March 31, 2012

Classic Lines (Toronto, Ontario)

Digital original
While walking through the Distillery District in Toronto, I made this image of a rusty old truck; it was the combination of line and form with the beauty of rust that drew me in, but the chromed Dodge face of the truck was equally engaging.
Digital original
While I was working, the sun came out, changing the feel of the truck completely.

March 22, 2012

An Early Coastal Barrens Session (Polly Cove, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original
Whenever I can, I seek to make portraits of the people I photograph; while A_ and I spent the first part of the day working in a forest, I never found a setting that worked for portraiture, but as soon as we arrived on the glacial barrens, I immediately asked her to stand in the shade of a large erratic, and made a series of portraits.
Digital infrared original, three frame stitch
This is by far my favourite image from this session; it takes full advantage of the strong angular March light, and A_'s pose is a perfect for the setting. The infrared camera really pushed the image to the next level, with the model's luminous skin against the dark rock, below the dramatic sky. I was really happy that we could realize such a striking photograph on her first day of figure modeling.
I really enjoy documentary images such as this; without it, it'd be hard to understand how close I was to A_ as she posed on the rock - with the 17mm tilt-shift, I often am incredibly close to my subjects, but am able to make images that are full of space.
Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch
The last images of the session were of L_ lying on the bedrock, overlooked by glacial erratics; again I was enthralled with the low angular light, and thoroughly enjoyed how deep and dramatic the sky above her went in infrared.

An Early Outdoor Woodland Session (South Shore, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original
This was one of the first photographs from this session, which was also S_'s first time posing Nude, and only the second time we'd met. I've always felt there is an advantage to working with first-time models; they have no preconceptions about how a session should proceed, and so are open to just letting it unfold naturally.
Digital infrared, 2 frame stitch
Prior to this day, the easiest I’ve ever worked outdoors with a model (comfortably) was late April, but today was a record breaking 30 degrees Celsius! I’d met a week before with S_, who was interested on trying figure modeling, so rather than stick to our original plan, and work indoors for a first session, in late March, we headed for the great outdoors!
This documentary photo gives some idea how spartan Nova Scotia can look in March...though there was no snow, and the day was plenty warm, there still was a feeling of winter in the air.
Digital infrared, 8 frame stitch
My favorite image of the this session, above, takes full advantage of the early date of the session; normally, in infrared, the forest around S_ would be bright and luminous, with the leaves of the brush and trees reflecting all sorts of infrared radiation; with the session being so early in the year, the trees were bare, and the only luminous element is S_'s figure.

March 11, 2012

An Infrared Beachwalk (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original
On the last Photo 101 fieldtrip of the winter, I made this infrared photograph of seaweed on the shore of the North West Arm.