A Second Natural Light Session with Kylie

The final session of the two days working with Kylie was spent in a friend's apartment, working with the afternoon light coming in through a large picture window at the end of the living room (while there is beautiful morning light in my new house, after mid-morning there isn't much light left in any room because of the direction the house faces).

8"x10" film

By this time, Kylie had adjusted quite well to the whole process and was very comfortable with modeling (before the previous evening, she had never modeled nude before). As I had never worked with this space before (I had hoped to work there with Roberta in December, but a snow-storm put an end to that plan), I didn't know what possibilities would be offered by it beyond the obvious wall of windows but the choice of what to work with was obvious as soon as we entered the apartment. A bright triangle of light was cast upon one of the living room walls, and with only a little movement of furniture, it was possible to open up the entire wall for working.

Kylie and I spent about 45 minutes working with that triangle of light; the initial explorations were close and detailed, but the longer we worked, the freer and open the compositions became. Towards the end, I was working with a very small figure in the corner, and a large area of negative space around Kylie - a composition that proved to be my favorite of all the variations I made.

Digital original

After we had worked with the direct, angular light, Kylie took a break while I set up the white sheets across the window, intending to work with the sheets a backdrop. Just as I was finished, I glanced back and caught a glimpse of Kylie's sitting position - she had her hand by her mouth, and the light was perfect - soft but still directional.; I asked her to hold her position, and quickly set up the camera and made two compositions - needlessly, as it turned out, as the first perception was the clearest.

Digital original

In a little more than seven hours of photography over an evening and a day, Kylie and I had produced a very striking set of images. On both our parts, there was an effort to make Kylie's introduction to modeling as successfully as possible, while still making the most of the time she had available to model. The only frustration we both share is that the whole process had to be indoors; I can only hope that in six months, when it is sunny and warm outside, we will be able to dedicate as much effort into working together outdoors.