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Floofie (a
childhood nickname) is a local graduating college student.
She's been around for a while, but at first, she limited
her posing to "implied nude". When she expanded
her repertoire to include "fine art nudes", we
decided to get together & see what develops.
When
working with a model for the first time, I love, love, love
doing this "Getting Started" setup, where I photograph
the model in the clothes she wears to my door, and then
continue to photograph her as she removes her clothing.
I just love the transition from someone you might see on
the street to a figure in a fine art photograph.
I also
love this little cramped corner in my living room.
That window that you can barely see is just about the only
one that faces somewhat south, and the light it produces
is often great. Some days, on sunny days, the light
is strong; on other days, when it is cloudy, the light is
softer, like it is here.
So, favorite
window, favorite setup, exciting new model -- what's not
to like?
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Some admissions:
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I've been having eye troubles, so I've moved to digital
photography practically exclusively, mostly for the
autofocus. But autofocus notoriously has trouble
in low light situations, like indoor photography.
Unfortunately, my eyes are no longer sharp enough to
see whether the preview image on the camera's tiny LCD
screen are in focus. Some of these pictures are
not in focus. Deal with it -- pretend that I'm
trying to make impressionistic photographs.
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Also, in low light, I've chosen to use a slow shutter
speed (as opposed to increasing the camera's ISO sensitivity
settings). Sometimes, I like the slightly blurred
motion. It's a choice.
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Usually, I
get really excited when bright direct sunlight comes in
through this window. This day is somewhat overcast
(typical of the Pacific Northwest) -- however, it's bright
enough to provide some lovely soft light -- I love how those
green slacks pop amidst all those browns & tans.
We also
get our first glimpse of Floofie's slim, svelte & lovely
figure.
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I'm mistaken
-- this day isn't overcast: see the bright light on
the floor just to Floofie's left? That tells me that
we worked early in the day -- later, that light will creep
up that back wall. Still, that light is especially
lovely, and you'll see that it is well suited to Floofie's
figure.
I especially
love this image -- I love the "clean" look &
the natural gestures & the lovely light & the composition.
Floofie
is a graduating art student -- she paints. As an homage
to that ability of hers, I'm inspired to apply artistic
effects to this favorite image -- see the next few images:
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Paint Brush
Effect
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Sketch Effect
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This image,
and the one that follows, are particular favorites.
I love the natural gestures, lovely light, and lovely figure.
That light bouncing up from the sunlit patch on the floor
is especially pleasing.
I always
wonder about how a model will approach this "Getting
Started" setup, especially one who previously set her
limits at "implied nude", but Floofie moved with
confidence & without hesitation; she worked like a seasoned
professional.
Floofie
has the kind of figure that I just love to photograph:
slim, fit, svelte, youthful -- in short, pretty much the
opposite of my body. Her figure reminds me a lot of
Jessica's,
and Jessica is a favorite of mine.
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Notice how
quickly the light is moving towards & up that wall?
When dealing with natural light, you've got to move quickly &
be prepared to react, because ...
the sun waits for no one.
This
image inspired some cropping decisions. There are
some photographers who just fill their frame with image &
are done with it. More power to them, but I don't
do that. I love to experiment with alternative cropping &
unusual proportions -- look at all the tall skinny images
on this page, for example. Anyhow, this image to the
right is fairly close to full frame, but I experimented
with a slightly closer cropping (see the next image, below).
At the time, I think I liked the closer cropping, but today,
as I'm editing these pages, I think I like the cropping
on the right. Go figure.
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Every photographer
I know starts out working with ambient light -- the light
they see, whether it's sunlight, window light, or artificial
light. Those photographers who show promise are typically
those who can recognize good and/or interesting light &
who can take advantage of the light they see.
I like
this photograph -- there's soft light on Floofie's face,
but her figure is raked with harsh direct sunlight coming
through the window. The window light also creates
interesting shapes on the floor & the wall that contribute
to the composition -- in fact, these shapes created by the
sunlight are critical to this particular image. This
image is also a technical challenge (creating the appropriate
amounts of detail in both the directly lit & not directly
lit portions).
I like
it.
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Okay, the original
image was fuzzy -- the camera had trouble with the light
(and I wasn't paying close enough attention). There
was a time when I would have moaned about the fate that
ruined this image -- the image would grow in its "could
have been" value to outweigh all the other images of
the sitting. Now, I'm mellow. I apply the "Brush
Strokes" effect, and here's an interesting image.
I like it. I like it a lot.
Use your
imagination. It's good to exercise your brain.
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I am immediately
comfortable working with Floofie. We had talked quite a bit as
she was getting started with her modeling, and now that she was adding
fine art nudes to her portfolio, I think we were happy finally to get
together. I'm liking a lot of these images.
I had planned
to working with both natural & strobe lights, but the natural light
was so great today, that we did a lot of work with the window light.
We move across the living room to use the light coming in from the windows
in the front of the house.
Living Room, Natural & Strobe
Light
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