Randi in Autumn Light (Halifx, Nova Scotia)

6x9 cm film

Every time I manage to get out and work with Randi, I feel I am snatching a missed opportunity from fate, and turning it around. I usually don't do many session outdoors after the first of September, and working this late in the year, and with a new model to boot, is a real luxury. The first session with Randi was so late in the year that I had thought it would be the last outdoor session of the year; I was wrong. Our second session proved to be more focused, more comfortable, and best of all, warmer.

35mm infrared film

 It is really frustrating to learn that the best light for outdoor figure work in Nova Scotia is present only this late in the year. Randi and I worked for almost three hours, beginning just after noon, and all through that time, wonderful low raking light flowed across the landscape, providing rich modeling of both the land and body. The quality of the light was really rich too, providing crisp, defined highlights to everything it touched, but not so harsh as to black out any shadows in the same image. Practically every photograph we made worked explicitly with the angular light, either using it as rim lighting for the figure, or to set it against the landscape in some way.

35mm infrared film

This session was really focused on making images, where the first time Randi had modeled, it was really all about giving her an experience of the process. This time however, everything was dedicated to the process itself, and the change was evident in the work. The biggest frustration now is knowing that the good weather can't last forever, and eventually, I'll have to retreat from the winter light indoors, to studio, candles, or afternoon light.