Working with models
multiple times is quite a challenge. For the first couple of
sittings, we are just trying to get to know each other and to figure out
how best to work together. Then, if we make it to the third or
fourth sitting, things get interesting. In particular, I want to
set the bar higher and to produce images that are more challenging in
some way.
Well, for this
sitting, there is both good news & bad news in this area:
- The bad
news: Working with the new camera is a challenge in
itself. Frankly, I don't want to be thinking about the camera
-- I want to be focused on the model & on the aesthetic aspects
of the sitting.
- The good
news: Natalia & I are working closer than ever
before.
Okay, this final idea
came partially from wanting to put the new camera through its
paces. I did want to use the second lens.
Here's my thinking
that generated the basic idea: I've got plenty of pictures of
Natalia's overall figure, and I thought to focus on one particular
feature of hers. I chose her lips -- she has a full & sensuous
mouth. Now, I've seen tons of close-ups of lips, and I just didn't
want to repeat that idea -- it's been done enough, and I doubt, even
with Natalia's yummy mouth, that I could improve upon them. It is
my style to occupy the model's brain, to keep her busy doing
something. My solution: gummy worms.
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When
I explained that I wanted her to play with some gummy worms,
Natalia said, "Okay", but I'm not sure she got the
concept fully. But she was game, and she tried it
out. |
It
takes us a little time for us to warm up to the concept,
but that's okay with me. Sometimes, the process requires
that you make lots of exposures before you get to the heart of
the concept. |
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To
be honest, I don't know how many gummy worms Natalia had to eat,
but she went through them rapidly. I had envisioned that
she'd play with each worm for a longer time, but she didn't, and
I didn't tell her to do anything differently.
It's
interesting. Sure, I often ask models to do something, to
keep their brains & hands occupied, but in addition, we
stumbled upon an activity that engaged one of Natalia's senses,
her sense of taste. That added more benefits. |
We
work the concept, trying angles & variations. Natalia
is too quick for me, pouncing on each gummy worm like a hungry
bird. I wanted to catch the worm just before Natalia
captures it in her mouth -- I come close, but I never did quite
get it. Still, my failure wasn't a big deal -- we got a
lot of fun exposures. |
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Natalia
is enjoying herself.
Or she's
feeling a little silly.
Or
both. |
Skin,
lips, worm, and bracelet: what's not to like?
Normally, I
tend to ask models to remove all jewelry &
accessories. I don't know why I didn't today.
Getting
models to remove jewelry can cause problems, in that sometimes
jewelry gets left behind. When Natalia was here months
ago, she lost a bracelet when we were working in the Close
Canyon. I returned it to her this time. |
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There!
I did catch her in mid-pounce.
I do like
this lighting, and I expect I'll use it again, but when I do, I
think I'll add a secondary light behind the model, illuminating
the backdrop. That will give a little tonal separation
between the model & that background.
I do like
these strong shadows. I had a medium sized softbox
suspended on a boom arm just above my head -- it was fairly
close to the model, which helped create those strong shadows. |
(No
real worms were harmed in the production of these images).
I don't know how many gummy worms Natalia consumed, but it
was several. I liked the portraits we did earlier, so we
do a few more. |
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Okay,
sometimes the choice of lighting puts some constraints on the
posing. This is one of those times. With the light
coming from above, I had to ask Natalia to "cheat" her
face up a little bit. If/when she kept her face level,
there were too many shadows.
This pose
emphasizes Natalia's lovely neck & sensuous lips.
Makes me wish I was a vampire. |
I really, really, really like this image.
The nudity is just secondary, but the lighting & the
interpersonal contact makes it special to me. |
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We
might be done with the gummy worms, but I wasn't done feeding
the model. Getting Natalia's taste buds involved was nice
-- several of these images had a sensuous feel primarily because
we were engaging her senses.
So, I figure
I'd feed Natalia an orange. The first thing she did was
this. I asked her if this was how she ate oranges.
No, she replied. This is how she ate oranges when people
were photographing her eating oranges. |
Other than scaling the pictures to fit on this
page, this is a relatively unprocessed image. Boy, those
colors look good on my snazzy new monitor. |
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That
was a good orange!
Natalia was
quick with the gummy worms, but she took her sweet time with the
orange. We made a big lot of exposures. I was
trigger happy. |
Good
orange. I kinda like catching Natalia in mid-chew. |
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Eating
that orange is messy work. Notice the drop of juice on
Natalia's neck?
Fear not --
the orange is all but consumed. |
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Bonus
Pictures!
There's still a little time left in our sitting, and I
didn't want to feed Natalia anything more (until dinner, that
is). So, with a slight adjustment to the lighting, we
finish today's session on the big comfy chair. |
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I'll
admit that I'm kinda on auto-pilot at the moment. We are
continuing to make exposures because a) I've been enjoying my
time with Natalia a lot, and b) we had time left over in our
scheduled time. Natalia is either indefatigable, or I'm
just not challenging her enough to wear her out. My
typical sitting is scheduled for three hours, and I'm beginning
to think that perhaps I should cut that down to two. |
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I
do like the lighting here. It makes Natalia glow. |
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