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I
was admittedly anxious about this sitting. Because of a long
streak of bad luck, I hadn't hosted a sitting for a couple of
months. Further, this was going to be my first sitting using
my new camera, and I was concerned that I would have to spend more
time focusing on the camera instead of the model & the art. I shouldn't
have worried -- Natalia is a dream model. |
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I
chronicled the bad luck streak in the commentary of Ashley's
first sitting, but since these troubles also impacted this sitting,
I should summarize them again here. Ignoring the less
relevant ones (like broken chair, broken oven, etc.), the key
problems included the following:
- I stopped
receiving e-mail via web forms used on this site.
- As it turned
out, my web host disappeared (their phones were even
disconnected).
- I had to
search for a new web host.
- I had to
move my huge site to the new host.
- I had to
reimplement the e-mail forms & the security to the
restricted pages (Out Takes & Secret Galleries).
- My digital
camera died mid-sitting with Ashley. I bit the bullet
& purchased a new DSLR camera -- as of this sitting, I was
not quite comfortable with the new camera.
- My new
scanner doesn't seem to produce scans as good as my old dead
scanner.
- My PC
monitor was dying. When I edited these images, the
monitor was down to about 3 colors (charcoal, pink, and light
green) & had a contrast ratio of about 4.
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I
guess my creativity is a fragile thing. No one of these
problems was devastating, and I was taking care of them one at a
time, but when I'm so busy with the frustration, distraction, &
disappointment associated with these troubles, well, I guess it
just saps my artistic urges & energy. Still, Natalia is not a local
model, and although she comes through town here a few times a
year, her visits are infrequent enough to make me want to jump at
the chance to work with her when I can. |
So,
the big change during this sitting was the new camera, a Canon EOS
5D. This is a superior camera, and I do like it, but I've
got to admit that the camera I really want just doesn't
exist. Specifically, I miss the tilting / swinging live
preview LCD screen. Like nearly all DSLRs, this camera's LCD
screen is fixed on the back, where it collects nose prints when I put my
eye to the viewfinder. And like nearly all DSLRs, one is
expected to position your head behind the camera's body in order to
aim it. Okay, I do have a right angle attachment to the
viewfinder, but you've still got to get your head down there with
the camera. Since I like unusual angles, and since I'm getting
to an age where I'm not as agile as I used to be, this can cause
problems -- like cutting off Natalia's head in an earlier
image. That was just sloppy of me. But I just don't
want to keep the camera up at my face all the time. I want
to focus on the model, not the camera.
So, getting
experienced with the new camera is a top objectives for this sitting. We've got to thank
Natalia for being my guinea pig. |
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More
than pretty much any other model, I like the way Natalia dresses;
her choice of wardrobe is often unique & stylish. And
more than pretty much any other model, I like the way Natalia
moves. So, as
such, I am likely to start every sitting with Natalia by
photographing her in the clothes she wears to my door (and
thoroughly enjoying myself as she removes her clothes for me). |
Here's
a token color image. I can't tell you how horrible my
monitor was when I processed these images -- all colors are off, and the brightness
& contrast of any image is just a guess. For the
brightness & contrast, particularly with the B&W images, I
can use photo editing tools, like the histogram, but with the
color images, I'm flying blind. I've upped the contrast a
bit & have increased the saturation. No doubt, when I
get a new PC monitor, these images will appear "off",
but I'm doing the best I can at the moment.
For the record,
I do intend to obtain a new PC later this year. I recently
decided not to wait for a new monitor -- I ordered one, but the
place where I ordered it lost it in transit -- okay, that happens,
but their customer service during these difficulties was
horrible. In fact, they lied to me twice -- telling me one
thing while documenting the opposite in their incident tracking
notes. So, I had to give up on them, cancel the order, and
order the monitor from somewhere else. The new monitor
will probably arrive & be set up before I finish editing these
pages. |
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To
me, Natalia is a chameleon: she is young & looks
younger. At times, she's a little girl; at times, she's all
woman. She's always sweet and sometimes sexy. She's
sinuous & graceful. She's sometimes sultry.
Here's a little
taste of her posing like a three ring circus -- the cutoff jeans & the holy stockings say
"young girl" to me; the red bra & the sensuous
stretch says "desirable woman" to me.
Natalia has a
natural ability to be all-women at once. |
I
like that strong, knees apart stance, and I'm always a fan of
models who can give me a jog in their spine. For our first
three sittings together, I felt that Natalia was a graceful fine
art model (and nothing here is changing that opinion). But
this image is something new for us -- Natalia has added
"sexy" to her repertoire. Maybe she always had
that skill, but for me, for us, it's something new. I think I'll
choose to believe that this is a step in my relationship with
Natalia -- she has reached a new plateau of security with me, and
she is comfortable showing me this side of her personality.
I'm not complaining. I'm appreciative. |
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Some
photographers are control freaks -- they want the light & the
pose to be perfect. Other photographers just want to let
stuff happens & hope to capture perfection as it fleetingly
passes before their eyes. I'm somewhere in the middle -- I
take time to set up the lights, then I communicate what's
happening to the model, and I just let her move.
Sometimes, I
like only a tiny part of the image. Here, I like the light
on Natalia's left shoulder & cheek. See:
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I am
hyper-critical of myself. I'm always evaluating what's going
on -- that happens not only during the sitting but also later,
when I edit the images & put together these pages. In
fact, for me, publishing these pages onto the web is an important
milestone -- it's the point where I close the book on the lessons
learned & prepare to make adjustments for the next session.
