Ingrid & Miranda in the Woods

After the end of the water session, we still had some time available to work, so I asked Ingrid and Miranda if they would be interested in working with the woods and ferns that surrounded the lake before we packed up to go home. While we were eating our snacks and the models were getting warmed up, Ingrid had been eyeing a particular tree which formed the corner of a particularly precarious looking unfinished tree-fort. Knowing her love of climbing and precarious poses, I asked if she would like to try working with the tree; her instant response was to head over and test if it could bear her weight, which it indeed could.

Digital original, 8 image stitch

The tree was more than strong enough, and we made a vertical stitched image of her lithe figure surrounded by the delicate tracery of the green leaves.

After this image, I shifted my vision to the forest floor, and worked with both Miranda and Ingrid in the rocks and ferns under the canopy of trees. The light was beautiful and even but there was also a delicate chaos to the patterns, with no area without detail and a riot of texture. This proved to be a perfect setting for the Nude, where the unbroken lines of the model's skin contrasted well with the surroundings.

Digital original, 8 frame stitch

With Miranda and the rock, we worked with a couple of different poses but by far the best pose had her stretched back following the lines of the rock. This led to a highlight being formed along the entire upper side of her body, separating her beautifully from the chaotic background (the image was assembled from eight frames, so the detail of the woods is recorded in great detail).

For the final image of the session, Ingrid reclining in the ferns, I created a more dramatic contrast between Ingrid and her surroundings by altering the tones of the ferns and then rendering the image in black and white. This is very similar to how I would have approached the image with black and white film and filters but had the added advantage of being reversible, if I decided in the end that I didn't like the effect.

Digital original, 13 frame stitch

As my final day of photographing before the move to Moncton, I couldn't have asked for more. The water work from the first half of the day was very successful, with some really refreshing images; the end of the afternoon, with the couple of compositions of Ingrid and Miranda, gave some very quiet, serene images to close the day.