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About
a month earlier, Jessica &
I attended First Thursday, a
tradition here in Portland
where the local art galleries
stayed open late in the
evening of the first Thursday
of each month. When we
were hanging out, she was
wearing these leather
cuffs/bracelets, and we
decided to photograph Jessica
wearing them.
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When
Jessica photographed Leona, she
wanted to use a single light
source. I don't like that
kind of setup, especially when
using a dark or black
backdrop. I don't like it
because the off-side of the
model is in shadow, and that
shadow disappears into the black
backdrop, thereby losing the
shape on the off-side of the
image. So I make the
necessary adjustments to
introduce a second light source,
so that both sides of Jessica
are lit.
This
works well, especially since
Jessica is having a good hair
day. I find the highlights
kissing Jessica's face to be an
interesting & vital addition
to the image. |
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Definitely
a sitting favorite.
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I
like this image, but it's real
value is that it is a
transitional image. This
is not a standard pose, and on
most other models, it would be
unattractive. I'm a big
fan of good posture -- in
fact, that's why I like
photographing dancers.
But Jessica is lithe &
lissome, and she has a
muscular athletic torso. On her,
this pose looks great. I
am inspired to step back,
include more of her torso, and
explore this shape.
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Here's
a big, big favorite from the
sitting.
We
are exploring strange
shapes. I always like
having models stretch, and I
like what's happening with
Jessica's left arm raised high
like this.
But
this image is a favorite because
of the intense contact from
Jessica's gaze. I love the
way the light sculpt her facial
features.
If Jessica were to
give her boyfriend an image for
him to remember her while she's
studying abroad this year, I'd
recommend this one. |
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This
picture isn't a favorite --
don't get me wrong, it is nice
& Jessica is lovely, but
there are elements I don't
like:
- I'm
not a fan of the
"staring off in the
distance" pose.
I always wonder what the
model is looking at.
I don't mind closed eyes
poses, however. I
also don't mind images
without eye contact as
long as we have an idea
about what the model is
looking at.
- From
a technical perspective, I
can't quite get the
digital images to record
color & contrast &
light well. I'll
have to work on that.
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Heretofore,
Jessica was posing on a little
posing bench. I ask her to
try similar poses while
standing. That up light
highlight on her face is
interesting.
There
was something I noticed during
the all
day photo orgy with Betcee
(a couple of weeks before this
sitting). I noticed that
when Betcee or Jessica were
taking the lead in directing the
posing, they would find a
situation (lighting & model)
that they would like & would
make exposure after
exposure. I understand --
you can get into a rhythm,
needing to release the shutter
every 10 seconds or so
regardless.
I
find that this is true for me,
too, especially when I work with
the digital camera. But
the film camera requires a lot
of post-processing time in the
darkroom. It doesn't
"cost" me anything to
make lots of digital exposures;
it "costs" me hours
& hours in the darkroom to
make film exposures.
So,
when working with film, I've
learned to be more selective
when making exposures. I'm
sensitive to whether this next
exposure is an improvement over
the ones previously made, and if
not, I make adjustments until it
is. Otherwise, you wind up
making the same picture over
& over again. |
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With
that in mind, I wind up making
a lot of exposures with
Jessica doing that curved
pose, but there came I point
when I felt that I wasn't
making any improvements on the
basic shape & pose.
So, I ask Jessica to move
around a bit, facing the other
direction, and eventually
asking her to turn around
& show me her back.
We still explore some unusual
shapes & poses.
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One
nice thing about working with
Jessica is that the resulting
pictures always exceed my
expectations, regardless of how
high I set those expectations.
A
final insight of the day:
actually I noticed this during
the all day photo orgy.
The best models have a way to
focus on you (your camera)
completely. They aren't
distracted by wondering what to
have for dinner or that fight
with the mother or when can they
find time to do the
laundry. They are focused
on the camera with intensity,
and that contact is palpable
& important to the impact of
the image. Go back to the photo
orgy pictures & look at
the images where I am
photographing one model working
with the other -- the posing
model is intently focused on the
lead photographer.
Jessica
looks especially seductive here. |
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Here's
another favorite. I'm
loving the great eye contact
in many of these images, and
this one is one of the best.
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It's
funny. One of the most popular
questions in my FAQ is "how can I
find models?" (often asked by
beginning photographers). My
reply typically is "don't neglect
to ask your friends; if you can't ask
your friends, how can you ask
strangers?"
Over
the past year or so, Jessica has
become a good friend, and initially I
was anxious about photographing
her. Foolish me! It was
Jessica's position that being friends
should have made the sitting more
comfortable, not less, and of course,
she was right. Jessica was an
active participant during this
sitting, suggesting props &
backdrops & poses -- our
communication was terrific. I'm
very happy with many of the resulting
images.
This
was a throw-back sitting for me.
For the first time in a very long
time, I made 100 film exposures (a
full batch in my film processor), and
I made more film exposures than
digital. Good for me.
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