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As I mentioned
on the previous page, I didn't care for the light I set
up here Ashley was wearing some fun see-through lingerie
that was actually very nice, but we made only a handful
of exposures with this arrangement before we changed things
around a bit.
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So, Ashley
moves on to her next outfit, basically a t-shirt under which
she wore nothing (how exciting). I make minor improvements
to the lighting, and we try this out. |
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So, not giving
up, Ashley tries a green slip -- I love the color.
Again, now, after the fact, I figure that the problems with
this particular setup is my lighting, not Ashley or her
clothing. But sadly, I wasn't quite aware of the issue
with the lighting. So, we kept trying.
Throughout,
Ashley is smiling & laughing -- you've got to love her
for that.
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Okay, I finally figured out that I wasn't
getting the lighting right. Glancing around, I noticed
some fine natural light on the other side of the room, on
the big comfy chair by the front window. So, we abandoned
the strobe lights & settled in to the cuddly chair.
So I try a few new things, including using a wide angle
lens & photographing Ashley from above. We make
some lovely images.
I guess that's typical me:
- If a setup isn't working well at first, keep trying
by analyzing the problems & making adjustments.
- But if something isn't working, it's okay to walk
away. In this case, I was better able to examine
the problems after-the-fact, when I edited the images.
- Always be open for opportunities to arise.
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Well, I am
a photographer of the nude, so gradually, Ashley & I
conspire to reveal more & more skin. Still throughout,
Ashley is smiling & laughing -- she remains excited &
enthusiastic, but I think she is beginning to lose her nervousness.
Can you tell? |
I think of myself as a laid back fellow,
and for that reason, beginning models feel safe & comfortable
with me.
But a lot of beginning models tend to want explicit instructions
on how to pose, and I don't like to do that. I'd rather
give the model an objective, and I let the model figure
out how to obtain the objective. For example, I might
ask model to take her time & to start removing her clothing
-- it's up to the model to decide which article of clothing
is to be removed first or how she is to remove it.
Most of the time, I've found that models tend to remove
their tops first. In this case, Ashley removes her
bottoms first.
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Ashley, now
nude, is still quite comfortable in the big chair.
On the other hand, I'm not comfortable, perched precariously
mostly above her. So, I move down to her level, for
some exposures from a more traditional perspective. |
This
one, above, is a favorite. I've been making images like this one
for 40 years.
I must like these big comfy chair + natural
light images -- I'm including many here on this page.
Here is a gesture that Ashley does a lot -- she is smiling &
laughing behind her hand. She is just charming.
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You never know
what to expect when you work with a model who is posing
(nude) for the first time, but Ashley is far exceeding my
expectations. For normal sessions, I like to think
about a handful of setups that we can try, and we usually
can get to three or four of them. My normal sittings
last 2.5-3 hours, but we had scheduled only two hours for
our first sitting. Finally, I like the natural light
this day, so I chose a natural light setup for our final
setup -- something I haven't done in a while -- working
on the back stairs. |
Back Stairs
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