Page created March 6, 2003

I'm going to try something different for this page, and it's all your fault, dear visitors.  I do read all the feedback you provide, and many of you have enjoyed my commentary and have even asked for more details.  (This is a surprise to me -- I have to admit that I enjoy pictures on photography web sites, but I rarely read the commentary).  So, I figure I'll give you more details about what happens before & during a sitting.

 

I found Corinne on a local modeling web site.  There are a few such sites in the Portland, Oregon area, managed by local photographers.  There are a few photographers in the area, ranging from fine art figure photography, to good quality erotica, to girl-girl adult web sites.  

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I e-mailed the photographer on his web site and he was kind enough to forward my message to Corinne.  My message included the following information:

  • My name, e-mail, & phone number,
  • My web site URL,
  • What I had in mind -- in this case, a paid "get acquainted" sitting, featuring fine art figure photography.

I didn't include a proposal for compensation -- I figured we could talk about that if/when she contacted me.  Corinne didn't currently have Internet access, but she did call me a few days later -- I gather that the photographer who hosted the modeling web site gave her some idea of my work.  

At any given time, I might have up to 2 or 3 such "feelers" out to new models.  Corinne contacted me & requested that we meet to determine whether we wanted to work together.  As I mentioned on the previous page, I don't know why more models don't do this or request references.  Ideally, every model who works with me will leave wanting to work with me again -- at a minimum, I want all models who work with me to leave feeling respected & well treated, so finding references isn't a difficult thing for me.

ms1bn02.jpgWe met in late February, and I liked her right away.  I showed her my house (because this is where we were going to work), showed her some of my pictures, and even showed her my web site.  We chatted, getting to know each other.  Two things were of interest for me:

  • She got laid off from work on the day we met.  Having been laid off myself late last year, I could sympathize.  I, however, had been planning on retiring right around now anyhow, so I am in no hurry to replace my lost job ever.  On the other hand, she was a bit concerned about how she was going to meet her rent.  (She has since found another job).
  • She has a significant tattoo on her right hip.  I hate tattoos, in particular, I hate photographing them.  But hopefully, I could work around it, especially if I positioned the main light to the right of the camera.
So, we decide to work together & we set up a time the following week, on 3/3/3.
 

If you've visited my web site, which by now is approaching "vast", you will understand that I'm not bragging when I say that I've photographed dozens of nude women.  What might surprise you is that I do get a bit nervous immediately before a sitting.  

ms1bn03.jpgFirst, I've got to get things ready, which is a bit of a production:

  • First, I have to push the furniture in my living room out of the way.  Some just gets pushed to the walls, others get dragged to the adjacent room.  I need a good amount of space for the lights & to get the appropriate distance between the model & the camera.
  • Then, I have to drag all the studio equipment down from the upstairs guest room, where it is usually stored.  This typically includes the following:
    • The camera, it's tripod, and my slight telephoto, normal, and slight wide angle lenses.
    • At least three strobe heads with varying sized stands plus the power pack & all the associated wires.
    • Usually, I drag down 2 to 4 different backgrounds, depending on what I want to do.
    • Light modifiers, including soft boxes of various sizes, grids & snoots & barn doors, and reflecting panels.
    • Props, usually including towels, which are much more comfortable for the model to sit on.
  • Then I roughly set up the first lighting configuration.

This is why I miss my California studio -- in California, I had a room devoted to studio work.  It was too small (only nine feet wide) with a normal eight-foot ceiling that was a bit too low for some configurations, but at least I had a pile of equipment already present & set up, so it was easy to get ready.  Here in Oregon, I really don't have a good spot to dedicate for a studio -- the top floor is a finished attic, with four foot walls that then slant up to an eight foot ceiling; it's just not suitable.  So, I have to go through this whole process which takes a bit over an hour each time to set up, and typically after a sitting, I'm too tired to put everything away, and I leave the mess for the next day.

Then, I fret a bit -- I like to review what lighting setups I want to try, because often, in the heat of the moment, I forget some.  In a first sitting with a new model, I try of few basic setups.  For these pictures, after doing the disrobing pictures featured on the previous web page, I set up a simple setup, featuring a large (4' x 6') softbox as a main light with a spot light (created by placing a grid in a small reflector) pointed onto the background behind the shadowed part of Corinne.  Corinne is sitting on a small bench, with a dark towel on top (the bench itself would have been cold to sit on).  Here's a few more pictures using this light:

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Corinne is very "real".  She has a birth mark on her left breast.  Although she is very young, Corinne has a child, and her breasts are slightly "deflated" & in certain poses, she shows stretch marks.  When she saw these pictures, she immediately pointed out the cellulite on her thighs.  She has a large mole or beauty mark at the base of her neck, on the left side.  While some might consider all these things to be "flaws", I choose to accept or even to prefer them.  You may notice an absence of polished, highly glamorous, or "enhanced" models from this site.  Somehow, such models feel somewhat "unreal" to me -- my style involves looking at the person, not just the body.  And here in front of me is a young woman who has had it a bit rougher than most, struggling to get by with grace & honesty.  Life marks us all, and those marks are often visible on one's skin, and it is that which is the source of beauty to me.   

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Continuing on, I ask Corinne to turn around.  I don't do a lot of back photographs, which is funny because I like backs, and as you can see, Corinne has a nice one.  Here's what I think is happening -- in order to maintain a comfortable atmosphere during a sitting, the model & I are carrying out a conversation.  Such a exchange is quite a challenge to me, because I'm splitting my attention between the talk, the technical aspects of the sitting (e.g. exposure), and the aesthetic (e.g. composition).  Models are required to be patient with me, because at moments, I may be absorbed by other aspects of the sitting.  

