Miranda in a Moncton Studio

One of my hopes when I moved to Moncton in August of 2003 was that I would be able to keep contact with the models I've worked with in Nova Scotia and continue building on the images we'd created together. Another small hope was that occasionally a Nova Scotia model might come up to New Brunswick to work with me; many of the people I work with are good friends as well as models, so the chance to see an old friend is as much a lure as the chance to make new images with a long-term model.

8"x10" film

As it turned out, Miranda was the first model to make the journey from Halifax to Moncton; we had talked about fitting it in with her school schedule, and in the end, her timing was perfect. After a driver's education class (I am finally learning how to drive at 35), I met her at the train station on the train from Halifax.

Digital original

We spent our first session since August of 2003 working with my studio flash; Miranda has only worked with me in the studio once before, so it was a little different for both of us. The very first focus of the session was Miranda's braids; they provided a beautiful counterpoint to the smooth lines and texture of her skin and, given only one light to work with, I could emphasize the contrast to great effect.

Digital original

The most engaging portion of the session came towards the end, when I decided to experiment with a painted background I recently received (a free sample provided with my new black backdrops). I set up the light to it illuminated the backdrop, and partially lit Miranda; this pushed most of her form into deep shadow, forming a silhouette against the backdrop. The results were very pleasing, as we experimented with more and more dynamic poses. The only problem (ironically) was that the flash was too bright; the dimmest I could make it, given the size of the room, was about eight times brighter than I would have preferred, so where I pictured the background as distinctly out of focus, it is quite in focus, and distinct. While I can fix this in the computer, using post-production filters, it would have been preferable to get it right the first time!