Sarah: Go To Gal

It is rare for us living in the Pacific Northwest to get a glimpse of the sun during the colder months. In fact, the shorter days can be so overcast that the days will be fairly dark. The challenge is that I do have one (and only one) south facing window, and I just love the light that come in it. During the longer days, sunlight puddles on the floor under the window (see the image above, from Keira Grant's visit last July); during the shorter & colder days, the sunlight can stretch over 20 feet along that one wall (see the image below, of today's subject model, Sarah). It is so interesting to me that a single window can yield such radically different lighting. I like both versions of light (and the incremental variations between the two), but since sunny days are so rare in the colder months, I am especially intrigued by the winter configuration.

So, the challenge -- since the sunny days are so rare, how to arrange a sitting during those unpredictable sunny days? The solution: you've got to develop an agreement with a "go to gal", a model who might be able to drop everything at a moment's notice & come over for an hour or so during a rare sunny day. Hence, Sarah -- she's a local college student who lives just a few blocks away. In fact, at the time of this sitting, my house was closer to Sarah than the parking garage where she parks her car. To the extent possible, we set up our session without scheduling a date. Then, when it looks like we are going to have a sunny afternoon, one of us will phone the other to see if we are both available. After three attempts, we find a sunny day that looks promising. Sarah hustles home (to change her clothes) and comes over, arriving just 10-15 minutes after our phone call. I immediately ask her to sit in the sunlight, and without any delay, we start making pictures.

There is something mesmerizing & exotic about blue-eyed brunettes. I find Sarah's eyes to be captivating, especially when they are side lit like this. Photographing a model can be like a three-ring circus -- there's a lot going on simultaneously: I'm looking at the light, the figure, the expression, the shadows, the composition, the movement, etc., and as distracting as all that is, I pay special attention to Sarah's eyes, especially when they are lit like this.
I love the opportunities for interesting compositions when using this lighting setup.

Roll your mouse over the above image.

Sarah & I had met at my house a couple of weeks earlier. Usually, I meet a model about 10 minutes before we make the first exposure, but I wanted to meet with Sarah beforehand so that she could find my house when she hurries over and so that we can discuss all the "preliminaries" before the day of the sitting. We wanted to be able to jump into the sunlight as quickly as possible.
When we met, I had told Sarah about how I like photographing a model in the clothes she wears to the door and then continuing to photograph her as she removes her clothes.

So, when I called her to get her over while the sun was shining, she asked which were we going to do -- the sunlight setup or the "getting started" setup. I answered, why not both?

Getting the exposure right in this lighting setup is a big challenge, and perhaps it's a bigger challenge than I can handle. This image is a case in point -- the light on Sarah's face is a bit blown out (but I don't mind much because it yields an ethereal feeling) -- meanwhile, the tonality on the rest of Sarah's figure are pleasing. It's a hodge-podge.
There is something slightly disturbing/funny about the placement of Sarah's right hand. It looks like a mistake in an anatomy textbook.

Here's me playing composition games again. I used to do these unusual shapes & off-center compositions all the time, and when I find an appealing excuse, I am always happy.
Despite having only modest technical qualities, I like this image a lot.

	I like how Sarah's hair is flowing around her face & shoulders,
	I like her direct look & lovely face,
	I like how you can see her lovely eyes in the different shadows,
	I like how her breasts are de-emphasized by shadow, and
	I like the contrast between the curves and the straight lines of the sunlight.

Teeny tiny changes to how Sarah holds her head translate into radical changes in the light on her face. If her nose is pointing directly at the camera, her hair would cast a shadow over her face, but if she turns her head ever so slightly towards the window, her face is more illuminated. In fact, with just the right angle, her eyes are perfectly highlighted. To Sarah's credit, she patiently adjusts her pose based on my feedback, but she always looks natural. Normally, I just like setups where the model can move as she will, but here, she has to move carefully based on what I'm telling her.

We knew up front that this was going to be a very quick sitting. Normally, my usual sessions last 2.5 - 3 hours, but this sunlight at this time of year tends to last only an hour (if that long). So, before the light is gone for the day, I ask Sarah to try posing in different spots. Go see...

Sarah Bathed In Sunlight