Ingrid and a Friend (Riverlake, Nova Scotia)

35mm infrared film

Generally speaking, I traditionally finish working with the Nude in outdoor settings by mid-September, with the cool weather and shorter days making serious work uncomfortable and infrequent. This year however, I have been fortunate to work with several tough-skinned models, whom, it would seem, have as much dedication as I have to the process (perhaps even more, as they have modeled in snow for another photographer - something I would have a hard time encouraging!).

35mm transparency

The session began with Ingrid and myself working on a river. The air was too cold to consider immersion of any sort, so we worked on rocks, first with the 4"x5" view camera, and then with 35mm infra-red. With the Wista, it quickly became difficult to frame the images I wanted, as there simply were not rocks in the right place. Frustrated that I could not work with what I saw, I eventually put the tripod and camera on the shore and finished up with the Nikon. The best image by far is the one above on the right - the sparkling light on the water, combined with the wind in Ingrid's hair make is a very magical image for me.

4"x5" film

After we finished up at the river, we walked inland some, and began working in the forest. As I had never worked outdoors this late in the year, I was not aware of how dramatic the light was. Even in the early afternoon, the sun was low in the sky, providing wonderful light. The final set of images of the day, including the one to the right, had me returning to 35mm, as the models were becoming too cold during the time it took me to set up the view camera. On colder days, lighter, faster equipment is definitely the order of the day.