L_ Models for a Digital Test (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

This session marked my first photo session with a digital SLR camera. I had the camera, a six mega-pixel Canon D60, on loan from Canon Canada and approached the session in a dubious state of mind. By the end of the session, almost all my doubts had been removed and many new, intriguing questions and potentials arose.

Digital original

I worked with L_ for the session, preferring to test the camera with an experienced model who'd be understanding of the experimental nature of the session; generally speaking, I keep any tests or experimentation with unfamiliar equipment out of first sessions with models - if something goes wrong, I'd prefer it to be with someone whom I' already have their confidence.

Digital original

Rather then try to cater the session to what I expected would be good for the digital camera, I just set up my usual indoor space with the white sheeting that I'd fallen in love with using to soften the light and simply worked normally; about my only concession to the new equipment was setting the camera to bracket each image (making three  exposures as opposed to one, with the second and third being subtle variations on the first) - I did this because I was unsure about the tonal range of the camera, and knew I would be working in a very contrasty setting.

Digital original

In the end, the camera was simply a tool; once we began working, it was the images that propelled the session, with the wonderful luminosity of the setting providing, as usual, a great space to work in. I concentrated mostly on portraits, using the small space to create a series of intimate images of L_ which nicely compliment the earlier black and white images that I'd created the first time we'd worked together. By the end of the session, I was not working with a digital camera, but simply with an image-making tool that, surprisingly, surpassed all my expectations.