Best of 2004

From Leona's Sixth Visit

Between you & me, I never thought that I would work with one model as much as I have with Leona.  She is such a joy to be around, she is obviously breathtaking, and I am inspired whenever I see her.  What more can you ask from a model?  She was just getting started in modeling when we first started working together, and she was a tiny bit hesitant about posing for nude photos -- now, she's a pro.  That natural talent plus her experience makes her a dream to photograph.  She has worked with lots of photographers, both locally & during trips.  Good for her!

This particular image was significant for me, with the soft lighting in my back stairs, this image took on a painting-like feel for me.  I started to think about using the digital camera for more than test images.

From Lydia -- From Fetish To Fine Art

Lydia is a terrific model who is not local, but whenever she comes through town, I look forward to working with her.  She was the first model to pose for me here in Oregon, back in 2002.  On this particular day, we had planned to do a little fetish photography; I was looking to use my fine art sensuous lighting for some light bondage photos.  While we did produce some interesting images, we weren't feeling the bondage thing, and as the sitting progressed, Lydia removed more clothes & lost all of her bonds, and we did some lovely fine art nude images.  We made some terrific images of her back.

For this sitting, I used sepia-toning enhancements to the B&W images.  I had done this off & on in the past, but I started embracing the enhancement consistently.

From Brooke's First Sitting

Brooke is a non-local model who traveled through town -- on this day, she was the first model in my "Model Marathon" -- 2 full sittings with 2 different models on the same day.  Brooke is young, beautiful, and poised.

This image is significant because it was the first digital image that I really, really liked.  Sure, it took a bit of digital manipulation to get it to this point, but I just love the feel of it.  

From Brooke & Victoria

From the "Model Marathon", where 2 models came by for 2 sittings in the same day.  Brooke arrived first, and there was a little overlap after Victoria arrived, during which we made images like this one.  I just love the lighting (it's difficult to light figures & faces well all at once), and I like the sepia toning.  I may never go back to untoned B&W.  

The concept & the challenge here was to make some full-contact images of two models that was not sexual in nature, and these two did a terrific job.

Boy, that marathon was exhausting.  Afterwards, I was tired but certainly happy.

 
From Victoria's First Visit

Victoria was the second model of my "Model Marathon".  She is very experienced, beautiful, expressive, fun, and easy to work with.  I've got to admit that by the time she & I got to work alone (after Brooke left), I was dragging a bit, but her energy was more than enough to pick me up.  Victoria is very popular & has posed for some of the best photographers in the world -- she was very generous to arrange for a sitting with me.

From a technical perspective, I love the tonality I was able to achieve with this image.  

Would I do another Model Marathon in the future?  Not if I could avoid it -- that day was exhausting!  Would I do it if it meant an opportunity to work with Victoria again?  In a second!

From Leilani & Madison

After working with Brooke & Victoria, I was inspired to try a mildly-erotic two model sitting.  After working with Lydia, I was interested in applying some fine art lighting techniques to this kind of theme.  I had worked with these two models before, and they were good friends, so we got together for a good sitting.  While many of the resulting images are on pages in the "secret" galleries, there were many, like this one, that are available to the general public.

Working with two models is an order of magnitude more difficult than working with only one, but I love the play of light & shadow across not only both model's torsos but also their faces.

 
From Jennifer's First Visit

Ideally, all sittings should be fun, but Jennifer's visit was incredibly enjoyable.  Jennifer is a budding photographer, a nudist, and a dancer.  It was her dance abilities that contributed to a strong, athletic figure and a special grace when posing.  My only regret is that soon after this sitting, Jennifer traveled halfway around the world to teach English.  I do hear from her occasionally, but that's not the same thing as being able to work with her again.  By all accounts, she is thriving in foreign lands, but we can hope that she'll return home someday.

I just love the power & grace of this image.  I almost hate to say it, but this image makes me want to touch her.  That's all right, I guess, because art should inspire.

(Someday, I'm going to rework this image -- this one presented here is cropped a bit; if I included more along the left side of the image, you'd be able to glance at part of Jennifer's face in shadow, and you'd be able to see her hand under her right knee.)

