July 30, 2020

A Gray Evening on the Coast

As this strange summer continues (thanks COVID-19), the work with Hailey & Ingrid just keeps getting stronger.While this day in Halifax was sunny and stupid hot, when we arrived at the coast, it was overcast, and threatening rain and/or fog. Never one to pass on beautiful, soft light, we set out to the rocks at the edge of the coast, and started to work.

Digital original, 4 image blend

The first set of images were made on a low rock shelf which occasionally saw waves break over it; the space looked like it would work well with a long shutter speed to blur the water. Both Hailey and Ingrid felt that there wasn't significant risk to posing the location, and quickly found a pose that was both secure, and looked good. The discussion of risk is a big focus of these sessions, as working as we are in the ocean (as opposed to beside it, which has been the focus of my work with the ocean prior to this new direction). In the end, even with a couple of wave completely breaking over the models, they never moved significantly, and ended up laughing more than anything. The careful combination of four separate images provided the ideal blend of the models, and power of the ocean around them.

Digital original

As we moved down the shore, we came across a lovely outcrop of rock, set above the surging ocean. Hailey, then Ingrid explored the space, and a number of images were made, but one of the strongest is the above image of Ingrid. I debated over her placement, in regards to the horizon (I actually photographed it both ways), but in the end, the composition with her breaking the horizon line felt more balanced.

Digital original, 3 image exposure blend

After finishing thee image with Ingrid, I asked Hailey if she'd like to see what the two of them could find - and the above was made. Shortly after making the image, it started spitting rain. For a couple of minutes, the three of us sheltered in the lee of a perfectly positioned rock, until it became clear that rain was not indeed going to happen...it was during this break that it was mentioned that this might be the first session in years to be exclusively in colour...so when we emerged from behind the rock, my mind was alive with the idea of finding a space that would work well in infrared.

Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch

As luck had it, at the exact same time, a thick band of fog rolled in, providing soft, even light over the entire coastline. Looking for a last spot to work with revealed a lovely angular line on a low rock face, and within minutes, both models were posing on the rock, with Hailey fitting into the line of the rock, below a reclining Ingrid. The soft directional light of the fog played out beautifully in infrared, and broke the colour trend of the session, right before it came to a close due to the dying of the light.

July 28, 2020

Hailey on the Coast at Sunset

Though we intended to to focus on water Nudes, this session started with Hailey and I working with the granite bedrock and glacial erratic that line the Atlantic Shore of Nova Scotia. With the long evening shadows, the texture of the rocks was emphasized, making the contrast between skin and stone even stronger. Hailey and I made a number of photos focused on this, but the strongest of the session was one in which Hailey sought to become an augmentation to a stone's shadow, hugging the edge of the rock; I built the composition around the flow of the rocks around her, and the shadow that fell behind. Using the infrared camera permitted me to open up the shadows, and prevent the final image from becoming a mess of blown highlights and pitch black shadows.

Digital infrared original

From the sessions' beginning, the intent was to focus on working with the ocean. Since I first worked with Hailey in 2018, I've more and more been drawn to working with the body in the sea, both celebrating its quiet moments, and its power. In 2008, I exhibited Memory of Water, a gallery show  focused on the Nude in lakes and river (there were a couple of Nudes in on or by the ocean, but all of these were focused on still water). With the work I made with Ingrid and Hailey last year and so far this year, I feel I am working forwards a new exhibition, this time focused on the power of the ocean. With this in mind, Hailey and I made a number of images sets focused on water breaking around (and over, occasionally) her figure. The setting sun provided the perfect back lighting for the waves, and Hailey's patience and enthusiasm helped us make some really dramatic images.

Digital original

For the below image, I positioned myself so the camera was looking at Hailey, directly below the setting sun (while shielding the lens from the sun itself). This created both a wash of warmth across the images, but also a really lovely tonality - even though the lens was protected from flare, the strong back-lighting washed over the foreground subjects, lowering their overall contrast, and making the image all the stronger for it.

