We move further
into the top floor -- the finished attic. In the far
room, my office, there is this little alcove -- on the outside
of the house, it is a little dormer. The window has
a good view of the northern sky, which is favored by the
old master painters. On summer days like today, with
the sun high in the sky, we can enjoy some nice soft light.
I also
like how the rich green wall colors compliment skin tones.
|
|
|
Many photographers
eschew cropping. Certainly, they get the most out
of an image by utilizing all of its surface area.
But from the beginning, I often crop my image in post-production.
I suppose this is because my first camera was a rangefinder
-- the image in its viewfinder was slightly different from
the image recorded in the negative, so to be sure that I
was capturing everything, I stepped back slightly to include
more in the negative; then when I printed the image, I cropped
it down.
I often
find opportunities to make adjustments in post production,
and that often means subtle or even radical cropping.
This
image is a good example:
-
I like the light on Ryonen's face. It's unusual
(but it's something I may want to explore in the future).
-
I like the contrast between the green wall and Ryonen's
skin tones.
But I don't like the white-ish carpet or the white trim
(I can't remember the word) -- I think that's a distraction.
I like to reduce images to the bare necessities, so this
is a candidate for cropping (and for artistic effects).
Check out the variations below, and let me know what you
think.
|
|
|
|
|
We were getting
tired -- at least, I know that I was. Ryonen has a
posing method that is unfamiliar to me: she would
take a moment, gather herself, and then turn her focus to
the camera. Sometimes, I would catch her in mid-gather.
Again,
this is s cropped image. I like the separation of
tonal values throughout -- the shadows against Ryonen's
well lit skin really define her lovely figure.
Below
is another "mid-gather" image. I usually
hate the ubiquitous "model staring out of the window"
cliché:
-
I always wonder what the model is looking at.
-
I wonder why the model is ignoring the photographer.
-
The model's shadow side is often not distinguished from
the background.
This
image below is somewhat okay because you can't see the window,
and the shadow side of Ryonen's face is well lit.
|
The space is
tight, which means that there wasn't a lot of room to move.
Further, the configuration of the room means additional
limitations. So, we quickly exhaust our options, but
before we move on, I ask Ryonen to stand up.
Ryonen
is taller than the top of the window, but the light is bouncing
around. The carpet is light colored, and the diffuse
light defines shapes well. It is unusual, and I like
it, a lot.
|
|
|
By this time,
it was getting pretty late, and I was almost ready to call
it a day. However, as I stood up, my eye wandered
over to the end of my office seating area. There is
a little blank wall, lit by a spotlight. I have photographed
models there before, and many visiting photographers have
also used that exact spot. All the images Ryonen &
I made today were lit by the sun; I decided to make a few
exposures using the spotlight. |
Ryonen In The
Office Spotlight
|