From Brooke's Second Visit

Brooke comes through town for a second visit, and we didn't get started well -- she arrived on a day different from the day I expected her!  After a little initial confusion, we were both flexible and decided to have a sitting anyway.  We had a wonderful sitting.  We picked a few things from our first sitting to build upon, and we did well.

I had worked in my shower before, but this time was different.  I focused on using the digital camera there exclusively -- the film camera is just too big to fit.  I also experimented in using the digital camera's pivoting / swinging LCD screen to achieve new & unusual angles.  This may also have been the first time I dared to get the model wet.  What is sexier than a beautiful & wet model?

 
From Victoria's Second Visit

By coincidence, Victoria follows Brooke again for her second visit, but this time there were a couple of weeks between sittings.

Hey, there are no rules here, and I couldn't decide which of these two images deserved special mention here on my "Best Of 2004" page.  I like the top one for it's simple sensuality, displaying Victoria's perfect figure & face.

But the second one, from the "shirt dance" series is probably more significant.  It is important because I simply set up a concept & relinquished control.  Neither of us had any idea what these images would look like, but if you don't try, you don't do.  Also of significance -- look at the smile on Victoria's face.  I ask models to strike specific poses too often, and it is much more fun for both of us if we just allow the model to move.  Dance, Victoria, dance!!!

From Ashton's First Visit

Okay, if Victoria can get two "Best Of..." pictures, so can Ashton.  Ashton is another professional model who has posed for some of the most important photographers in the world.  When she came through town on a six week trip to California, she stopped by for a sitting.

The first image is a refinement of the concept that Victoria & I explored.  For Ashton's version, I used more shadowy light, and Ashton's longer hair made for very striking images.  You know, one patron pointed out that these movement images represented me coming full circle.  With my dance photographs, I did almost the exact opposite -- instead of the very short exposure afforded by the flash unit, I used very long exposures for the dance photographs, but for each, I had to relinquish a good deal of control.  Interesting insight!  Thanks (you know who you are)!

The second image is the start of a new area of experimentation for me.  Using the ability of my digital camera's pivoting / swinging LCD screen, I can obtain unusual angles that I otherwise couldn't achieve with the big bulky film camera.  Also, the wide angle setting of the digital camera is wider than my film camera's wide angle lens.  Craft some good lighting, and we can get some interesting images.  (In fact, I am considering doing some more erotic images using this concept -- hopefully, in 2005).

 
From Kira's First Visit

Kira is a very lovely local model, and it was a great pleasure to meet & work with her.  But she was having a bad day, and I failed to rise to the occasion.  Sometimes, you can learn more from your failures than from your successes, and from this sitting, I learned to spend more energy into sitting management.

Still, Kira & I produced lots of interesting images, despite our struggles, and I particularly like the sensuality of this image, which is a variation of the low angle digital style.  I also like that Kira's "naughty bits" are covered, which is more exciting than images that are more explicit.  This may be the sexiest image I made this year.

From Lindsay's First Visit

I thought a bit about which of Lindsay's images to include here.  There were many that I liked, including the "freakishly large hands" pictures, but in the end, I picked this one.  This sitting had a first -- I asked the model to put clothes back on!  But I just loved the low-cut style of Lindsay's "comfy jammies", especially next to her terrific tan, and I love the tonality I was able to achieve with this image.  It's important that one's technical ability be sufficient to carry one's aesthetic vision, and I think I'm getting better technically (and aesthetically).

It was also significant for me that I made a special effort to make this sitting fun for Lindsay (based on my experience with Kira a week earlier), and we were very successful.  Look at those images -- we were laughing & smiling all sitting long!

 
From Jessica's Second Visit

We are back to Jessica -- the last sitting of 2004.  Jessica is a most impressive person.  She is a terrific model and a raw talent behind the camera.  We had great fun together during her visit.  Technically, this isn't my best work, but it may be my best from an aesthetic perspective.  I love the play of light & shadow.  We know that Jessica's feet aren't touching the ground.