Elisabeth at Sunset

After the sunset session the night before with Bobbi, I was eager to continue pushing the possibilities offered by this magical time of day. Elisabeth and I had initially planned for an afternoon session but, with Lynn-Marie being unable to model past 5pm, I rescheduled with Elisabeth. As the sun headed for the horizon, we met up and drove out to Prospect, hoping for a repeat of the previous day's beautiful sunset.

8"x10" film

 While the sky was as clear as the previous night, the evening was cooler as well, which made the session quite short (much has been said about global climate change in the media, but it is empirical experience which often convinces; this spring has been one of the coolest and most erratic, weather wise, of any I can remember).

8"x10" film

 Because of the cool temperatures, we were quite limited to where we could work. Elisabeth had to be sheltered from the wind to be comfortable at all. With the wind coming off the ocean, it was often a challenge just to find a spot lit by the setting sun that was also sheltered. In the end, we worked on a series of rock outcrops and small pockets of stone that dipped below the general line of the glacial barrens. Because it was so cool, and I knew the session would be short, I worked as swiftly as I could, sketching with the digital camera, and making any images that seemed particularly strong as a more refined image with the 8"x10" camera. Unlike the session with Bobbi, most of the images we made were tight compositions working more with the angle of the light, then the colour of it.

Digital original

As the sun moved lower in the sky, the temperature also dropped and very quickly it was decided that once the sun has set, the session would come to an end. With this in mind, Elisabeth and I began to search out a space that would work for the last image of the day; I wanted something that could show a broad vista of the sky, and obviously, Elisabeth wanted a space that was at least somewhat sheltered by the wind. We settled on a large glacial erratic, perched onto the glacial shield; the side facing the sunset was in the lee of the wind, and also had a nice line to it that could be mirrored in Elisabeth's pose. We quickly worked out the image, and I began to record it; because I was both stitching and blending the digital frames that would make up the final photograph, once the portion with Elisabeth in it was exposed, she quickly moved out of the composition and dressed, needing to warm up as quickly as possible. It took me less then a minute to finish up the images needed for the final photograph and then we packed up, turned our back to the sun, and headed for the car.