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Seven.
Seven is a large number, if you are counting the times I work with one
particular model. Lots of things can happen to prevent me from
working with one particular model that often -- the chemistry can be limited, I can
run out of ideas to try with that model, we can drift apart, the model
can lose interest in modeling, someone can move away. If we get to
seven sittings, you can assume that it's something special.
Case in
point is Kira: a year earlier, she graduated from college &
moved back east. As with most recent college graduates, she's made
significant changes to her life & her life style -- included in
these changes is this: she's not modeling much anymore. But
when she came through town on her way to a family event, she stopped by
here, for one last sitting, for old time's sake.
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Lately,
I've been using more & more natural light -- Spring &
Summer are brighter here in the Pacific Northwest. As such, I've
been starting my typical sitting right after lunch.
However, Kira & my plan was to make some pictures & go
to dinner -- we started late in the afternoon, after 4:30.
For some part
of today's sitting, I wanted to use natural light, so we start
looking. We start at the "first window", but I
don't like it -- the afternoon sun is hitting that window
strongly, and Kira's front side is not well lit.
So, we keep
looking.
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| So,
we find this spot, and I love the light. I live downtown --
the city has grown up around my house (which was built in
1890). The building to the north (to the right of the camera
angle) has an ivory colored wall that's just 8-10 feet away, and the
bright late afternoon sunlight
is bouncing off that wall & filling this little area with a
lovely soft light.
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call this particular spot, "Tundra's Spot". Tundra
is my sadly departed dog, and in her old age, she liked to
lie in this very spot. It was out of the way, so people
wouldn't step on her, and she didn't have to move much, but she
could see into several of the adjourning rooms. She could
watch me as I watched TV or cooked dinner, or sat in the living
room. When she felt better, she could stand up & look
out the large window (which had a low sill) and watch the
traffic on the street below. It was a quiet & comfy
spot for her. Towards the end, she just slept a lot in
this spot. |
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(Side
note: with my new monitor, I am now viewing the Internet
with a higher resolution. As such, more heretofore large
image size wasn't all that large anymore. So, I'm going to
post my favorite images (like this one) from a sitting with a
larger size -- 700 pixels in its largest dimension. I'm also
modifying my file naming convention.)
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| Tundra
was definitely my dog -- she had a knack of finding the spots with
the most terrific light. To be honest, I've been reluctant
to use this spot because I still miss my dog, and this particular
spot is kinda haunted for me.
But by now,
Kira & I know each other pretty well & are very
comfortable with each other. So, she's the perfect person to
exorcise Tundra's ghost for me.
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I'm
still learning this camera. I think I set this camera to ASA
400 -- even so, I was using an exposure of 1/30th of a second, and
I was hand holding the camera. For several of these
exposures, the focus is a little off, and for others, I think
1/30th was a little too slow. In any case, many of these
images are softer than intended. I can fix that for future
sittings, know that I know what to look for. (i.e. I can use
a tripod).
On the other
hand, the camera is recording great tones & a great body.
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really haven't seen Kira for over a year, and she's changed a lot.
I suspect she
won't like me talking about her physical changes. When I
first met her, in late 2004, she was a very young model, and she
was very obsessed with her physique & her diet (in my opinion, unhealthily
so). Now, she's much happier, much more relaxed, and much
more confident. Her figure is still terrific &
breath-taking, but that confidence & happiness has made her
even more sexy than ever. |
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Yay!
Jeans are off!
For much of her
early modeling career, Kira posed for sexy glamour images, and
that's kinda what she was falling back on. Like I said, she
hasn't been modeling much this past year. I reminded her
that we were not trying to titillate the viewer, and we soon found
other poses & concepts.
But it's
difficult to suppress her sexiness.
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| Nude
at last! I like watching a model take off her clothes --
it's exciting.
See? Even
covered up like this, Kira is sexy. Her skin is smooth &
clear; her eyes are direct & confident. She looks
terrific. I'm glad we found this wonderful light for her.
All this time,
we are catching up with each other. It's relatively rare
that I get close to models -- after all, I'm often older than
their parents, and being friends with models is not a
requirement. All we need is to get along, to respect each
other (and each other's limits), and have a little fun during the
sitting. But on occasion, models become friends, and we get
to share a little bit about ourselves during the sitting and
outside the sitting.
Of course, I'm
not going to publish personal & private information about a
model here. You'll just have to take my word for it.
Or look close at the images of the model -- you can often tell the
kind of relationship the photographer has with the model by
looking closely at how the model looks at the camera.
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| It's
great to see Kira, and it's great to see her. She's gone
through a lot of great & positive changes this past year, and I feel
so lucky that she's chosen to pose one more time, for old time's sake,
for me.
This sitting continues with
Kira About The House.
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