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| Those previous images, at my favorite
window: while we were making them, I knew I was
enjoying them. But no matter how good a setup is,
you eventually run out of steam -- I hate it when I find
myself just snapping the shutter without making any
improvements. I'm a "cerebral
photographer": I'm always thinking, and when
I stop thinking about the current setup, I know it's
time to move on. Further, with a two hour sitting
scheduled, I knew I wanted to try some studio-lighting
with Noname Jane.
I do think about a few different concepts before the
sitting ever starts. Lately, I've been hauling out
my biggest soft box -- it's four feet by six feet.
It's a big hassle wrestling that thing through the
house, but the light it creates is just so lovely.
It's also difficult putting that soft box on a light
stand -- it's just too big to tilt down. But I
recently figured out that I can use the boom arm that
attaches to my biggest light stand -- the boom arm is
comprised of three sections, but if I use just two
sections, I can attached the boom arm to the light stand
at a 45 degree angle. With the shortened boom arm,
the whole thing isn't too unstable, and I can raise the
soft box to the ceiling and point it downward.
If you position the downward pointing soft box to the
side, you can create some good shadows, which provide
some depth to the image.
Here is an early image, when I initially positioned
that lights. Noname Jane is just keeping warm in
the soft blanket, waiting patiently for me to fine tune
the lights. Although the lighting is close to what
I wanted, it does need some fine tuning. Look at
the next picture. |
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Compare
this image to the one above. I've made some
adjustments:
- In
the first image, the soft box was positioned closer
to the back wall, which created shadows that were a
little too heavy across Noname Jane's face.
Here, I moved the light forward a bit.
- In
the first image, there was a little light on the
floor behind the box on which Noname Jane sits --
originally it had a grid in it focusing its light,
and it was pointed low onto the background -- you
can hardly see it. In the second image, I put
the light on a stand and pointed it higher on the
backdrop. This light is important to me -- the
shadowed side of Noname Jane's figure is tonally
separated from the highlight on the backdrop.
Silly
hairdo, huh? Like I said earlier, Noname Jane was
leaving our session together to pose for a 1950's themed
sitting.
In
any case, with the lighting somewhat tuned, we were
ready to get busy. |
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I
can't tell you how much I enjoy this "Paint
Brush" effect. With great accuracy, it
reduces the image to the component parts of the
lighting. I've learned a great appreciation for
painters -- it's amazing to me how they can select the
perfect stroke shape & color in the creation of an
image. The original image isn't posted on this
public page (but it might appear on the Out Takes page),
but this brush strokes image by itself is powerful
enough to me that it can stand alone. Heck, maybe
someday, I'll display only the paint brush images from a
sitting.
I
don't get many comments from visitors to this web site
on these artistic effect images; that's okay -- I'm an
amateur, and I make photographs for my own
gratification; any appreciation from visitors is just a
bonus. But quite frankly, I've been having some
troubles with my eye these past few years, and the
eyesight in my left eye is just horrible nowadays -- I
can't see well at all. Thus, fine details have
perforce become less important to me, and the
abstraction in these "paint brush stokes"
images is not too far from what my left eye can
see. I do love these images. Not only do I
find them interesting, they remind me that even with
failing eyesight, I can still produce some interesting
art.
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Noname
Jane's face & body language is like a three ring
circus -- there's always something going on. I do
prefer to work with experienced models, but I am often
concerned that experienced models have been there &
done that a bit too much, and that the concepts that are
exciting to me might be boring to the model.
That's
not a problem with Noname Jane. She is always
present, easily entertained, emotive, and
exuberant. |
| Ooops! Sorry. I shouldn't have
had that burrito for lunch. (Ha!)
No, I don't remember what was going on, but Noname
Jane flashes a wide variety of expressions on her
face. I love it. Pay attention -- you'll see
tons of distinct looks. |
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