Although it's a big hassle to wrestle
it into position, I have been using the big honkin' soft
box a lot lately. This soft box is 4' x 6', and its
corners are a tad worn, so I don't like collapsing it &
setting it up again, because I'm just wearing out those
corners. But it's really difficult maneuvering it
down from upstairs -- there are a lot of corners that are
difficult.
But I love the soft, soft light. I've got to admit
that it is surprisingly challenging to set it up in a flattering
manner (and yes, in this case, I came close but not quite
close enough).
The funky chair is part of a two-chair set that came
with a recovered barn wood table -- these usually live up
in the guest room, but for Keira, I wrestled it downstairs.
It's heavy!
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Among other
things, Keira's skin is flawless.
In general,
the big honkin' soft box creates forgiving light, meaning
that it'll produce good images from a variety of positions
/ configurations.
However,
this image illustrates why I think I got this lighting wrong.
In particular, I don't like how Keira's eyes are shadowed.
I do like how the light gently highlights the muscular definition
across Keira's torso.
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It's funny
-- as I age, I move less & sit more, and I've found
that my photography is growing more sedate. On the
other hand, Keira is full of energy -- it's a shame to try
to make her sit still. I can tell you that we did
take a little walk after our sitting -- despite wearing
clunky sandal/shoes with thick wooden soles, she walks 'way
faster than I can.
In any
case, Keira is all over the chair.
In the
future, I should find ways to get her to move -- there's
nothing wrong with a moving model.
In any
case, I've also noticed that as I age, I strive to create
intimate feeling nude portraits. See below.
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Witness a concept
that fell flat on its face. For reasons I can't explain,
I went out & found a Chinese finger puzzles. I
wanted to see a nude model struggle with it -- kinda like
a low-key fetish thing.
Epic
failure.
On top
of everything else, Keira's fingers just weren't large enough
to get locked.
Keira's
game. She tries real hard, but I can see right away
that this concept is going nowhere. But if you never
try, you'll never know. It is funny when you can get
a serious model to do something silly.
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Okay, we drop the finger lock concept
like a hot potato.
Every once in a while, I think it's a good idea to try
the opposite. Lately, I've been using the biggest
soft box I could get into the room. What's the opposite?
A small, harsh light source. I switch out the soft
box with a small reflector, make minor adjustments to the
other lights, and create some shadowy images. My thought
that with a figure as wonderfully defined as Keira's, some
good shadows would highlight her fabulous physique.
Now, as I'm reviewing these images, I find that for the
most part, I don't care for this images:
- They are a little cliché.
- While this light might be nice on Keira's figure,
it's not so good for Keira's lovely face.
I do like what the light does for her hair here.
I don't like what it does to her face.
Check out the image below. I do like how you can
barely see the details on Keira's face.
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I do love my
artistic effects. I get mixed reviews from visitors
to this web site, but I love them.
I've
learned how to present them with a mouse rollover.
I'd be interested in feedback.
I'm presenting
this rollover methodology for one image on each of these
pages. For this image, I've enlarged the border --
should I do that for all these rollover based images?
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