Roberta's Pregnancy #3

The final session with Roberta was held at her bed and breakfast, taking advantage of a third location. There was some doubt if the session would actually take place, as the day dawned with the beginnings of a snow storm, but some careful driving got us to the Bed and Breakfast safely, and we began to work. One unexpected advantage of the snow storm was that it permitted Roberta and I to work right next to the window without any fear of people looking up and in - anyone silly enough to be outside was walking hunched over and head-down.

8"x10" film

The first thing that caught my eyes in Roberta's room was a beautiful mirrored dresser by the door. From just the right angle, you could see the reflections of the window in the mirror, and I knew this would be where I'd want to start the session. It took a bit of time to move extraneous furniture around, and clear the sight line between the mirror and the window, but within fifteen minutes, we were all set to being working. Outside the snow kept coming down.

Digital original

In the end, almost all the images in the bedroom revolved around the windows, either reflected in the mirror, or more straight-forward, with Roberta standing beside them and gazing out into the storm. This was both because of the light was so beautiful and even, and because it was quite dim; working further away from the windows dramatically increased the length of exposures necessary to make a given image.

8"x10" film

The whole session was spent keeping an open eye on the weather outside, and where there was nothing rushed, I was quite aware of the need to finish up in time to be able to return home safely. When we finished working with the possibilities that the bedroom in the Bed and Breakfast offered, Roberta received permission for us to explore the possibilities that the other rooms offered (Roberta and her husband were the only people staying at the bed and breakfast at the time). A quick walk through brought us up into the attic room, which had been elegantly renovated into a large suite with a particularly lovely half-moon window which was the perfect place for the final images of the session. Roberta and I worked with a couple of poses, and made four exposures, finishing up with a powerful image of Roberta framed below the half-moon window.