Brianna Returns

Brianna's previous visit (her second) was in the fall of 2005, and while we did manage to fit in one outdoor session, it was basically too cold to work in the great outdoors. This visit, however, was carefully planned to give us the best window, weatherwise, to work over the course of her visit.

Digital infrared original

Our first day of working together began working at the gypsum silos at Hillsborough. We spent much of the session working inside the towers but it was when we moved outdoors that the images really started to come together. The day was near perfect with light high clouds blowing across the sky. This provided two advantages - first, if I liked a pose, but the light was too harsh, all I had to do was wait until a cloud moved over the sun, diffusing the light somewhat, and second, it provided wonderful richness to the sky, especially with the infrared camera.

Digital infrared original

On some levels, the riverside around the gypsum towers is quite lackluster, being basically a grassy verge between the dyke on the land-side, and the muddy river bank. For Brianna and me, however, it provided a wonderful setting in which to work. There were several large chunks of driftwood which is where we began working. From there, we moved to posing in the grass itself (I was initially hesitant to suggest this, given it was rooted in wet red mud, but it proved to be totally dry, as Brianna's lying on the grasses pushed enough grass down to totally cover the mud).

Digital infrared original

All in all, the first session of the day was a real pleasure; the day was near perfect, and the images Brianna and I made came with ease and inspiration (as opposed to effort and intention). It boded well for the work we planned to create over the coming couple of days.