Victoria at the Coast (Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia)

4"x5" film

This session was my last opportunity to work in Nova Scotia before leaving for two weeks to do figure work in Alberta. Victoria had freed the afternoon to model for  me and, rather than heading for a river, we went to the coast.  We'd been intending to go to Prospect where I'd worked with Aeyla in July, 1997 but we actually followed the road signs and ended up in Lower Prospect, not the same place at all.  The advantage of Lower Prospect was the Victoria knew the space and had several places in mind for us to work. 

35mm infrared film

I was quite relieved to be able to work this close to going to Alberta as I had just switched my 35mm camera to a Canon EOS 650 from a Nikon FM2 and I welcomed the opportunity to become familiar with the new system before heading west. Recently, I had bought Joy a Canon Rebel 500 (equivalent to a Rebel G) and then gotten myself a Rebel 2000. I had planned on switching completely to the EOS system eventually but held onto my Nikon because the 500 and 2000 cannot be used for infra-red.  The 650, however, is an older body and uses a manual advance, as opposed to the infra-red sensor in the newer models.  Along with the 650, I purchased a 20-35mm zoom to replace the 19mm Vivitar I'd used on the Nikon. From the results of this day, I am very pleased with the performance of both the camera and the lens.

4"x5" film

This session wasn't terribly long as Victoria had been up late the night before and was tired.  We finished up by working with some tall ferns. The late afternoon sun provided beautiful backlighting for the plants and Victoria's hair.  The real success of this, and indeed, any nude portrait, comes from the model's comfort and confidence before the camera, qualities Victoria possesses in abundance.  Though we've only worked together a handful of times, I have a number of strong and varied portraits of Victoria.