Keira, Chair Variations

Although it's a big hassle to wrestle it into position, I have been using the big honkin' soft box a lot lately. This soft box is 4' x 6', and its corners are a tad worn, so I don't like collapsing it & setting it up again, because I'm just wearing out those corners. But it's really difficult maneuvering it down from upstairs -- there are a lot of corners that are difficult.
But I love the soft, soft light. I've got to admit that it is surprisingly challenging to set it up in a flattering manner (and yes, in this case, I came close but not quite close enough).

The funky chair is part of a two-chair set that came with a recovered barn wood table -- these usually live up in the guest room, but for Keira, I wrestled it downstairs. It's heavy!

Among other things, Keira's skin is flawless.
In general, the big honkin' soft box creates forgiving light, meaning that it'll produce good images from a variety of positions / configurations.

However, this image illustrates why I think I got this lighting wrong. In particular, I don't like how Keira's eyes are shadowed. I do like how the light gently highlights the muscular definition across Keira's torso.

It's funny -- as I age, I move less & sit more, and I've found that my photography is growing more sedate. On the other hand, Keira is full of energy -- it's a shame to try to make her sit still. I can tell you that we did take a little walk after our sitting -- despite wearing clunky sandal/shoes with thick wooden soles, she walks 'way faster than I can.
In any case, Keira is all over the chair.

In the future, I should find ways to get her to move -- there's nothing wrong with a moving model.

In any case, I've also noticed that as I age, I strive to create intimate feeling nude portraits. See below.

Witness a concept that fell flat on its face. For reasons I can't explain, I went out & found a Chinese finger puzzles. I wanted to see a nude model struggle with it -- kinda like a low-key fetish thing.
Epic failure.

On top of everything else, Keira's fingers just weren't large enough to get locked.

Keira's game. She tries real hard, but I can see right away that this concept is going nowhere. But if you never try, you'll never know. It is funny when you can get a serious model to do something silly.

Okay, we drop the finger lock concept like a hot potato.
Every once in a while, I think it's a good idea to try the opposite. Lately, I've been using the biggest soft box I could get into the room. What's the opposite? A small, harsh light source. I switch out the soft box with a small reflector, make minor adjustments to the other lights, and create some shadowy images. My thought that with a figure as wonderfully defined as Keira's, some good shadows would highlight her fabulous physique.

Now, as I'm reviewing these images, I find that for the most part, I don't care for this images:

	They are a little cliché.
	While this light might be nice on Keira's figure, it's not so good for Keira's lovely face.

I do like what the light does for her hair here. I don't like what it does to her face.

Check out the image below. I do like how you can barely see the details on Keira's face.

I do love my artistic effects. I get mixed reviews from visitors to this web site, but I love them.
I've learned how to present them with a mouse rollover. I'd be interested in feedback.

I'm presenting this rollover methodology for one image on each of these pages. For this image, I've enlarged the border -- should I do that for all these rollover based images?

We make tons of exposures using this shadowy light, but now, as I review them, I just don't like them. They just seem like images made by a photographer with less experience than I have. There'll be lots of images from this lighting setup on the Out Takes gallery.
I knew that I wanted to photograph Keira in my shower. After taking a quick break to feed the parking meter & wrestle the lights into the bathroom, that's where we go.

Keira In The Shower