Kira, Fourth Sitting, Page 2

This is the second & final public page of images from a sitting where Lucian Schmit & I share Kira at a marvelous location Lucian found in NW Portland, Oregon. (See Lucian's images of Kira from this sitting here!)

The ground floor of this house is a store, selling funky retro clothing & accessories for women; Lucian is friends with the woman who runs this store, and she granted us permission to use the upstairs. At some point during this sitting, Lucian goes downstairs and borrows a few articles of clothing -- some of those pictures are including on this page.

Okay, I've got to admit, I like my models naked! But both Kira & Lucian liked some pieces of clothing, like this skirt (same skirt in the blurred twirly image from the previous page). To be fair, the cut of this skirt does emphasize Kira's lovely hips, and she is still wearing less than what would be acceptable on the street.

Another point -- it's a style thing, but I am particular about where a model focuses her eyes. I like eye contact with the camera, and I like when a model is looking at something within the picture frame. I care less for images where the model looks off into a distance. But Kira was comfortable with this, and Lucian seemed to like it. I'm here to break away from my old style, so I go for it.

Somehow, I don't mind this too much. Live & learn!

All natural light!

If you've visited my web site before, you'll see plenty of images where I use studio soft boxes to light a model from multiple directions. Here is the same effect, with window streaming in from two different windows.

For you photography students out there, if there is one thing I'd recommend to you is this: learn to look at photographs & study the lighting; figure out how it was lit.

As you can see, Kira has been looking extremely lovely lately.

I've known this for a long time, but Kira looks terrific in lying-down poses. Unfortunately, I'm not all that good at horizontal posing & lighting of models.

That didn't stop Lucian -- he found a good spot & asked Kira to lie down, and I took advantage to make a few exposures myself.

Here's another favorite from the sitting -- my favorite. While Lucian took a break, I ask Kira to remove her skirt & pose at the top of the stairs. I love this light, the perspective, the banister, and of course, Kira.

All too soon, we leave the top of the stairs and venture back in to one of the rooms. I take the opportunity to revel in Kira's fabulous back.

We borrow some cowboy boots from the store downstairs and make this image. This one is both Kira & Lucian's favorite from my set of images. Let's call it the "boots & booty" picture.

A Homage To David Hamilton

Lucian obtained another skirt & a hat, and Kira immediately enjoyed posing with them. They made several exposures with this setup, while I made only a few. This sort of image is just not to my taste. I'm determined to try new things, and I do, but just because I try them, that doesn't mean I like them. To all wannabe artists out there: don't be afraid to fail. If you are like me, you'll find your failures more educational than your successes.

At this point, Lucian declared himself done & highly satisfied, but I had a little more energy to go. Kira was willing, so we returned to the top of the stairs. The light was totally different now -- bright sunlight streamed in a window, making Kira glow. We make a few last images.

And with this image, we are done.

The sitting was short, and I didn't make a lot of exposures, but Kira looked terrific, all three of us had gobs of fun, I broke away from old habits, and I think we made some fine & fun images.

Assessment: Kira looked terrific, and the location was inspiring. It was great to get out of the studio & work on a location, and it was a terrific opportunity to watch a fellow photographer work. All you photographers out there: I highly recommend the experience -- try to set something similar up for yourself.

See Lucian's images of Kira from this sitting here!

I should mention that Kira likes the images on the Out Takes page the best. I like these public images better. Go figure.