A Session at Canaan River

Allan contacted me midsummer, asking about working with me on some water nudes of him, hoping to fit in a photo session as a gift for his spouse before the water grew too cold. The irony that was revealed as we worked out the details by e-mail was that he lives in New Brunswick but contacted me only weeks after I moved back to Nova Scotia.

Digital infrared original, 14 frame stitch

In the end, we worked out a date and late on an early September Saturday afternoon, the two of us headed out to Canaan River, where I started working with water nudes more than a decade ago. I chose that space because it was close to Halifax (with a five hour drive home after the photo session, it was important that we work close by) and because I was very familiar with it, which guaranteed that we'd end up with the kind of images Allan was seeking.

Digital original, 17 frame stitch

Once we arrived at the river, we immediately set up the gear and started working. The biggest surprise of the session was how much the water had cooled off. Similar to the session with Joe, from late August 1999, the weather had turned cool the week before, and the river, while bearable, was cool enough to cause an issue within fifteen minutes of us beginning to work. This is in stark contrast to rivers and lakes earlier in the summer, which can be worked in for an hour or more before the body cooled enough to make it uncomfortable.

Digital original, 12 frame stitch

With the cool water, the session went faster than I'd hoped, with Allan and I packing it in after less than twenty minutes of photography. The most important thing, however, was that we had, within that twenty minutes, made a number of very strong images, which is all that really mattered in the end!