Miranda XV

The primary reason for Miranda and I to journey so far north of Moncton for the second-last day of the New Brunswick Portfolio was that we were hoping to work alongside the Miramirchi river, one of the largest in the province.

The only real barrier to our plan was the fact that neither Miranda nor I had actually been to the Miramichi before, so were were to a degree, wandering in the dark. As we began driving down the river (the highway follows the river) both Miranda and I kept our eyes open for possible spaces to work. Several times we stopped to investigate a location, only to find it was appropriate for a variety of reasons.

Digital original, 3 frame stitch

Going over a highway bridge however, I caught a glimpse of old bridge supports, and asked Miranda if she'd be up for checking out another space. A quick look confirmed the place had good potential, so after parking the car and getting the cameras, we scrambled down the embankment to the river, to see exactly what could be created.

Because we had walked down right besides the bridge, it was quite easy to work without being seen, even thought there was a fair amount of traffic passing on the highway overhead (the bridge was perhaps fifteen metres above). The session started with Miranda posing on the narrow verge between the forested river bank and the Miramirchi, but very quickly, we shifted to working with the old concrete bridge piers.

Digital original

I do find it ironic that I headed up to the Miramichi in hopes of making water nudes, and ended up being most engaged by an architectural element, but regardless, as soon as we started working with the piers, the images started coming fast and furious. Initially I had been concerned about how I'd work with such a massive structure when Miranda couldn't approach it (it was out in the river channel) but through using a wide angle lens, and careful composition, I made a good number of successful compositions, one of which ended up being included in the portfolio.

Digital infrared original

After finishing working with the bridge pier, Miranda and I walked along the riverbank to where a broad stretch of watergrass grew on a small sandbar. I'd hoped to make some full-immersiuon water Nudes with Miranda in the river, but the bottom was just too suspect for Miranda to lie upon, so instead, she walked out into the water, near the sandbar, so I could make a series of panaramics. WIth this done, and the sun moving down further in the sky, we began our three hour drive back to Moncton for the night.