Leona -- Leather Pants, May, 2003

Leona models her leather pants (from her "singer in the band" days) and my favorite shirt.

(Working to break my "distance to the model"
habit, most of these pictures are made with
a full length set-up...

... but this particular habit is tough to break. I crop
these pictures with my typical "head to knee"
composition. Good thing I work in medium format.)

I like this picture -- good contact with the model, and I like the shadow. For aspiring photographers: I'm self taught, and the single most significant habit in my development is my obsession with figuring out how images are lit. This is a simple lighting set-up, with a single, slightly soft light that was positioned to the left of the camera & slightly higher than Leona's head -- you can also tell that Leona was standing very close to the background wall. (And it doesn't hurt that Leona was looking particularly gorgeous that day.)

Here's a favorite from our sitting. We just like the radical jog in Leona's hips.

Somehow, Leona loses the shirt.

Here's another favorite -- I like how her breast pops out & is framed by the shadow of her head.

Assessment: I don't think Leona has ever looked more luscious. These pictures make me wonder what it would be like to to touch her. Also, I like the feminine "architecture" in Leona's torso, and this light highlights that.

Yes, Leona was all there for this sitting. That being said, I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed by my own contribution. While the simple, slightly soft light is an interesting way to go, this particular set-up had some problems. In particular, the light fall-off is severe. By "fall-off", I mean that the light by Leona's head is significantly brighter than the light on her legs, because the light was so close to her. This is something that could be corrected in future sittings by simple moving the light back from the model (and raising it to maintain the same angle); I might have to use a larger softbox to compensate for the greater distance from the model (in order to maintain the same amount of softness). And here's an example of the studio dimensions influencing the image -- we work in my living room, which has a ceiling that is nine & a half feet tall, thus, I can't raise the light any higher than that, which will limit how far I can keep the light from the model, which can limit how much of the model I can light. Bottom line: a lot of the images I can imagine cannot be created in my living room -- I need more space, in particular a taller ceiling.

I'm also a bit concerned that I'm getting into a rut. The good news is that this time of year, I typically slow down my photography (it's difficult to work in the darkroom when the weather outside is so nice), so I'll have some time to contemplate new directions. I think it's important not to dwell on past successes too much. (I should be shot for that last sentence).