Ingrid Models in her Element (Ingramport River, Nova Scotia)

This session was my first time working with Ingrid in over two years (and also marks our 14th year of working together); between some health issues on her side, and my schedule, it has taken this long for the stars to realign.

I suspect Ingrid and I have worked in this river more than a dozen times since we first worked together in 1998; the old saying that you never cross the same river twice is absolutely true, as though the space may be the same each time we work there, the river is always different.

Digital original, 2 image stitch

Fortunately, the two intervening years have had little influence on her skills as a model, and over the ninety minutes we worked together, numerous strong images were made, with this one being my favorite. The blend between the motion of the water to the right, and the transparency of the water to the left is just perfect in this image.

Digital original

Towards the end of the session with Ingrid, I decided to change my approach, shifting to my 85mm f/1.2 lens (with a 64x ND filter on it), and working with Ingrid posing in the reflection of the sky (clouds back-lit) by the setting sun. The shallow depth of field, along with the luminescence of the reflected sky worked beautifully, while the 0.5 second exposure provided just enough motion in the water to make it interesting.

Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch

Without a doubt my favourite approach to working with the Nude in water is to set the motion of the water in contrast to the body; in this case however, like the shallow depth of field image above, I decided to work with the light and contrast of the situation, as opposed to blur the water.