Kira Beth, Getting Started

This is Kira Beth's second visit here -- last year, when she first posed for me, she was using the stage name "Floofie".

Kira is just about the most versatile model around. She's proficient in "casual", "fashion", and "fine art", to name a few. She has posed for tons of excellent images.

I often enjoy starting out a photo session just like this. I like to photograph the model in the clothes she wears to my door, and then I photograph her as she removes her clothing for me. It's a gradual way to start. It gives the model something to do with her hands. It's fun. I like it. Someday, I might add some story or dramatic elements, but even now, stripped down to its simpliest, it's great.

I love this picture. I got a kick out of it when it happened. Kira was so graceful tossing her top away, extending her left arm out as her right arm does all the work. I imagine that this is how a dancer disrobes!

While I love doing these "Getting Started" setups, I'm not sure how Kira feels about it. At first, you'll notice that she avoided eye contact with the camera, but after a little while, she is comfortable, she is laughing, and she is providing lots of eye contact. It doesn't take us long to get to having a lovely session.

I really like this light. It's pretty simple: my biggest soft box is off to the left (Kira is looking directly at it); in addition, there's a mild spot light to lighten the background on the right side of the image; finally, there's a hair light above Kira.

As many of you know, I've been enjoying applying all sorts of "artistic effects" to some of my images. This image is the one I experimented with. See below.

Many of the artistic variations were done using a feature of my photo editing software, Paint Shop Pro, but some of the newer variations come from a new software package, Painter Photo Essentials. I've got to admit that I like the subtlety of the Paint Shop Pro variations, like the "brush strokes" version below.

I kinda like this image because it has some subtle but weird wide angle distortion going on. Look how tiny that ottoman (seat) looks. But because Kira is leaning over the camera, things tend to look normal. It's just weird.

What do you think of Kira's new hair style?

I like this image because the tones are so rich and the light is so nice. I also like that the nudity is secondary. This is a very nice image.

Look at the image above. To be honest, I don't like it that much -- instead of sitting on the ottoman, Kira is standing in front of it, and that tiny change in position has a big, big impact on the quality of the light, especially on her face.
So here's another exposure, made seconds after the one above. The light on Kira's face didn't improve. But I really like the "brush strokes" version of the image.

This is one of the reasons why I like the "brush strokes" version -- it reduces the image to its basic components of light & dark. You can't see any details at all, but you can see the essence of the image.

This is a favorite.

I don't know why, but I don't often photograph a model's back. It's not for lack of trying. Look here. Kira looks great, I like the body position, and the lighting is fantastic. But this just do it for me. Go figure.

I like the light, the model is nude, and we are enjoying ourselves. Although I have plenty of ideas for things for us to try, I am loathe to make a move. So, we stay right where we are, making some figure study images in this fine light.

Soft Light