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Ryonen started modeling a little over a year
ago, and with her compelling looks, she became
an instant success. More, she is quite
intelligent, articulate, and ambitious.
She knows how best to present herself.
This is a model who is going places.
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The objective
of the first sitting with a "new to me" model
is simply "get acquainted". As such, I tend
to ask the model to come prepared with simple makeup, and
I plan a little variety of setups, typically some using
natural light and some using my studio strobes. As
you will soon see, Ryonen & I discovered lots of wonderful
natural light coming in through the windows (and maybe a
couple of places where the room lights were interesting).
In any case, we get started in a favorite spot: the
big comfy chair. |
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It took
us a little while to find our rhythm. I like the occasional
smile on a model while Ryonen feels (correctly so) that
her face looks best when she has a serious expression.
Initially, we worked together at my pace, and when she smiled,
I made a picture, but her pace is more languid, where she
looks around the room, composes herself, and focuses on
the camera.
Her way
worked best for her, actually for both of us. It took
me a few exposures to figure this out, but once we did,
our "keeper" ratio went higher.
(You
can see some smiles in the Out Takes galleries).
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In recent
pages, I vowed to cut back on mixing the sepia toned images
with the color ones, but somehow, for this setup, it doesn't
bother me all that much. I can't tell you why -- I
don't know.
In any
case, I ask Ryonen to remove her clothing, and she compiles.
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Those who
visit my site regularly will understand that I include both
the "hits" and "misses" on these pages.
That's because I feel that the "misses" are more
educational. While I like this image, it's a little
more of a "miss" than a hit:
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I hadn't
yet figured out Ryonen's style yet, where she looks
about the room, composes herself, and than provides
the camera with eye contact. I guess I was excited
or impatient. But in general, I think I released
the shutter before she was quite ready.
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I'm not
sure I like the horizontal orientation. All that
extra area makes the image busy without improving the
image.
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It might
just be me, but I dislike when part of a model's limb
is pointing right at the camera lens, like Ryonen's
thighs are doing here.
So, I try
a different cropping. It helps, but it's not the best
image of the day.
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Ryonen has
a fantastic, hour-glass figure. |
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This is
my favorite picture in the big comfy chair -- it might even
be my favorite of the whole session. The sepia version,
which is also pretty good, will be featured in the Out Takes
for this session.
I like
it because it is well managed natural light -- sometimes
I think the shadows are more important than the well-lit
areas. I like how the lamp behind Ryonen creates a
tonal separation between the background wall and the shadowed
parts of her neck & shoulder. I love Ryonen's
face, especially her eyes & lips -- she does know how
to present herself well. I love how her hair falls,
framing her face. I love how her nudity is casual.
I love how healthy & strong her figure appears.
There's a lot to like here.
See below
-- I still love the "artistic effects", especially
the "paint brush" effect. Below are two
versions.
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Old school
masters approached the creation of their art photographs
very deliberately. In fact, some would make a single
exposure per session. One. When I was working
with film, I would limit myself to no more than 100 exposures
per session, because I could develop 10 rolls / 100 exposures
at a time with my film processor. Now that I work
in digital, I may make 300+ exposures per session.
Sometimes (most times) I miss that deliberation. I
do find that I "shoot from the hip" more than
is good for me. I set up the camera, usually using
a tripod, and I rarely move it.
I work
a setup until I start to run out of ideas. Towards
the end of the setup, I ask myself whether I should move
on. Before I do, I often recite a litany to myself:
"Up, down, left, right, near, far".
For me, this is a reminder to explore different perspectives.
I should stand up & look down, I should get low &
look up, I should move in real close, and should step back &
include more in the foreground & background (like I
did here). This is the northwest corner of my living
room, or the northwest corner of the main living level to
my house -- this is where the big comfy chair resides most
of the time.
It's
funny, but I need an additional litany, something to remind
myself to look for unconventional proportions and unconventional
compositions. Here, Ryonen is dead center in this
image, and that's appropriate for this particular image.
I do like presenting small off-center figures in images
-- look for examples in these pages.
One final
note: I love using wide angle lenses, and this is
no exception. To minimize wide angle distortions,
all you have to do is position the camera so that its lens
axis is parallel to the ground; if you point it up or down,
you'll get more distortion.
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