Page created December 31, 2005
Sitting date:  November 19, 2005

 

Another thing that makes first sittings with new-to-me models challenging is that I typically don't have a sense of how a model moves.  Some models (especially inexperienced ones) hardly move at all -- at best, they try to strike a pose, usually with only moderate success.  Better models move with grace.  Understand -- a fast shutter speed & faster strobe duration will freeze any motion, so it's rarely necessary for a model to stand still.  

Movement is very important!  When a model moves, the gestures appear more natural & graceful.  Some models, particularly the glamour models, can move in a seductive & sexy manner (which is fine by me).  Other models move like modern dancers, with a grace that simply displays their figure without any overtly sexual overtones (which is also fine by me) -- these dancers are great for fine art figure photography.  Natalia is one of these dancers.

 

 

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Having seen Natalia's graceful movements, I decide to do some simple figure studies.  While I am changing the lights, Natalia takes the opportunity to put on a few bits of clothing in an attempt to keep warm.  

I ask Natalia if she was a dancer, and she said no.  Her stance says otherwise.

 

Well, if she is going to put clothes on between setups, I'll get another disrobing sequence for the sitting.  You'll just have to suffer through it -- I promise it won't last long.

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It was just around now when I became fully aware of Natalia's grace.  She's simply removing her shirt, yet you couldn't get an experience model to strike this pose as well.

Note to photographers:  shadows are your friends.

 

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I'm not sure if I could tell you why, but initially I like the little puddle of discarded clothing at Natalia's feet.  She moves like a three ring circus -- there's a lot to look at, and the action never stops.  

I should mention that Natalia has a "real job" that involves a bit of creativity.  I like her fashion sense -- it's casual but not random; it has style.  She is also very artistic in her posing -- I hardly have to explain anything:  she immediately "gets it" and is tireless in her movement.  In retrospect, maybe she's moving constantly to keep warm.  For my taste, it is quire warm in the house now, and the space heater is going full blast, but the model's comfort is paramount to me, so we keep the heat cranked up.

I switch to the film camera & make some more exposures.

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I move in closer.  I like how the tip of Natalia's ponytail sometimes pops out in this light.

 

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At the moment, I was enjoying working with Natalia & liking how she was moving, but I wasn't happy with the lighting.  I had wanted the background to be darker, and with the medium sized soft boxes, it was just too difficult to keep the light from falling onto the back wall.  That's why I like to think about lighting setups well in advance of the sitting itself -- while I can fine tune lighting setups, I hate interrupting the flow of the sitting to solve major problems.  Be prepared -- that's my credo, too.

I always have a few generic ideas in the back of my mind, many of which are areas where I feel a little weak.  One of these was my reduced ability to photograph models lying down.  I quickly change the lighting, give Natalia a blanket to lie down on, and move on to some different exposures. 

 

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Natalia continues to be a three ring circus.  Even lying down, she is constantly moving, rolling over, lying back down, moving her arms & legs.  It is pure joy for a photographer to work with a model who moves.

 

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It's hard to keep Natalia (lying) down -- she keeps working herself up.  We have a little battle of wills, but I eventually change the objective.  Another thing on my mind is to try some unusual proportions, possibly with wide angle distortions.

It is my experience that usually when you get young models nude in front of your camera, they tend to give you glamour poses; it's relatively rare to get some nice fine art poses, especially from someone who is as gorgeous as Natalia.  So, I think about doing some more unusual artistic photography.

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Here's another favorite.  I like the grace & power.

 

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I like the simple elegance of this image.  It's rare that I include a model's feet, but I wouldn't have been able to crop them out with this pose.

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Someday I'll write an essay about the "keeper ratio", which is the percentage of the exposures made during a sitting that are worthy of sharing here on the web pages.  Nearly all sittings are scheduled to last three hours, and during that time, I can make anywhere between 100 and 400+ exposures.  Of those, how many are worthwhile?  I'll have to think about that some more, but I do know that I was aware that the "keeper ratio" for this sitting was going to be high.  Natalia was showing me a great variety of poses & moods, and I was enjoying what I was seeing.

So, I pull another idea out of my head.  When in doubt, give the model something to do with her hands.  Using blankets & the gauzy backdrop, I ask Natalia to work with some cloth props.

This sitting continues with Draped

 

(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated) 

All images (c) 2006 Looknsee Photography

Natalia, First Sitting Out Takes

Over 120 more images from this sitting are available in the Out Takes Galleries.  These galleries are available to those who have made a donation to the upkeep of this web site.  See this FAQ question for more details.

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