R_ Poses at the Coast (Middle Point Cove, Nova Scotia)

The final session of R_'s couple of day's working with me saw us returning to Peggy's Cove, this time with the 8"x10" as opposed to the 4"x5" camera. The more I work with the larger camera, the more I am becoming convinced that it is right camera for me; the pleasure of pulling an image together on such a large ground-glass, combined with the additional demands it places on the process as a whole is exactly what I was hoping it would contribute to the process.

35mm infrared film

The light was much softer then the previous evening, with low clouds obscuring the sun for most of its decent. We began with a series of images working with the multitude of shapes and lines in the granite bedrock, playing on the interplay between the form of R_'s body and the landscape around her. The most successful, above, sets the fluid, full lines of the back and hip against a bisected plane of rock.

8"x10" film

As we progressed and the sun moved lower in the sky, the real drama of the evening unfolded, with the sun moving behind a dark, triangular cloud. While the foreground was still well lit, the sun behind the cloud lead to a dramatic sky, above. Realizing what was happening, R_ and I quickly relocated to a rocky point closer to the ocean, to take advantage of the coming special - I expected that the sun would begin to cast rays of light from behind the cloud, and wanted to be able to take advantage of that brilliance upon the water, and the surrounding clouds.

One of the realities of larger cameras is that they can slow the entire process of making images down by many times; with a 4"x5" camera, it can take several minutes to set up the tripod and camera, focus and finally make an image; I had expected the whole thing to slow again with the movement to 8"x10", but honestly, I was surprised by how easy it was to change our location quickly, and set up and make the final images of the day. I doubt I would have been much faster with my 4"x5", given the unevenness of the rocks, and the indirect path we had to take.

8"x10" film

The second sun-set session was very different from the first; working with only a 35mm camera and the 8"x10" changed the entire process, there was much more contemplation before making an image, and I reveled in the ability to see the image so large on the camera's ground-glass, before setting the film holder in, and making the exposure.