Brooke, Getting Started, May, 2004

On the long weekend at the end of May, two OneModelPlace models agreed to pose for me on the same day. The plan was for Brooke (see her One Model Place profile), shown here, to arrive first & work with me for two hours, at which time the second model, Victoria, was scheduled to arrive. The three of us would work together for an hour, after which Brooke would leave, and I would work with Victoria for another two hours.

That's a marathon for me -- my typical sitting lasts for 3 hours with 1 model, hopefully exposing 10 rolls of film. There's a lot of reasons for this:

I typically can come up with a few ideas, usually plenty for a 3 hour sitting.
10 rolls of film is the maximum batch of film I could process in my Jobo film processing machine.
I'm typically exhausted after 3 hours. During the sitting, my brain is in overdrive. I'm talking with the model, designing the photograph, setting the lights just right, calculating the exposure, adjusting composition, etc. There is no respite -- there is only a high focus on the sitting.

Okay, this is weird -- when I meet a new model, I rarely know what she looks like. Sure, I've typically seen pictures of her, but somehow the combination of our interaction and my lighting setups & style often reveals someone who looks quite different from the pictures I've seen. In particular, Brooke's profile in One Model Place contains lots of terrific pictures, but they are more "glamorous" than "fine art". So, to break the ice, I ask if she would start by removing her clothes for me -- it is quite a thrill to hear her say, "yes".

This is pretty much what Brooke looked like when she showed up at my door.

I like starting slow like this, because...

... it increases my anticipation, ...

... it makes me wonder what the model will look like without clothes, ...

... it gives the model something to do with her hands, ...

... it excites me to see tantalizing glimpses, ...

... it is intriguing how the caterpillar becomes the butterfly, ...

... it fascinates me how the images start "contemporary" and end up timeless, ...

... you can learn a lot about a woman by how she takes off her clothes, ...

... you can watch her move, ...

... it increases my heart rate, ...

... it makes my heart stop, ...

... it allows us an opportunity to get to know each other gradually, ...

Before

After

Compare the "before" image with the "after" one. Granted, Brooke is very, very beautiful. I've got to admit that I'm a people watcher. Look again at that "before" picture -- I've often seen women dressed like that, who carry themselves like that. But in the transition from "clothed" to "nude", something magical takes place. An inner beauty is revealed. Brooke is totally natural, in many senses. Her figure is natural, without body jewelry & tattoos (which I find distracting), but moreover, she is natural & comfortable being nude. She has grace. (And you can't tell from these pictures, but she was easy to talk with and to direct). I've done these "Getting Started" setups a few times, but Brooke's has been the best to date, by far.

The thing I love about doing these "Getting Started" setups, where the model starts out in their "street clothes" & removes them is that it captures the transformation from "clothed" to "nude". Like I mentioned besides the very first picture in this series -- I've seen lots of people that look like Brooke when I walk around town. Of course, she reveals her incandescent beauty as she removes her clothes, but at the beginning, she is human & familiar. People often ask me how I find such dazzling models. Today's answer: "First, I open my eyes..."

This sitting continues with Table Variations.