Because of the volatility of fall weather, I didn't know what kind of a session to expect with Bobbi. Even when I picked her up, I was expecting us to opt for an indoor session but she insisted she'd like to try working outdoors (she shares my preference for natural settings over man-made ones), so we headed off, intent on finding a sheltered space that would give us some protection from the cool November wind.
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Digital original |
The woods that surround York Redoubt have been a common space for my
work since I first worked there with Denise in 1993. Easily accessible
but seldom used except for the odd dog-walker (who inevitably stick to
the well maintained trails, the woods are a great mixture of soft and
hardwoods interspersed with granite bedrock and glacial erratics, all of
which adds up to a rich cacophony of visual potential.
The
first half of the session was spent working with the strong, angular
sunlight that worked its way through the trees at several points. These
images were lacklustre, however,because the contrasty light broke up the
images more than I'd expected. Things changed when we moved down from
the sunlit rocks and into a shady part of the woods.
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Digital original, 8 frame stitch |
I had
thought that the shady parts of the woods would have been too cool to
work in but, after a couple of minutes to warm up, Bobbi was more than
eager to make another couple of image sets before calling it an
afternoon (because it was so late in the year, the sun was already
setting at 3pm!).
By far the most visually interesting element
of the woods was the rich green moss that covered most of the exposed
rocks, contrasting against a bed of reddish brown leaves that formed the
forest floor. The last two compositions of the day were focused on
Bobbi's body set against the moss; with the first image, she was set
between two rocks, and in the second she was reaching up towards a tree,
arching back along a line of moss.
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Digital original, 8 frame resolution blend |
As I'd expected, the session came to a close with Bobbi getting too cold to continue - we certainly could have made a dozen more compositions if it had been warmer, but at this time of year, every image from every session outdoors is a gift;when she said it was getting too cold, we wrapped the session up and headed back.
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