But the conversation is crucial to the sitting -- I want the model to be engaged in the photographic process.  The conversation is a way to get the model's brain in gear, and since I'm photographing a person & not a body, connecting with the brain is very important.  

So, if a model has turned away from the camera & me, it's that much more difficult to carry on a conversation.

Corinne has a very nice back -- nice muscles in her shoulders & a very narrow waist.  Here are a few more pictures of her back:

 

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ms1bn14.jpgThe problem with asking Corinne to turn away from the camera is that her large tattoo on her right hip has moved from the shadow to the lit side.  We managed to hide the tattoo with poses & shadows, but I simply find such extra attention to be distracting.  I suppose that with infinite time & patience, I could have reset the lighting to keep the tattoo in shadow, but I don't & I didn't.  "Pace" is important to a sitting, and my pace is fairly slow & easy.  Corinne is a young model with youthful energy, and slowing the session down any would have been too much.

Corinne was constantly in motion during the sitting -- I'd like to say that she was fidgeting, but "fidget" has slightly negative connotations.  As a photographer, I like having a model that moves around.  A lot of my kind of photography involves the featuring of personality, and nothing does that better than gestures.

 

 

One last picture using this lighting setup & the little bench:

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Okay, in order to evaluate a model, I should photograph her is a few different situations.  So, we lose the little bench, change the lighting, and try something new.

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ms1fl03.jpgSo, Corinne rolls around the floor with me for a while.  Here's where I show my age -- I'm not quite at the "I've fallen & I can't get up" age, but I'm getting there.  This is unfortunate, because a lot of models like to work on the floor -- I was just thinking that Leona really looks good on the floor.  There's a little more freedom on the floor -- on the little bench or on a stool, the model has to sit still & stay put, while on the floor, there are less constraints.  

Another floor advantage -- it's easier to light the model from above.  My living room, which I use for a lot of these studio lighting situations, has a tall ceiling at 9'5" (at one time, the ceiling probably was a little taller, but the house is 113 years old).  I believe that we used a soft box on a boom arm -- even though I was using my sturdiest lighting stand, the whole setup was a bit precarious, so we didn't use this setup much.

And that's another thing I miss from my old California studio -- I had a boom arm attached to the top part of the wall, just to the right of area occupied by the model.  This gave me a lot of flexibility that I just don't have here.  And no, I'm not willing to permanently attach a boom arm to the wall of my living room.

There are aspects of this images that I like -- I like the "realness" of Corinne's breasts, especially in those where she is lying down, and I light the splash of light on her hair in this picture to the left.

 

One last setup to share.  Originally, I wanted to do this setup on the floor, like I did with Barbara with this picture, but I just couldn't figure out a way for me to get above Corinne comfortably.  So, we set up some strip lights on either side of the model.  I have some sea shells & coral in a bookcase in the living room, and I grabbed a few for Corinne to hold.

ms1sh01.jpgI study my own pictures a lot, trying to identify habits & trends with the hope that I can break some habits & increase my versatility.  One thing I've noticed that I do is that I tend to photograph models from a consistent distance, usually about 6-8 feet away.  So, that's a habit I could break on occasion.  In this case, I challenged myself to move closer to the model, focusing on a body part as opposed to a full figure image.  

I wanted to add the coral element for a couple of reasons.  First, I like the contrast in textures between Corinne's clear skin & the coral.  Second, as I mentioned, Corinne was full of nervous energy, and by moving closer to her, I needed her to be a little more still, so by occupying her hands, I figured we could counteract her fidgeting.

Not all images with this final lighting setup utilized the coral.  Here's a final image for all of you:

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I like the subtle & feminine musculature in Corinne's figure, which is highlighted by her clear skin.  

Now I have to admit that I got the sense that Corinne was more than a little nervous during our sitting.  This was a little surprising, because Corinne is experienced with some of the more erotic photographers in the area, having done some girl-girl modeling.  I get the sense that posing for fine art figure photography was something more significant for her, and she was anxious for approval.  I was happy to spend more time than usual giving Corinne encouragement & feedback.

 

Assessment:  It might not be obvious to you, but I am still bothered by technical problems that have produced substandard quality (to me) negatives.  The good news is that I have since figured out the problem -- I was using a bad batch of chemistry, and replacing both my film & paper developers has resolved the problem.  Unfortunately, the negatives from this sitting are already effected and would be unsuitable for fine art printing.

I think Corinne is a little self conscious about what she perceives as flaws -- for example, she simply doesn't like her legs.  On the other hand, I see a young woman trying to live a difficult life with grace.  But to be honest, I don't like working around tattoos.  This is a bad combination together, making our "chemistry" together a little forced -- something that probably isn't apparent with these images.  In fact, I really like some of the more portrait-like images on this page, especially the ones where Corinne was on the little bench, facing the camera.  

I've got a few photographic commitments coming up, including a return visit with Leona & photographing some (clothed) portraits for a friend's wedding.  Also, this is a transitional time of the year for me -- Once daylight savings happens, I start thinking about getting out of the studio, doing either natural light setups in the house, setups in places other than my house, and maybe/hopefully outdoor photography (once it gets warmer).  At some time, I believe Corinne & I will work together again, but unfortunately, we won't be able to do that anytime soon.

What do you think?

 

(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated)