Day One:  Sun Worship

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Page created June 19, 2011
Sitting date:  September 21, 2010

 


I first met Natalia in 2005.  At that time, she was living in L.A., but she traveled up here to Portland often, to visit friends.  Right off the bat, we "clicked" -- this image on the right is from the very first setup of our very first sitting together, and to this day, it is a favorite of mine.

As things happen, Natalia stopped visiting Portland after 2007, but we kept in touch occasionally.  Out of the blue, she contacts me & tells me that she's found some terrific air fares to Portland, and if I was willing to pay for her air fare, she'd pose for me for as much as I wanted.  "For as much as I wanted" -- those words made my heart racel!  I trusted her, and I was thrilled to see her again after over three years.  And frankly, there aren't many models who would inspire me to do "as much as I wanted" -- there are few models who could inspire me for more than my typical sitting.

Natalia is fantastic -- sure, she's beautiful.  She also moves with more grace than many dancers I know; she certainly is more graceful than any model I know.  But the bottom line is that we have more "chemistry" than with anyone else I've ever photographed.  See below: 

 

 

 

   

 

  

I don't know if I could fully define what I mean by "chemistry", but I feel that we made a photograph (above) of our chemistry.  Natalia is like your best friend that you never get to see enough.  To know her is to love her. 

We worked together on two consecutive days -- two full sittings, 24 hours apart.  That's something I've haven't done for decades.  Afterwards, I put a few dozen images up on a private web page & shared it with Natalia, and this casual snapshot was one of the images that Natalia identified as a favorite.  Is it high art?  No, not really.  But it perhaps shows our chemistry better than any other image I've ever made.  So, after visiting briefly, we noticed some nice light from my favorite window, and we jumped to it.

 

 

Here's the very first "serious" image of the day.

I just reviewed my list of Oregon models (listed alphabetically).  This is the fifth time Natalia & I worked together, and there are only a few models I've worked with more often, but there are no models I've worked with over the span of five years.  Natalia is still stunning & fit.  In addition, she is still the most graceful model I've ever known.  Natalia has also become a skilled photographer in her own right, and that knowledge has helped her improve her dynamic posing.  She simply is the best.  Look at these images on this page -- I've worked with the window light many times before, but few models have managed to fill that space with more grace.

 

 

The sun was particularly bright this day; this makes exposure very challenging.  In some spots, the sun on Natalia's skin are blasted out, but I kinda like this effect.

On the other hand, few models can fill a large space as well as Natalia.

 

 

I like this light in part because it's so confusing.  The sunlight is harsh on Natalia's body, but look how soft the shadow of her figure is on the wall behind her.  (That light is the light that's bouncing up diffused off the floor).

Check out the image below -- this was another one Natalia identified as a favorite.  I like it a lot, too.  I particularly like the tonal separation between her face & breast against the light wall.  That's not easily done.

I'm aware of the difficulties of this light, so I know that we aren't going to be working in this light for long.  But a few more exposures...

 

 

 

 

 

I've got to admit that the lighting here defeated me this day.  It was just too difficult to get a good basic exposure setting in this harsh light.  

Y'know -- for quite a while now, I've started each session with my "Getting Started" setup, where I photograph the model in her street clothes and ask her to disrobe.  But I thought this light was calling us, so Natalia jumped into it right away, and I've got to admit that I found that somewhat abrupt, especially since I hadn't seen (or "seen") Natalia for so long.  That, in itself, is interesting.  Regardless, Natalia likes the "Getting Started" setup (because she knows that I like the way she dresses), so we go ahead and visit that setup using the studio lighting.

Getting Started Second

 

(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated) 

All images (c) 2011 Looknsee Photography

Natalia, Fifth Visit Out Takes

Over 200 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.