Three Models in Fredericton

The reason for the visit to Fredericton was to do a session on figure photography for the New Brunswick Craft College, as I have done for the past three years. In addition to presenting at the college, the trip gave me a chance to catch up with Kayla, and work with her and Jenn for a second time this fall (the first was during a similarly brief visit to Fredericton).

Digital original

The initial hope had been to work with Jenn and Kayla the previous evening, and with a new model, Paige, on this afternoon, but as things turned out, we couldn't find a location to work in on the previous evening, so I negotiated to work with all three models on this particular afternoon. Finding a space to work in was a concern as well, until we secured a room at the local arts centre. The location have beautiful large windows, and while the weather was poor and a little damp, that didn't really impact the light coming through the windows.

Digital original, 22 frame stitch

I began the session working with each model individually, before working with first two, then all three of them together. When working away from home, where time is limited, and scheduling is of the essence, I frequently try to book photo sessions one after the other, to maximize my use of time. In this case, with three models to work with during the afternoon, I tried hard to be fair to each and make the contribution they were making in terms of time and enthusiasm as valued as I could.

Digital original, 10 frame stitch

One interesting thing about this session was how much the room we were in influenced the images; with large windows on a second floor, it permitted me to work with a great deal of natural light, and even when I shifted to working with flash, the 5 meter ceiling let me light the models in a much for flexible manner. After setting up the black backdrop (as a strong contrast to the well lit room we'd worked in at the start of the session) because of the high ceiling, I could actually place a light coming directly over the backdrop, opposite the camera position. Usually I have to light from the side of the backdrop, in rooms with 3m ceilings, but in this case, I had the freedom to light in anyway way I wished!