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I
don't know how I thought about doing this, but I'm glad I
did.
The top floor
of my house is a finished attic: the walls are only ~4
feet tall, then the ceiling slants up at a 45º angle until it
reaches a normal 8 foot ceiling down the middle of the
floor. In my office, in the slanted part of the ceiling,
there are two skylights. Skylight light is wonderful, and
I've always wanted to use it, but I couldn't figure out how
to. If I used the best angles, I'd have the light Berber
rug, heating radiators, electric plugs, doorways, etc. in the
picture, and I just didn't want that.
Then I
thought about utilizing the studio cloth -- it's pinned to the
ceiling, down the slant, and then along the wall under the
skylight, and there was enough length & width to allow it to
puddle on the floor. I didn't stretch the studio cloth
taut; instead, I draped it, so its billowing produced
interesting shadows.
One final
element -- the studio cloth is translucent, and there is a door
about 4 or 5 feet behind Sylvia -- with the door open, the light
from the next room shone through the studio cloth. Easily
solved -- closing the door made the studio cloth seem
solid.
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A
wider image, to give you a little sense of the expansive
space. It's good to have enough space to allow the model
to move around. This setup is especially nice because you
lose all references to horizontal & vertical -- there are no
straight lines in the image. |
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It's
nice how all the major creases and shadows in the backdrop point
your eyes directly at Sylvia. |
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For
some reason, I like photographing Sylvia in space, and I like
how there are few lines of reference in this image. Also,
it is particularly gratifying to be able to get good tonality in
these digital images. |
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As
we roll around on the floor, Sylvia shows me this shape, and I
like it. I like what it does to her waist. |
Same
idea in a vertical orientation. I like this a lot.
It's an unusual body shape in an unusual setting. I love
the shadows & the tones in this image.
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The
tricky thing about this light is that it is coming from
above. It is therefore important to find natural poses
where the model's face is tilting up, so that it is well lit.
Here's a
great example. I love the tones of this image, but I
particularly like the light on Sylvia's face. I'm usually
a fan of eye contact with the camera, because otherwise, I
wonder what the model is looking at, but I'll make an exception
in this case, because the light is so nice. |
Here's another example. I figure that
instead of having Sylvia stare out of the picture frame, it's
easier to ask her to close her eyes.
Again, good tonality. This is much improved over the
color version of this image. For your reference, below is
the color image. Don't you think the toned one is
better?
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Sylvia
does a very good job rolling around under the skylight &
showing me different looks & angles. But it's a little
too much of a challenge to maintain eye contact with the camera
while tilting her face up towards the skylight. This is
close, but I think the pose / shape is a little artificial.
So, I ask
Sylvia to turn around & show me her back.
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Bam! That what the back of an accomplished
wind surfer looks like. I don't often photograph backs,
but Sylvia's is exceptional, and this light & setting is a
great compliment.
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We
work on finding ways to put a jog in Sylvia's spine. Some
models can stand in an "S" curve stance quite
naturally, while others simply can't. Sylvia is strong
& muscular, but we have to work hard to get bends &
twists in her backbone. |
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Just
for fun, I try an alternative cropping, to emphasize Sylvia's
marvelous arms & shoulders & upper back. Sylvia
helps out by holding her hair up, and I still like the lighting
& the tonality. A favorite. |
Another
alternate cropping, this time focusing on the length of Sylvia's
spine. Another pleasing image.
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One
last image from this setup. I like the images where
Sylvia's hands were on her head. How do I know? We
tried a few with her hands down. |
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Sylvia has a very
pleasant & mellow sitting together. I like the shortened
sitting length, especially if it forces me to plan & set up the
concepts ahead of time. That way, I was better able to concentrate
on talking with the model, getting to know her.
Sylvia is very
comfortable with her body & was enthusiastic about posing. It
is always a treat to work with a model who can move & pose.
I'm particularly
pleased to see good tonality in many of these images. In all, I am
becoming more & more comfortable with the new camera, although I
still have to learn how to control the focus better. That'll
come.
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On
the first page, I mentioned that there was something unusual
about this sitting, and I challenged the more observant frequent
visitors to figure it out. Did you? What makes this
sitting unusual is that every image was made with natural light
-- I didn't use my strobes at all. |
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