Studio Images #1

Home Page   Oregon-Nudes   Non-Nudes   About Us   FAQs   Contact_Us   Links   Submit A Bug Report   Make A Donation   Out Takes

Page created October 16, 2009
Sitting date:  May 8, 2009

 

Those previous images, at my favorite window:  while we were making them, I knew I was enjoying them.  But no matter how good a setup is, you eventually run out of steam -- I hate it when I find myself just snapping the shutter without making any improvements.  I'm a "cerebral photographer":  I'm always thinking, and when I stop thinking about the current setup, I know it's time to move on.  Further, with a two hour sitting scheduled, I knew I wanted to try some studio-lighting with Noname Jane.

I do think about a few different concepts before the sitting ever starts.  Lately, I've been hauling out my biggest soft box -- it's four feet by six feet.  It's a big hassle wrestling that thing through the house, but the light it creates is just so lovely.

It's also difficult putting that soft box on a light stand -- it's just too big to tilt down.  But I recently figured out that I can use the boom arm that attaches to my biggest light stand -- the boom arm is comprised of three sections, but if I use just two sections, I can attached the boom arm to the light stand at a 45 degree angle.  With the shortened boom arm, the whole thing isn't too unstable, and I can raise the soft box to the ceiling and point it downward.

If you position the downward pointing soft box to the side, you can create some good shadows, which provide some depth to the image.

Here is an early image, when I initially positioned that lights.  Noname Jane is just keeping warm in the soft blanket, waiting patiently for me to fine tune the lights.  Although the lighting is close to what I wanted, it does need some fine tuning.  Look at the next picture. 

aj02d_0076col700

 

aj02d_0078sep700
Compare this image to the one above.  I've made some adjustments:
  • In the first image, the soft box was positioned closer to the back wall, which created shadows that were a little too heavy across Noname Jane's face.  Here, I moved the light forward a bit.
  • In the first image, there was a little light on the floor behind the box on which Noname Jane sits -- originally it had a grid in it focusing its light, and it was pointed low onto the background -- you can hardly see it.  In the second image, I put the light on a stand and pointed it higher on the backdrop.  This light is important to me -- the shadowed side of Noname Jane's figure is tonally separated from the highlight on the backdrop.

Silly hairdo, huh?  Like I said earlier, Noname Jane was leaving our session together to pose for a 1950's themed sitting.

In any case, with the lighting somewhat tuned, we were ready to get busy.

 

 
aj02d_0081sep700

 

 
aj02d_0081sep700brush

 

 

 
aj02d_0083seph700brush

 

 

I can't tell you how much I enjoy this "Paint Brush" effect.  With great accuracy, it reduces the image to the component parts of the lighting.  I've learned a great appreciation for painters -- it's amazing to me how they can select the perfect stroke shape & color in the creation of an image.  The original image isn't posted on this public page (but it might appear on the Out Takes page), but this brush strokes image by itself is powerful enough to me that it can stand alone.  Heck, maybe someday, I'll display only the paint brush images from a sitting. 

I don't get many comments from visitors to this web site on these artistic effect images; that's okay -- I'm an amateur, and I make photographs for my own gratification; any appreciation from visitors is just a bonus.  But quite frankly, I've been having some troubles with my eye these past few years, and the eyesight in my left eye is just horrible nowadays -- I can't see well at all.  Thus, fine details have perforce become less important to me, and the abstraction in these "paint brush stokes" images is not too far from what my left eye can see.  I do love these images.  Not only do I find them interesting, they remind me that even with failing eyesight, I can still produce some interesting art.

 

 

aj02d_0089sep700brush

 

aj02d_0098sep700

 

aj02d_0099sep700
Noname Jane's face & body language is like a three ring circus -- there's always something going on.  I do prefer to work with experienced models, but I am often concerned that experienced models have been there & done that a bit too much, and that the concepts that are exciting to me might be boring to the model.

That's not a problem with Noname Jane.  She is always present, easily entertained, emotive, and exuberant.  

 

aj02d_0099sep700brush

 

aj02d_0102sep700

  

Ooops!  Sorry.  I shouldn't have had that burrito for lunch.  (Ha!)

 

No, I don't remember what was going on, but Noname Jane flashes a wide variety of expressions on her face.  I love it.  Pay attention -- you'll see tons of distinct looks.

aj02d_0108sep700

 

 

 Studio Session #2

 

(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated) 

All images (c) 2009 Looknsee Photography

Noname Jane, Second Visit Out Takes

Over 90 more images from this sitting are available in the Out Takes Galleries, which are available to those who have made a donation to the upkeep of this web site.  See this FAQ question for more details.