December 04, 2014

Bianca's Last Session of 2014 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original, 3 image composite
It isn't often that I can definitively say a session is the "last one", but in this case, as Bianca was heading for another country four days after this session, there's little doubt this will be her last session with me in 2014 (she is hoping to be back in Nova Scotia in 2015, so my fingers are crossed for more work to be made in the coming year).

As an outdoor session was not an option, we headed to the apartment of a friend of hers, which promised a bay window and lots of light. After making a whole series of images exploring motion (Bianca has a dance background), I made three of her working with the window, with the intent to assemble them into a single image; in the end, two of the three worked perfectly (the ones of Bianca against the side window), and while the third, of her standing in the centre, fell short, a later image of her bending forward and touching the floor was ideal to complete the final composition.
Digital infrared original, 3 image exposure blend
After working with a dramatic low point of view and infrared at length, before setting aside the widow all together, I made some colour photographs of Bianca against the morning light. I still feel clumsy when it comes to photographing in colour, but the brilliant, luminous window provided such rich light for Bianca's figure, and gave such lovely soft skin tones that I just had to leave the image in colour.
Digital original
The end of the session was spent working with Bianca in front of an old fireplace; the front of it was covered with black-painted wrought iron, and provided a rich background to set Bianca's body against. I was pleased with the results, but in many ways feel I only scratched the surface of what could be done with the fireplace, and hope to have the chance to return to continue the exploration.

December 01, 2014

Jaime's First Session (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original
Though she'd never posed Nude before, right from the start, Jaime's comfort with the process was evident, and helped me create a number of very striking images over the ninety minutes we worked together. Jaime had learned of my work though Bianca, and got in touch to ask about working together; we met, and after an extensive conversation about her interests, my process, and tattoos (which I tend to avoid in my work), we set a date for a first session.
Digital Original
From her first message to me, I was aware Jaime had tattoos, but as this session was focused on giving her some experience with posing Nude, and many of the images were more portraits than body-scapes, tattoos weren't much of an issue.
Digital infrared original
My favorite image from the session has everything I look for in a Nude portrait; Jaime's pose was pure happenstance; she was relaxing after another image when she stretched her arm over her head and leaned into the bed; I immediately asked her to not move, and began photographing. I made a dozen or so variations on this composition (in both colour and infrared), but after careful consideration, it was this image, with the hint of Jaime's arm and belly tattoos that works the best for me. As true as it is that I avoid tattoos in my work with the body in landscape and other settings, as a portrait-focused image, the tattoos are integral to who Jaime is, and therefore, an important part of the photograph.