I do like a lot
about this image and this setup -- there's lovely radiant light on
a beautiful model who is enjoying removing her clothes for
me. I also like the various textures & colors here.
But it's easy
for me to be critical, too. For one thing, the camera isn't
exactly vertical -- it appears slightly tilted to me, and I find
that distracting. I'm using the tripod that I used for the
dinky little point & shoot camera, but the DSLR is
bigger/heavier, and it is uncomfortable for me to get down behind
the viewfinder & make the fine adjustments necessary.
I'll be looking for a new tripod shortly, one with spirit levels
on the tripod head, to assist me in setting it perfectly
horizontal or vertical (when that is my intent).
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I
also like the pile of clothes on the floor -- they contribute to
the "story" of the image.
Using the DSLR
is a lot like using the film camera. Even though I am using
studio strobes (which can freeze action), I put the camera on a
tripod. That way, I can fuss with the camera, framing the
image & setting the focus & exposure; then I hold the
cable release, pay attention to the model, give her feedback &
direction, and snap away. The only difference is that the
film camera can make only 10 exposures before I have to pause
& change film -- the DSLR has a big honkin' card, and I can
make hundreds of exposures without stopping.
The dinky point
& shoot camera had to complete writing one image onto the
flash card before it's ready to make the next exposure. The
DSLR has sufficient buffering to allow me to make exposures
whenever. I'm usually slow & deliberate, but it's nice
to know that I can work quickly if the need arises. |
I
like this picture a lot -- there's something going on & we
caught the action. I like the textures, the lighting, the
depth, the subtlety, and the boots that are so not-sexy that they
are sexy.
There is a
significant difference between the DSLR & the film camera that
I didn't notice until I started processing these images. I'm
getting older & I am having difficulties focusing my cameras
manually. In fact, using auto-focus is a major enticement to
making the switch to digital. But the auto-focus works
differently. With the film camera, I just press the cable
release & the picture is captured. With the auto-focus
DSLR, I press the cable release down halfway, and then press it
fully to make the exposure. I was just pressing the darn
thing down without the halfway-press, so many of these exposures
are out of focus (some worse than others). I've got to learn
a new way of pressing the shutter release. But when I
started to see out-of-focus images, I have to admit that I had a
moment of panic.
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I
still like the pile of clothes on the floor.
Natalia has a
wonderful ability to give me a nice looking jog in her spine.
I should also
forewarn you -- during this sitting, we never left the big comfy
chair, and Natalia never lost those leg warmers. |
Wait
a second. Let's pause the flow a bit. Above is one of
the images from this sitting, processed in the usual way. At first glance, it's not one of the best images
-- in fact, it's pretty typical of a mis-timed image (which
happens more often than I'd like to admit): I
caught a moment where Natalia's eye contact slipped a bit as she
reached up to move her hair from her eyes. Often, I would
simply react with an "Oh, well!", put the image in the
"reject" pile, and move on. But
in my old days, when I first got started, I wasn't exactly
decisive when making exposures. Back then, I would do some radical
cropping & find some interesting mini-pictures within the
overall original image. Such is the case here. Take a
look at this:
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I
like this a big lot. To me, this looks more like a
lithograph than a photograph. That inspired me to play with
some artistic effects: |
Sometimes,
I find gems inside otherwise ordinary images. It's a good
thing I create large (12 megapixel) exposures. That leaves
some flexibility for cropping.
Sorry
for the detour -- back the the regular narrative flow.
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All
models who pose for me typically have a very good idea of what we
are going to do together before they arrive. Additionally,
this is my fourth sitting with Natalia. So, she knows that
we are going to be doing fine art nude photography, but she is
taking her time getting everything off. I'm not complaining
-- I'm enjoying the anticipation; that's a large part of the
appeal for me. But before we move onto
the next setup, I ask Natalia to remove her panties. She
finds an unusual way to do that. I like the textures,
including but not limited to her boots. |
Almost
there.
Of course, you
can't always tell about the photographer-model interaction just by
looking at the images. When Natalia & I first worked
together, I think she was a little reserved, keeping
private details private. That's no problem for me -- it is
sufficient to me if a model leaves our sittings feeling respected
& appreciated (and hopefully willing to work together
again). But by this sitting, we are closer. We are
sharing more details about our lives and are behaving like
friends.
When I see
these pictures, I see more interpersonal contact. Earlier
pictures from previous sittings showed off Natalia's fine figure
& grace, but here, we get also to see the lovely woman before
my camera. I really am enjoying this added dimension to our
interaction. |
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The
magic moment, where the strobes freeze Natalia's panties in
mid-air as they fall to the ground.
Love that
smile. |
One
last look at the collection of clothes on the floor. We
worked hard to arrange that (not). That's just where they
fell once they left Natalia.
You know -- I
was anxious & hesitant before this sitting. I was
concerned about the streak of bad luck being a distraction, and I
was concerned about working with an unfamiliar camera.
But Natalia
managed to distract me from all those distractions. She was
especially "in the moment" this sitting. She
opened up. She showed me more of herself. She brought
me along into a truly fun sitting. |
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Also,
I've got to admit that producing interesting images is of
secondary importance. My favorite part of my photography is
the joy of the sitting itself. At some times, it's just a thrill to
talk with a naked lady, who will do pretty much what I ask her to
do. At other times, it's gratifying to try out new concepts
(especially when they work). And often, it's just the
pleasure being with enthusiastic young people. |
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