Page created March 7, 2007
Sitting date:  December 12, 2006

   

So far, I've photographed Ashley using my hand-held digital point & shoot camera with natural window light.  Because the exposures were long-ish, and because of the overall quality limitations of the camera, the resulting images have been soft.  Sometimes we embraced the blur from an especially long exposure, but sometimes there was just enough movement to produce non-sharp images.  We return to the living room & crack out the strobes. 

 

 

Fool that I am, I ask Ashley to put her jeans back on.  Seriously, though -- I usually don't want "gynecological" images -- it's difficult to photograph a model's genital area without being crude.  But a topless model is another thing altogether.  There's a certain casualness that happens with a topless model, and I like that.  We can attempt poses that just wouldn't work with a totally nude model.  With her jeans on, we don't have to worry about restricting her poses. 

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... and here's the last image made with the digital camera before it crashed & failed to fire off the strobes ever again.  This was particularly disappointing because I was using a device from the strobe manufacturer that was supposed to protect digital cameras.  But there were no guarantees, and of course, the camera isn't supported with anything other than flashes from the camera's manufacturer.

This camera failed once before, and I had it repaired.  I still might repair it (because I like the tilting / pivoting live preview LCD).  However, I was inspired to obtain some Pocket Wizards, which connects cameras to strobes wirelessly.

 

While I call myself a "cerebral" photographer, there is no denying that emotion plays a significant role in the production of my best images.

The failure of the digital camera was very frustrating, especially since I was using the protection doohickey.  I spent a lot of time trying to get the darn thing to work, and Ashley was wonderfully patient & understanding.  Eventually, I give up. 

However, I whip out my old reliable film camera & finish Ashley's sitting using film.  Here's the first film image. 

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It's funny -- this 120 film camera must be 15-20 years old, and it's still as relevant as the day it was made.  Further my first 35mm film camera is as old as I am, and it still produces top quality negatives.  On the other hand, any digital camera will be obsolete in a couple of years.  It just goes to show you that all the fancy auto-focus & auto-exposure stuff is fluff that helps make photography appealing to the masses, but the quality still lies in film & paper & techniques.

 

Ashley brought an escort, her fiancée.  Many photographers don't like models bringing escorts, finding them distracting at best, but I don't mind, as long as I am forewarned and as long as the escort is well behaved.  I usually put the escort to work.

Here, I wanted to get Ashley's boyfriend into the act.  The concept was to have him stand off camera & photograph him touching her sensuously.

He didn't get the concept right away -- I really didn't want him to honk her nose.

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This is more like it.  When you look at these images, pay particular attention to Ashley's lovely face.  I think she enjoyed posing for these pictures, because I think she liked being touched by her boyfriend.

 

I mentioned that I am in the midst of a long string of bad luck, and I mentioned the failure of the digital camera & the errors in my ordering of a DSLR.

Another problem I have is with my scanner.  It's funny, I have an old HP Scanjet 5P, a scanner that must be 15 years old.  But I love it -- its scans of my prints are rich in tone.  However, it uses a proprietary PC board -- I have it in an old PC, running Windows 95 -- I've kept this PC around only for the scanner -- I can't put that proprietary board in my current PC.  Sadly, this PC is in bad, bad shape -- in fact, it finally bit the dust.

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I'm enjoying the expression on Ashley's face, so I ask her boyfriend to go behind the chair, so that he can touch her with both hands.  Somewhere along the line, Ashley loses her jeans.

Back to the scanner.  That PC was in terrible shape -- it's CD reader died a long time ago, and there was creeping corruption on the hard disk.  Eventually, a key OS file got corrupted & the PC wouldn't boot.  

I figured that it would cost a moderate amount to get that PC operating again (it could use some upgrades, too -- it has only 32MB of memory).  I figured that it was cheaper to get a new scanner.  This I did.

 

Throughout this sitting, Ashley was bubbly & happy & enthusiastic, but with her boyfriend's hands on her, the mood of the sitting changed.  Like I said, look at Ashley's expression.

Back to the scanner:  so I did obtain a new scanner, and I went to the trouble of building a little bookcase beside my computer desk to house the scanner.  The scanner did a decent job, but I'm used to the old scanner being able to capture the rich tones of my prints -- somehow, these scans fall short.

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Then again, perhaps the problem isn't in the scanner.  Perhaps the problem is my PC's monitor.  This is an old monitor, and it's quality has been degrading gradually for quite a while.  It has lost contrast (despite turning it up as much as possible), and its colors are fading.  I was holding out for a few more months -- I want to purchase a new PC later this year, but I was waiting for Microsoft Vista's first service pack.  Recently, however, I decided that I couldn't wait for a new monitor -- I've ordered one, which should be delivered in a week or two.  I'll just purchase a PC without a monitor later.

 

I don't like being the limiting factor when it comes to the sensuality of my images (sometimes I am, & sometimes I'm not).  I said that if they were comfortable with his hands on her breast, then that's okay with me.

Back to the monitor:  I am concerned that once I get the new monitor, I'll realize how bad these edited images will look.  I suspect that my edited images must have too much contrast (because my monitor has so little).  I suspect that I will not go back & re-edit my images -- maybe one or two, but not the whole collection.

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I don't photograph horizontal models often enough, so we move this "hands on" concept to a new setup.  I like these images, because the extra hand tends to look like part of Ashley's body -- it's a bit more subtle.  Heck, sometimes, it's difficult to figure out which hand is his & which are hers.  Not only are these images sensual, but it stimulates the viewer's brain.

 

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Case in point:  I'm not sure which hand belongs to whom.

 

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I find these touching images to be very sexual & borderline erotic.  I realize that I haven't done any erotic photography in a while.  It is difficult for me -- I have to be comfortable with the model(s), and this is my first sitting with Ashley -- I don't even know whether that is something she enjoys doing.  Still -- while we did discuss these touching pictures as we negotiated this sitting, we didn't discuss anything more risqué than this.

 

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Tempus fugit.  I think we've worked the "hands on" concept as much as politely possible, and we had time for one more setup.  The light was suspended above, we so moved on to use that light in some solo posing from Ashley.

This sitting concludes with Heavenly Lit

 

(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated) 

All images (c) 2007 Looknsee Photography

Ashley #1 Out Takes

Nearly 80 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.

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