Digital original

The end of the session came with a rather quiet sunset - there was just one string of clouds in the sky, and it only lit up for a couple of minutes. Fortunately, Hailey was already in the water with a pose selected, so we could make a couple of images before the light faded. Truth be told, after making the above image, I ran to my gear to change lenses, but by the time I returned with a long lens, the light had faded, and the cloud was just a gray smear in a darkening sky...so we packed up, and headed back to civilization.
Digital original
Overall, this was a great session; the earlier work built on years of my work with infrared light, and yielded my favorite portrait of Hailey to date, but as soon as we started working with the waves, everything just took off (in colour too), proving that this new direction was absolutely one to pursue. Due to the capricious nature of the ocean, I think it may be several years before I can assemble a full exhibition which shares what I am seeing in this work, but I am now certain it needs to be seen!

July 21, 2020

Sunset with Ingrid on the Ocean Floor

Early in the summer of 2018, I decided to try a radical experiment, photographically speaking. I decided to only photograph in good light for that year - and for the most part, for over 2 years now, I have adhered to, and benefited from, this decision. It has seen most of my work focused on working in the evening, or on overcast days. I have no doubt that I have missed making images that would have been made at other times, but rather than making images in good light, I am focused on working with great light.

Digital infrared original, 8 image stitch

As a result, Ingrid and I drove across Nova Scotia for this evening's light, looking across the Bay of Fundy towards the setting sun. We arrived to a lovely warm evening, with strong directional light that lent great contrast to the subtle patterns on the Fundy mud. One of the first successes of the session was the above stitch of Ingrid's standing figure juxtaposed to the tidal pattern behind her.

Digital infrared original

The beauty of the Bay of Fundy is the wealth of shoreline that is revealed at low time (which was why I selected this day for the session - low tide coincided with sunset), and for the better part of two hours, Ingrid and I wandered the ever expanding shore line, making images where and when they called out to be made. Over an over, we found small tidal pools or rock formations to explore, enjoying the lovely light, and exploring all kinds of possibilities.

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

As the sunset neared, we moved back to the cliffs that lined the shore, and worked for a time there with the last direct light of the day. The sunlight was SO warm that I had to tone down the red/yellow in these images, because as created, the red in the light combined with the rocks and Ingrid's skin to be almost neon...totally overpowering the rest of the image, and making it seem completely unrealistic.
 
Digital original, 4 image exposure blend

The last images of the evening were made after the sun went down. Though the sky lacked the over-the-top drama that sunsets occasionally have, it was wonderfully rich in colour, and presented a soft, directional light for a final set of images on the water-carved rocks of the Bay of Fundy.

At the end of the session - more than three hours after we arrived, Ingrid commended that she probably spent more time during this session totally naked (walking around between images) than ever before - which is quite something, after working together for more than 100 sessions over 22 years!

July 02, 2020

Hailey & Ingrid on the Ocean Floor

While it is some distance from Halifax, of all the spaces Nova Scotia has to photograph, the Bay of Fundy is one of the most spectacular (at low tide, at least). I first photographed Ingrid here in 2004, so it seemed a suitable space to take her to mark 22 years of working together - and Hailey came along as well, making it another multi-model session on the bottom of the ocean. 

Digital infrared original
Though I've worked at the Bay of Fundy before, this was my first time working in this location, and the first images was a direct response tot he beauty of the space. We were at the head of a small marsh, with a river the flowed out (at low tide) to the bay...with the heavily overcast sky, the river was like a ribbon of light cutting through the foreground..and I knew I had to make an image of it. As there wasn't much to work with, in regards to posing, I asked both women to simply stand with the backs to me, and look out to the Fundy.
Digital infrared original

As beautiful as the view towards the bay was, the real reason to work at the Bay of Fundy was the lovely water-carved rocks, which provide rich environment in which to work with the Nude. Both Hailey and Ingrid really took to the space, and found a number of really striking poses, working against the red sandstone. The evening was surprisingly windy, so I made a larger than usual number of exposures, and was wise to do so, as about 1/3 of the exposures were ruined due to tripod/camera vibrations.

Digital infrared original, two frame stitch

As the evening progressed, the cool air (exacerbated by the high wind) started wearing on the models,so we decided to pack things up and head to the car...but on the way, Hailey caught sight of a beautiful slab of stone, set against a deep pocked in the rock behind. "Could I work on that?" she asked, and a minute or so later, the above image was made. I ended up stitching the composition together from two frames, as I liked both the smooth rock below her, which merges into the beach, and the horizontal bands in the rocks above; if either was absent, I didn't like the image as much - so I merged both framed together!