any, exposure, composition), and I'm trying to manage the relationship & direction with the model.
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Kira
dances non-stop. I put up
the canvas background for a little
variety. Here's
the exception that proves the
rule. Normally, I dislike
photographs were the model is
looking outside the image
frame. I prefer that the
model give the camera eye contact,
or that she is looking at
something in the image frame, or
that she closes her eyes.
When a model is looking elsewhere,
I wonder what she is looking at,
why she isn't involved in the
image making process, whether the
chemistry between model &
photographer is off, etc.
Also, when a model chooses to look
off in the distance, there's often
a blank expression on her face; I
prefer images where the model
looks like she's thinking about
something.
Usually, I think having the model
look outside the image is
distracting. In
this case, I pulled in a full
length mirror, positioned to my
right. The lighting is
perfect, but only if Kira is
positioned in the light so that
the uplight can do its magic, and
the mirror let's Kira see where
the uplight is. Here, she is
looking at her reflection, making
sure the light is
good. So,
she is involved; the chemistry is
still there; and she looks
terrific. For those reasons,
I don't mind the loss of eye
contact. Okay,
she's checking her reflection
again. I found that
models really like having the
mirror available to aid in
their posing, but because it
tends to draw focus away, I
don't like it much.
Using digital cameras compound
the problem -- even when set
on "manual" (which I
use exclusively), the camera
has to "think" a bit
between me pressing the
shutter release & the
actual exposure, and that
little pause can be
significant. But
in this case, the benefits
(precise positioning to take
advantage of the uplight)
outweighs the downside
(drawing focus away).
The vast majority of these
pictures don't have this
"lost focus" issue. Kira
is still moving. I ask her
to shake her head & make her
hair fly. She does, and I'm
very glad she did. Here's
one of my favorites for the
sitting and so far, for the year,
too. I
think the music was the
"Brazilian Samba Orgy"
music. Kira has been dancing
non-stop, is breathing hard, and
having the most fun I've ever
seen. There's
a line from the movie "Dead
Poet's Society"
(paraphrasing) that says that man
invented language to woo
women. If that's the case,
then I think that women invented
dance to woo men. Kira
looks great, Kira is moving great,
the lighting is great, and the
planets aligned to allow us to
produce some wonderful
images. Neither of us wants
to stop. We made lots of
images -- hopefully, you'll be
able to see more in the Out
Takes Gallery. Kira
is a rarity -- most models
expect simply to take
direction, but Kira often
comes up with inspiring
suggestions. She asks
that we create images that
will drive her
ex-"fling" crazy & make him regret
ever treating her wrong.
I come up with this "less
is more" approach.
She looks like a bronze
sculpture; her skin is
perfect; the naughty bits are
covered but her nudity sparks
the imagination. Suffer,
fool! Here's
another favorite -- Kira in all
her sexy glory. On
comes the "Argentina Wins The
World Cup" music, and Kira
starts to dance again. She
is tireless. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I can't tell you how much fun we were having. Kira got a great workout, and I'm sure we are making some really good images. Kira danced for a long, long time, and by the end, she was breathing hard but was totally engaged. We both got the sense that we were having a very special sitting. Kira taught me a lot -- during our first sitting, she was not in a good mood, and the pictures suffered for it. That made me think about the responsibility of the photographer to set the mood & control the sitting. We did much better for our second sitting -- that second sitting was typically fun, and the images we produced were much better. This sitting, this third sitting, was one of my best ever -- we had so much fun! The atmosphere was just perfect; the lighting was great; the music was inspiring. Kira arrived feeling really good, especially good about how she looked, and it showed. We'll be hard pressed to top this sitting. I had wanted to invite Kira into the shower during the second sitting, but she had an appointment immediately after our sitting, and she didn't want to get wet. She promised that during our next sitting, she'd make sure that we spent some time in the shower. That's where we went next. This sitting concludes with Kira Gets Wet.
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(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated)
All images (c) 2005 Looknsee Photography |
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