May 12, 2003

Elisabeth in the Studio

Digital original
Ever since my first session with Elisabeth in December 2002, I'd wanted to work with her in the studio; her gaze was so captivating in the available light images, I wanted to see what would happen with the greater control of the studio and with fine grained films (for our first session I'd used 400 or 1600 speed film) or high resolution digital cameras. Probably the biggest shortcoming of working with natural light is having to use higher-speed (and therefore grainier) film to make the images. While I'd rather have a great image on high-speed film, at the same time, knowing that with a slower film, the image would look better, it is frustrating at times to have to settle with less then ideal combinations.
Digital original
All that being said, the studio is a difficult space to work in at times; basically a blank canvas upon which the model is placed, the studio relies upon the model and the photographer to provide all the inspiration and ideas. As I had expected, with Elisabeth, this didn't prove a problem. Her compelling gaze carried much of the session and, when the camera was not focused on her face, more stylized images emerged.

8"x10" film
While I did make a number of successful images of Elisabeth with my 8"x10" view camera, the real wealth of the session was created using the digital camera; this marked my first session with the Canon EOS 10D, and it proved more than capable of delivering the kind of quality I was looking for in the studio. It will be interesting to see how this new tool pushes my work (both indoors and outdoors), and in what directions it will take me as a result of its influence.

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