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Carlotta
likes coming to Portland. She doesn't have problems
finding enough bookings here to pay for her trip.
There was even some talk about her moving to the area.
But for
some reason, she always seems to come through town during
the coldest part of the year. Portland only gets snow
for maybe a handful of days each year, and that seems to
happen when Carlotta comes to town.
Carlotta
lives in Florida. The problem is these warm weather
models is that they are never warm. When I have a
sitting scheduled, I turn up the thermostat hours before
the scheduled start time, and I have a little space heater
that I can point at the model, just out of the image frame.
For some, it is never enough.
Carlotta
likes shopping, especially at used clothing stores.
She got this coat when she arrived in Portland & experienced
the cold weather. We decided to let her warm up, but
we didn't stop making pictures.
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I'm including
this image here not because I like it but because I don't
like it at all.
I've
really grown to dislike that "model staring off into
the distance" pictures. What the heck is she
looking at? Why is she ignoring the photographer?
What is going on?
I realize
that such pictures are popular, but when I see such images,
I think the photographer was/is a beginner.
And that's
the only downside to working with experienced models.
They have a set of moves & poses that photographers
have preferred in the past, so they tend to offer all photographers
the same poses that have made them successful.
Don't
get me wrong. I love working with experienced models.
I prefer working with experienced models. But I don't
want the tried & true old poses. It's easy to
bore an experienced model. The challenge for me as
the photographer (the person with the artistic vision) is
to engage the model's brain with new ideas. Experienced
models raise the bar, and the photographer has to figure
out the way to make the sitting new & exciting. "New &
exciting" is not so easily accomplished with a model
who has posed for some of the best photographers in the
world.
So, I
like getting the model to move. I give her something
to do with her hands. I talk with the model.
Anything to get a natural reaction instead of standard poses.
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While I
don't like the "model staring out into the distance"
images, I don't insist on model eye contact for every picture.
Two of the main reasons I don't like the "staring out
into the distance" pictures are...
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It draws the viewer's eyes out of the image, and
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I always wonder what she is looking at.
This
image, without any eye contact, is preferable to me.
While we can't see what Carlotta is looking at, we have
a pretty good idea that she's looking at her foot on the
floor. In addition, I think this is an unusual picture:
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It is not a standard glamour pose,
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In fact, it's just some natural gestures, true to the
moment,
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There's something casual about Carlotta's nudity.
Admittedly,
there's something about this picture that I can't quite
figure out. On some level, it puts me ill at ease,
but I couldn't tell you why. And for that reason alone,
I like this image.
(Also, it has nice light & tones, and it has nice
tonal separation between the figure & the background,
and despite the casual pose, Carlotta is all woman.)
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Here's a
more glamorous pose, of the kind that makes Carlotta famous.
There's a lot going on with this image.
I was
going to list all the elements that make Carlotta look luscious
in this image, but then I thought -- why bother? If
you can't see it, me explaining it won't help you.
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It ain't
bragging if it's true: I come from a show biz family
-- my father was a very successful song writer. As
a consequence, I've been around famous people all my life,
and I still trip over a famous person every now & then.
For them, once they become famous, the people they meet
tend to treat them like celebrities, and sometimes that's
a bother. But for me, meeting a celebrity is no different
from meeting a non-celebrity.
I've
been a fan of Carlotta's for a long time before I met her.
Nearly all of the images you see of Carlotta are glamor
poses. There's nothing wrong with that -- in fact,
I enjoy making some glamor type images with her.
But more
than anything, when I photograph a person (model or otherwise),
I'm looking for "connection". I don't envy
Carlotta her work -- she's on the road much (most?) of the
time, posing nude for hundreds of photographers, all of
whom want the same thing from her. The danger is that
she can fall into habit posing.
Meanwhile,
instead of just ogling her body, I'm looking for "connection",
and on occasion, I say or do something (or provide some
direction) that breaks Carlotta out of her habit posing.
These "connection" images are the ones I treasure
most.
Like
this one. Like the one below. Carlotta works
hard, and in most of her images, she is not smiling.
I like her smile.
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There more,
a lot more, to being an exceptional model than being attractive.
Carlotta is an exceptional model, and yes, she is a knock-out.
But in addition:
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She knows how to move & pose,
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She knows how to present herself,
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She conducts herself professionally,
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She is very confident.
And to
me, nothing is more attractive than confidence.
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I like the
pose. I'm a big fan of poses that give a little jog
to the spine and that raises one shoulder higher than the
other. As long as it's natural, and Carlotta can pull
it off.
I also
like the glow behind the coat.
Finally,
I'm a fan of off center presentations. So, this image
works on several levels.
But Carlotta
has a somewhat neutral expression on her face. I always
figure that that stuff is my fault -- it is my job to engage
the model in the process. The similar image, below,
is better.
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Winter weather
in the Pacific Northwest is a crap shoot. In particular,
days are often dark & gloomy, but on occasion, the sun bursts
through the cloud cover. When it does, we celebrate it.
It is a rare winter occurrence. It is rarer still when
it happens during a photo sitting. Today, the sun cam
out for just a moment, and I scrambled to utilize the sunlight
coming through my favorite window. But by the time I took
down the backdrop, moved the light stands, and opened the window
shade, the sunlight was starting to fade. Still, we made
a few exposures (most of which will appear on the Out Takes
gallery).
I love off
center compositions, when they work.
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Here's my
favorite famous window. The window shade softens the
light, and if the sun is bright enough, produces streak
shadows that are fun & interesting. The space
is a bit tight, but I compensate by using a wide angle lens.
I minimize the wide angle distortions by keeping the camera
low and keeping the camera axis parallel to the floor.
If the lens was pointed up or down, the vertical lines would
start to curve more.
You can
see why I like putting models into this corner.
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One special
treat -- Carlotta "gets it". Put her in
a situation, like posing in this corner, and maybe show
her a sample on the camera's LCD screen, and she needs very
little direction. Carlotta gives me a fine range of
poses, and I like all of them. That frees me to pick &
choose the poses and to play with compensation.
We had
the idea of keeping the coat in the image, on the floor.
I've had the idea before of having a trail of clothes on
the floor, leading up to the nude model. I've even
tried it a few times. I haven't been satisfied yet
-- so I suspect that I'll try it again. Keep tuned
to future sitting images.
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I've also put
models on the floor in this corner -- it changes the feeling
of the resulting images. By putting the model on the floor,
I can move in closer, making the images more intimate.
I particularly like the natural light on Carlotta's face --
I just love this light, including the light that bounces around
off the floor & wall to illuminate Carlotta's lovely figure. |
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And just
like that, the sun disappears behind a thick cloud cover,
that the window light is gone.
I don't
know why, but I've had doing some harsh downlight images
for a while. This is probably because I recently installed
a boom arm on a strategy wall nearby. So, I figured
I'd try some.
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