Miranda in Her New Apartment

Digital original

 As I've mentioned earlier, it has been almost a year since my first opportunity to work with a digital SLR, Canon's EOS D60. At the time I was impressed, almost to the point of questioning why I was using film for some applications. The operative word there is "almost", as I wasn't fully convinced the cost of the camera was worth the results. Now, Canon has issued a new camera, the EOS 10D, with better quality, build and price. Needless to say, I eagerly awaited the camera's arrival, and the chance to test it.

One of the greatest gifts that long term models, such as Miranda provide me with is the ability to experiment without pressure or expectations. With the new camera, what I most wanted to do with it was push the envelope; make images that would test the camera's capabilities. Image content could come later, but as I only had the demo camera for a weekend, I wanted to see if it would technically meet my expectations.

Digital original

The space Miranda and I had to work in was new to both of us - her new apartment. I'd seen the house the week before and the stair-way, with its distinctive railing, a turn at the top, and a skylight stuck in my mind as a great place for an indoor sessions. As it happened, Miranda was also keen to work in the new apartment before any of the furniture or books were moved in (making it easier for me to envision and create images).

Digital original

The session went well, given the shortness of the session; the EOS 10D was easier to adjust to then I'd expected and, as a result, the session very quickly shifted from a tech test to a genuine photo session, with a number of the compositions using the stair banister taking up much of our time. Though the EOS 10D takes all images in colour, I intended from the start to use the files in black and white; part of what the EOS 10D may do for me is replace all film cameras besides my 8"x10" view camera, so the session was very much designed to test how many different directions it could be pushed. After more then a week of working with the files, I am pretty secure in saying that most of what I need the camera to do is possible, with care and some effort. The possibility of colour and black and white images from the same file is intriguing.