More Worn Out Jeans

We move across the living room to the big comfy chair. There is a bank of three windows along that wall, and they face west. Working with the natural light there is a challenge. There are shades on all three windows, so I can control how much light comes in. But since the windows face west-ish, the time of the day makes a big difference. And here in the Pacific Northwest, the weather in April can be overcast or it could be sunny, and if it is overcast, it can be amazingly dark during the day.

Okay, here's natural light. I closed the shade of the rightmost window (behind Natalia) -- you can see the big central window, and there's another window on the other side. It's dark & moody.

I'm just beginning to notice this, but somewhere in the post processing of these images, I pick up more than a little pixilation, which you can see in the cord from the central window.

I now notice more pixilation.

These are moody images. Unfortunately, it's a mood that I wasn't really feeling. I decide to pull the strobe lights over & light Natalia with the artificial lights.

Here's Natalia lit by the medium softbox.

While we were making these images, I left the middle & left window shade open, and the natural light that came in from the windows overpowered the modeling lights from the strobes. But the strobes, when they fired, greatly overpowered the natural light. Thus, the images came out radically different from what my eye was seeing. It was quite a trip.

For the most part, I continued to use the strobe lights this time.

I like this picture, and the one directly above, a lot. In both cases, I like the light on Natalia's lovely face, even though each is quite different.

Here's an observation: this time, Natalia hasn't shaved her arm pits. That's a first for me; I do believe that every model I've ever worked with had shaved under their arms (and that includes Natalia's first sitting).

Does it bother me? Not much. Not on Natalia -- that's just part of her personal charm & style; she is so natural.

Would it bother me on another model? Possibly.

Did you notice? Does it bother you? Do you like it?

I like these last few images, especially this last one, above. Again, because she's still wearing her jeans, she can pose any which way at all, and that makes for poses that feel more relaxed. I like the shape of Natalia's torso in these images, and for this one, the light on her face is very nice, too. My only nit is a personal posing bugaboo that I have: I don't like it when a limb is pointing directly at the camera lens. Look at Natalia's right thigh -- it's all but disappeared. If it was off just a little bit, it would make her leg look short & stumpy. I'm usually aware of this & ask the model to adjust her pose accordingly.

What was I thinking? We are almost finished with the allotted time for the sitting, and Natalia is still wearing those jeans. For a last few exposures, I ask her to take them off, and she complies.

I like this picture, too. The light is nice, and I like the non-standard composition. I've been noticing lately that I don't vary my composition as much as I did in my youth. That's something to think about. I used to love using interesting compositions.

Here's a particularly seductive look. Don't know why it happened, but hey...

I always say,

if you want to look intelligent, put your hand near your chin,
if you want to look sexy, put your hand near your lips, and
if you want to look stupid, put your hands near your nose.

Here's an image that illustrates why I don't like having a limb pointing towards the lens. See what I mean? She changes the position of her legs a little for the image below, and that makes a big difference.

You know -- this could be an awkward shape / pose, but Natalia has the grace to pull it off. I like how her narrow waist flares to her hips, and I like the tension in her torso.

Here's a few film images to finish the sitting.

Quick anecdote: Ideally, models arrive happy & healthy & vibrant & enthusiastic, but sometimes, like this time, real life intrudes. In this case, Natalia wasn't feeling all that well, so we adjusted & kept the sitting low key.

I remember a few years ago, I was working with a model in my house in California. The day before, it reached 112 degrees, and the day of the sitting wasn't going to be any cooler (and my house didn't have air conditioning). I asked the model if she wanted to postpone, but she wanted to push through. But about two-thirds through the sitting, the model was feeling faint, and I had these visions of me dealing with a nude model who had passed out. I ended the sitting right there (paid the model in full), got some fluids into her, and made sure she was okay before I sent her in the way.

Stuff happens.

For a low key sitting with a model who wasn't feeling 100%, I think we did really well, and we got some nice images. What do you think?