July 11, 2005

Miranda III

The second location for the day turned out to be as green and verdant as the first - in search of a barn I'd seen a year before, we headed out onto the dirt roads that cris-cross the Tantramar Marshes. After more than half-an-hour of driving, and many short side-trips down dirt tracks, I had to finally admit that the barn was impossible to find (or razed, which was a distinct possibility, given how dilapidated it had been when I'd first seen it. Over the search, however, we had driven past numerous spaces that held great possibilities for images, and given how crowded the marsh was (we saw perhaps four cars over the two hours we spent on the marsh) I felt it was more than secluded enough to make some images.
Digital infrared original, 8 frame stitch
The Tantramar is criss-crossed with dykes to keep the ocean back, and many of these run directly beside irrigation ditches, and it was one of these spaces that we decided to work in. The grasses here were easily three feet high, and provided the perfect screen for Miranda to emerge from. With careful composition, I could frame her against the dark water behind. Working with the infrared camera, I made a hole series of images, initially starting with a large multi-image stitch, and
then working with Miranda on a set of poses, which could then be dropped into the final assembled composition.
Digital infrared original, 12 frame stitch
On the whole, the space was fabulous to work with, but extremely limited in regards to the angle and perspective from which I could work. More than anything, Miranda and I were experimenting with posing, as there was little I could do with the composition. Working this way (seeking a single image in a space, as opposed to working in a location with plenty of possibilities) is unusual for me, but with the reality that Miranda would be modeling for the next week, it didn't seem like the time and effort expended to realize a single potential was unreasonable - if we'd only had that day to work together, I might have driven past the space, deciding that a singular image wasn't worth the time and effort, but in the context of a week of solid work, taking the slow and methodical approach seemed almost appropriate.

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