Victoria by Natural Light (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The more I work with Victoria, the more I appreciate all her support for my work. More then any other model, she has helped me push my work forward, and been patient enough to work with me through various experiments and tests.

6x7 cm film

In this case, it was less of an experiment then a continuation of an on-going test; working with the Mamiya RB camera indoors where I'd previously have worked with a 35mm camera. While much of my work from last fall and the early winter was made on 35mm film, I became more and more frustrated with the lower image quality the Nikon was giving me. While working indoors with the 8"x10" is possible, I didn't want to give up all the spontaneity that the smaller format presented me with; thus the experimentation with Mamiya RB's.

6x7 cm film

For this session, all I wanted to do was work as I usually do without worrying about camera format. Usually I use two cameras, one for colour and one for black and white, but with the RB, I could change the film-backs when I wished to chance film types. This made the flow of the session smoother then usual, with less changing of lenses and cameras, and more focus upon the image-making. More then anything else, this simplification of the image making process lead to less distraction on my part; when I saw a composition I wanted to capture, all I needed to do was ensure the correct lens and film were in use, and the image was made.

6x7 cm film

Where I've grown very used to an 85mm lens on my Nikon, the lens I was using on the RB was a 127mm, equal to about a 70mm lens on a 35mm camera. This concerned me a little, as I have become so comfortable with the longer portrait lens, but this session with Victoria proved that the lens was more then appropriate; for the most part, I composed tight images that took full advantage of the slightly long lens, and all of them were every bit as successful as I'd hoped.

While I actually prefer portrait sessions with Victoria, almost all the images I made were