Noname Jane Nude In Sun

Nude In The Sun

Page created October 16, 2009
Sitting date: May 8, 2009

Ever notice that the vast majority of the images you see have similar height-to-width ratios? There are two semi-"standard" ratios: one proportionate to the standard 8x10 photo-print size, and the other proportionate to the proportions of a 35mm sensor (or a typical digital camera sensor). I can understand that -- photographers want to use the entire negative or digital image size. In fact, I occasionally see film prints where the edge of the negative itself appear as a border for the print.
Ever notice that the vast majority of the images you see place the subject of interest smack dab in the center of the image, and that the subject tends to fill the image space. I can understand that, too -- if you are looking at a belly button, you want to see the belly button, and you are inclined to eliminate any extraneous distractions.

Well, from the very first moment that I picked up a camera, I resisted such tendencies. I love pictures with unusual proportions (when it works). I love putting the subject of interest off-center (when it works). I love the sense of space. I love strong & unusual compositions.

Don't get me wrong -- pulling off these kind of images is a difficult thing to do.

I really love this picture -- it's just wide enough to contain the entire patch of sunlight as it hits the floor. I love the height, because the mirror on the wall balances out the window itself. I don't mind that Noname Jane is looking out of the image frame, because

You can get an idea of what she is looking at, and

She is looking up, and the extra height of the image contains her glance.

Compare this image with the cropped version below. I think the tall & skinny version is much more exciting. Don't you?

I like this image, too. I like how Noname Jane's figure practically fills the little patch of sunlight -- the light on her body is different from the light in the rest of the image, and this highlights her figure. I like that I kept this image tall, so you can easily see where this strong light is coming from. I like that I positioned the camera so that you can almost see the entire window frame.

Below are some artistic effects applied to this image.

I like unusual proportions in both horizontal & vertical orientations. I suppose I could have cropped out all that empty space on the left side of the image, but I like that sheen in the floor molding. That extra space gives you a better sense of the space in the image.

Here's the last image we made in this glorious patch of sunlight. The exposure & post-processing was tricky, and we kinda ran out of ideas.

But after working these images, cropping & editing these image -- I've got to say that these were very gratifying. I had noticed that I had moved away from that which I thought was a strength of mine -- unusual cropping & compositions that worked. I'm glad to see that I've still got that in my bag of tricks.

We had scheduled a two hour session, and to me that means about two different setups. I was pleased that the weather cooperated and gave us an opportunity to do some fun images by my favorite window. For our second setup, I had planned to try some studio lighting, designed to emulate some skylight lighting. Go see.

Studio Session #1

(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated)

All images (c) 2009 Looknsee Photography

Over 90 more images from this sitting are available in the Out Takes Galleries, which are available to those who have made a donation to the upkeep of this web site. See this FAQ question for more details.