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I would guess
that most models would describe my photographic sessions
as "sedate". We usually work at a comfortable
pace, and since the strobes yield consistent results from
exposure to exposure, there is no hurry -- we can work on
a setup for as long as it takes.
Here,
in the sunlight, it's quite the opposite. The optimal
sunlight changes from moment to moment, and the sunlight
will be gone entirely in less than an hour. So, I
pretend that Sarah is a sundial, and I keep a close watch
on the time.
Sarah
has taken off most of her clothes while sitting on the floor
against that wall. I knew that I wanted to move her
around a bit more, so we remove all her clothes and look
for a few more places to work.
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The first thing
we try is this. While Sarah looks lovely, I just don't
like this much. As I grow older, comfort has become
very important to me, and lying down on the hard wood floor
just doesn't look very comfortable to me. I like the
light on Sarah's face & figure, and I like the play
of light & dark, but it just doesn't feel right to me.
I know that for some reason, I just don't do a good job
photographing horizontal models. I should work on
that. |
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I find this
much more interesting, especially since all lines are pointing
towards the figure. |
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When I'm working
with the strobes, I set up & refine the technical details
up front, then I focus on the model, the pose, and the composition.
While I'm working, I'm singing to myself "Up, down,
in, out, left, right" to remind myself to look around
at all angles.
In particular,
when I'm working with new-to-me models, I want to see how
close I can get without making the model uncomfortable.
Sarah is an experienced & confident model, and over
the course of the quick sitting, I've found that I can get
as close as I needed to be.
I really
like this picture. I like how the nudity is understated
and how Sarah's presence is strong.
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I'm a fan of
unusual proportions for an image (when it works).
This works for me because the splaying of Sarah's legs suggests
the wide & short composition. Sarah is out of
the direct sunlight, which makes the tonality a bit more
pleasing. And I kinda like the confusion of the plant
shadows on the left side of the image. |
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When I first
saw this image, I liked it, but I think I liked it because
I find it to be a little disturbing. It's those light/shadow
stripes on Sarah's back. Sometimes I think that they
look like gills. Sometimes I think they look like
marks from caning. Either way, they are disturbing. |
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