A Second Session with Claudia

After spending the morning working on the coast, but not really working in the water due to its limitations being fairly featureless and bounded by a flat, white beach, not to mention extremely cold, I was keen to continue working with water but thought that if we could find a small river or stream to work with, we might have better results. As it turned out, on the highway back towards Bridgewater, we passed over a small bridge, under which flowed such a stream. We parked just beyond the bridge, and walked down to river to check out the possibilities.

8"x10" film

I was a little hesitant working right next to the highway, but after watching a handful off cars pass by without a single passenger or driver glancing our way, we decided to take advantage of the space. One advantage of Claudia's militant support for the Naturist lifestyle is she had little concern about being seen modeling, which is usually not the case.

The water in the river was perfect to work in - seldom deeper than a meter and moving slowly enough to permit Claudia and I to work on both sides of the river but swiftly enough to permit water blur with longer exposures. The first set of images we made was set along the far side of the river where some ferns hung over the water and provided a beautiful contrast to the dark tone of the water and Claudia's pale body.

Digital original, 4 frame stitch

I usually pose models lying with their head and shoulders pointing upstream, but in this case, with the water moving so slowly, and the rocks being positioned as they were, it was preferable to have her facing downstream. I used a four second exposure to blur the water, trying to make the exposures when there wasn't any wind, to insure the ferns stayed as still as possible.

Digital original, 9 frame stitch

The rest of the session was spent working between the digital and film camera, making exploratory images with the Canon EOS 10D, and then revisiting the most engaging images with the slower, more precise Zone VI 8"x10" camera. As shallow as the water was, I had to move very cautiously, to avoid slipping on the rocks. As it was, I did have my cell-phone and light meter fall in the water - ultimately causing the demise of both (though the Sekonic meter, in its own defense, did work throughout the rest of the session).