L_ Models aat the Coast (Prospect, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared, 2 frame shutter blend

For L_'s fourth session working with me, we headed back to the coast, to work with the rocks and ocean that have long been my love, aesthetically. The day's forecast was for nothing but sun, and we could only work together during the middle of the day (i.e. when the light is at it's worst), but knowing the location well, I expected I could work around the light, and get some images worth our mutual time and effort.

Digital infrared, 2 frame shutter blend

One of the great advantage of working in infrared is how it renders foliage and plants - including seaweed. The rockweed in this image, a dull green-brown in colour, is almost as luminous as L_'s skin, and when combined with a long shutter speed to blur the waves breaking against the shore, it creates a magical environment for L_ to post in. All told, we made a dozen or more variations on this image, experimenting with different poses.

Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch

I really like the classic lines of this pose; coupled with the rock that almost envelopes L_, and the flow of the sky above, it all comes together into a really pleasing composition. The second last image of the session, made almost three hours after the first, provides some evidence of how little the sun changed during the session - the light was still harsh, direct, and from almost directly above.

L_ Poses on a Spiral Stairway (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, two frame stitch

I'd explored the photographic potential of the stairs in the Dingle tower before, but this time, was fortunate to have a model (and spotter) with me. During the earlier visit, I'd determined that there really was only one point of view that I liked, so after a lot of adjustments and careful camera placement, L_ and I could begin working.

Digital original, two frame stitch

I'd had some hopes to work with infrared on the stairs with L_, but the light levels were so low that it was impractical (only small windows light the space, which foreced the exposures to be 2.5 second long at 800 iso...for conventional light - the infrared exposures would have been more than 10x that long - impractical on a variety of levels.

Digital original, two frame stitch

As it turned out, from start to finish, L_ spent just a little over 6 minutes working with the stairs; as soon as she found a pose I felt worked, she'd freeze, and I'd make the image, and then when that was done, take another step down, and continue to explore the space.

A Sunset Session (Long Beach, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

I am often asked why I am so attracted to working with infrared light, and this image is a great example of what I find so engaging. The drama in the sky is 100% rooted in infrared photography, as are the light tones of the seaweed on the rock below Liz. In colour, the image would work, but in infrared, it transcends the literal, and becomes an interpretation of the scene, as opposed to just a representation of it.

Digital infrared, two frame stitch

For a good ten minutes I worked with this basic composition, experimenting with different camera angles, and poses for Liz; what made the image different for me was I focused more on the shadows and negative space than the highlights, which is backwards from my usual approach.

Digital infrared original

One of the best parts of working close to sunset is how low and angular the light becomes; with this portrait of Liz, the low light looked wonderful on her skin, and created a beautiful graphic quality to the final portrait.

Natal Day Fireworks (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

I have been working closer and closer to getting the firework results I've seen elsewhere, created by shifting the lens focus during the exposure. This image I particularly like as it clearly shows the MacDonald Bridge, which the fireworks are fired from.

Digital original

The challenge of the technique is the lack of predicatability of the firework, combined with only an approximate sense of what the image will look like. In the end, out of hundreds of exposures, only a handful were worth keeping.

Digital original

With only two large firework displays a year, I do eventually expect to get this technique down to an exact science, but I suspect will be at least another year before I get that far.

A Waterfront Field Trip (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

There is no denying that part of the joy of working with infrared is the magic of now always knowing how things will turn out; I was attracted to the reflections of the morning sun off the glass in this building, but when I made the image in infrared, it looked dramatically different that when seen in colour, and shifted the whole image in a more surreal direction.

Digital infrared original

I have always had a deep and abiding love for corners, and simplicity, and in this image, I found both.

Digital infrared original

I always keep one eye on the sky, when walking around with my infrared converted camera; more than any other element, it is the sky that makes or breaks an infrared image. In this case, I saw these wispy clouds approaching, and knew that as soon as they moved above the tree, the image would begin to work (as opposed to the same composition with a dark, featureless sky).

Digital infrared original