Pregnancy upon the Dunes

It is a little ironic that, after a handful of months working on one pregnancy series, I received an e-mail from Lynn-Marie letting me know she was expecting and asking if I'd be interested in working with her on a series of pregnancy nudes. We batted around some ideas by e-mail and set a date to get together and talk. Out of that came our first session of the pregnancy. As she wasn't showing yet, it was more like a traditional photo session than one focusing on the pregnancy but, like my other pregnancy series, many of the images were created with an eye to how Lynn-Marie's body would look in several months, as opposed to just focusing on the moment visible through the camera's lens.

Digital original

I had worked with my 8"x10" camera on Martinique Beach in May, and it had taken almost a month before all the sand was out of my film holders and camera so, for this session, I just took the digital SLR. In some ways, the Canon 10D is more susceptible to dust and sand but, as a smaller camera, it was definitely easier to keep protected from the sand when not in use.

Digital original

Because of the smaller camera, I could work more spontaneously than I tend to when I have both cameras with me. This, combined with a Sigma 12-24mm zoom lens I was testing for the weekend, led to some very dramatic images working with both the lines of the model and the clouds in the sky.

Digital original

Probably the hardest thing about the session was the light; with very few clouds in the sky, every image was a struggle to compose without the harsh shadows breaking down the composition or creating inky black shadows. All in all, I was actually impressed with the ability of the digital camera to record the broad contrast of the setting (the light sand was acting as a reflector for many of the images but the contrast was still pretty extreme). More than anything though, I am pleased with the work as a first step towards an evolving documentary series focusing on a pregnancy.