A First Session with Stephanie

Stephanie's boyfriend has known of my work for quite some time, and when he shared it with her, she immediately expressed an interest in working with me...but as a serious martial arts practitioner, it had to wait until a set of serious bruises faded from view.

Digital infrared original

Though the weather is inching towards a time when working outdoors is a viable option, Stephanie and I decided to have our first session together in the studio, where the weather would not present an issue.

For this image of Stephanie, I decided with her fair skin, it would be best to set her against black, so she would really stand out from the surroundings. I really have only taken two approaches to studio photography - much of my early work (1988-1998) worked with a black background, setting the model in a sea of darkness. From 1999 onward, I tended to prefer working with a white setting, usually setting the model against white sheets and using studio lighting to mimic natural light.

Digital original

While working against the black, between "posed" images, I caught a glimpse of Stephanie's hands on the back of the chair she was seated on - they were beautifully lit, so I paused to make an image or two.

Digital original, 11 frame stitch

For the final photos of the session, I switched to working against white, and focused on a series of portraits; Stephanie's fair skin and light hair was a little challenging to work with on white, but the portrait above had some beautiful lines, and a great expression.