Claustrophobic, Page 1

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Page created July 18, 2008
Sitting date: 
January 28, 2008

 

I admit that I spend a good amount of time on the Internet looking at nude pictures of lovely women; most of the time, I'm looking at on-line modeling web sites.  While there are many "on-line models", not all models are at the same level.  The top on-line models work a lot, and they travel a lot.  In the past, I've had the pleasure of working with several of these top traveling models, including (but not limited to) Betcee May, Yulia, Natalia, and Victoria.

So, I've been a fan of Carlotta for a long time.  She has traveled the world, posing for many highly skilled photographers & creating an incredible collection of wonderful images.  When I got word that she was coming through town, I immediately asked for a sitting.

 

 

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This wasn't a typical sitting for me.  I invited Jessica to photograph Carlotta with me -- in fact, I wanted Jessica to come up with & execute her own concepts, too.  As a result, I only put together two concepts of my own.  

This was the first.  It's a variation of the "Close Canyon" concept that I first did with Natalia -- this time, however, I buried an extra light in the corner behind the backdrop.

 

Okay, let's be honest -- Carlotta has one of the most breathtaking figures I've ever seen.  I'm not normally comfortable talking about women's bodies, but look at her.  She has full, naturally, shapely breasts, a narrow waist, & perfect hips.  On top of all that, Carlotta is very experienced & knows how to show off her figure.  

It takes a while to fine-tune the lighting here -- in particular, it was a challenge to position the light behind the backdrop correctly (in this image, you can see the wire leading to the flash head).  It was even more of a challenge to take my eyes off of Carlotta's spectacular figure so that I could check out the other details.  Jessica had to help. 

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The space is confining -- Carlotta's hands are on opposite walls.  For many models, that's a challenge, but not for Carlotta -- she finds ways to fill the space with natural gestures.  Carlotta worked with minimal direction.  I explained the overall concept, and I showed her an exposure or two on the digital camera's LCD screen, and that's all she needed.   

 

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It actually took us a few iterations to get the behind-the-backdrop light positioned well.

Something that I think about during each sitting:  change perspectives.  Carlotta & I get a little bit closer to the floor.

On a separate note:  although I've shared models with other photographers before, it was difficult to do so this time:

  1. I have only one set of Pocket Wizards, meaning that only one photographer can be working with the strobes at any time.
  2. The space here was tight, so there weren't too many spots for Jessica to stand & observe.
  3. The youthful Jessica was excited & anxious for her turn.

We managed, but I'm not sure either of us were overly satisfied.  Still, Jessica's energy was a great help in getting the details right.

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I don't think I can find a position or pose where Carlotta looks less than spectacular. 

 

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I get the impression that most of Carlotta's assignments are of the "glamour" genre, but casual & comfortable poses like this are better suited for fine art.  Carlotta is certainly versatile.

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I think I still have work to do to perfect this lighting.  I like the addition of the light in the corner behind the backdrop, but the down light is still a little harsh.  I like for the models to have eye contact with the camera, but this particular lighting isn't good for that -- when the model looks directly at the camera, her eyes are in shadow.  

The main light is a small-ish soft box suspended on a boom above the model.  Maybe I should use a bigger soft box?  It's difficult, because the soft box is on the end of a large boom arm on top of a light stand that is on a landing on the back stairs.  Everything is balanced precariously.  Then again, solving problems like this one is central to the production of good images.   

 

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Okay -- a little diversion for some tech talk.  I've been including more color pictures in my sets.  Truth be told, I still much prefer the monotones -- I'm especially fond of my pseudo-sepia tones.  But I'm not opposed to the occasional color image.  Here's one.

Hmmm -- although this is a color image, there really isn't a wide variety of colors in this image.  The actual scene was pretty monochromatic.  So, for this set at least, I'll stick to mostly the sepia toned images.

 

However, while we are diverted -- I am beginning to use RAW images more.  In fact, this is the first set where I made a RAW image of every exposure.  As it turned out, on my old PC, my old photo-editing software couldn't handle the RAW images from my camera, but when I got my new computer, I upgraded my software, and the new software could handle the RAW images.  Also, the new computer is considerably faster than the old one -- it does take a little bit longer to process the RAW images, but the quality is significantly better, so it's a worthwhile trade-off.

I did this at the urging of Jessica.  She told me, "once you go RAW, you'll never go back".  She was right.

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It is a measure of Carlotta's abilities as a model that she can continuously find new poses & shapes.  This setup is admittedly confining, but Carlotta keeps moving and finds ways to show off her figure. 

 

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By all accounts, Carlotta is impressive.  Besides being a knockout, she is experienced & skilled at presenting herself well.  She is prepared, needs minimal direction, and full of ideas.  

Okay -- the space is confining, and Carlotta can't move around all that much, but I can.  Take a look:

This sitting continues with Claustrophobic, Page 2

 

(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated) 

All images (c) 2008 Looknsee Photography

Carlotta, First Visit Out Takes

Over 110 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.