I'll
return to a concept if I feel I
can improve it, but otherwise, I
dislike repeating
concepts. When
I asked Brooke to pose
horizontally, I loved the
arch in her back, but there
wasn't a lot of tonal separation
between her back in shadow &
the dark backdrop. When
I asked Jennifer to pose
horizontally, we tried a few
things to address this issue:
- We
lit the backdrop from above
(changing the position a
couple of times before we
got it right),
- We
backlit Jennifer's figure,
and
- We
used a black backdrop.
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But
I like this solution better than
the previous attempts.
Here we have a backdrop lit from
a light source on the floor,
behind the model's posing
table. The darker areas to
the left & right sides of
the image make the whole image
feel more cozy.
I
also like the casual positioning
of Victoria's arm & leg. |
A
slight variation from the
preceding image. I don't
know why but I like seeing
model's ribs -- sometimes the
architecture of the human body
is enough to interest me.
Other points of interest:
- I
like that there is nothing
but soft surfaces in the
image.
- There
is some nice hair
highlights, something
missing from previous
horizontal setups.
- Victoria
has nice legs, doesn't she?
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However,
there is room for improvement,
for me (not for Victoria -- she
is perfect).
- Again,
the technical aspects are
below my standards -- poor
exposure & processing.
- The
lighting could be improved
-- in many of these images,
the light on Victoria's face
is too shadowy.
- In
the picture above, the
wrinkles on the blanket are
distracting.
- And
overall, the camera
positioning is not
interesting.
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Worse,
the digital images were horribly
exposed. There's something
to be said for the darker,
higher contrast treatment, but
that wasn't intentional.
In fact, I am surprised that the
actual image was so poor,
especially since the preview
image on the LCD screen looked
fine. I am committed in
sharing my mistakes on this web
site, because failures are often
more instructive than successes,
but I won't be sharing too many
of the digital images from this
setup. Too bad -- Victoria
looks wonderful. But that
being said -- here's a couple: |
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Victoria
poses a bit in a more upright position. |
Close,
but no cigar. Victoria looks
lovely -- honest eye contact, a
secret smile on her face, and her
amazing figure is well
displayed. I do like the
light on the back of her shoulder.
However,
the background light is a bit too
bright, the exposure is off, and
we could have stood a hair light
on the back of her hair.
She
is nude, but somehow it is a quiet
kind of nude. This pose is
less "in your face" than
your typical pose, and that makes
this picture interesting to me.
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Victoria
has wonderful posture. In
fact, to me the best thing about
photographing dancers is that
they have wonderful
posture. But for just one
exposure, I ask Victoria to
slouch & slump, and this is
what we got. Perhaps it is
nasty of me, but I like this
picture, mostly because Victoria
has great eye contact and is
totally relaxed. (Perhaps
I should crop it above her waist
-- what do you think?)
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Two
last digital images, above.
Here
is the final image from this
sitting. It is a good idea
but one that begs for
improvement.
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I
can't tell you how wonderful it is to
work with Victoria A. -- she is a
very special model. She travels
around quite a bit & is
approachable, and she gets my highest
recommendation.
Things
that went well:
-
Getting
her moving not only produced some
interesting images, it set the
tone for the entire sitting.
This was one of the highest energy
sittings I've had.
-
We
tried new (for me) things. I
really like the low level
perspective, the movement
pictures, and the improved
horizontal lighting.
Things
that could be improved:
-
Exposure
-- I did a poor job during this
sitting. In particular, I
can't trust the LCD preview screen
on my digital camera.
-
While
the horizontal pictures shown here
are an improvement, there is still
room for more improvement.
-
I
definitely want to try the low
perspective stuff some more,
perhaps with some high perspective
stuff, too.
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