Alexandra & Liam I

Alexandra has known of my work for several years, mainly through her friendship with L_, but it was only this fall that she got in touch and asked about the possibility of working with me. After some e-mail conversation, we made plans to work together the next time I was in Halifax - as is often the case, we both would have preferred to be able to work outdoors, but the cool weather precluded this, so instead, we went to a friend's studio (thanks again, Sue) to work for the afternoon.

Digital infrared original, 5 frame stitch

When we'd first discussed the possibilities, all the conversation revolved around just Alexandra modeling, but, as the e-mails went back and forth, she mentioned that her partner Liam might also be interested in modeling and the plans quickly evolved into a two model session. This, combined with the fact we'd be working indoors, changed a compromise (working indoors as opposed to out) into an ideal situation (working with a couple in the studio).

I began the session with some images of Alexandra alone, as we had initially planned on the session focusing on just her. Unlike most of the studios I have used over the years, this one had a seamless white paper backdrop, which I decided to use, as opposed to opting for my more usual approach of draped white sheets. This made the images look a little more stylized than usual, but also focused the eye more on the subject, rather than the surroundings. All through the session, I alternated between the seamless white and a black backdrop, varying it somewhat randomly, to inject some variation into the images.

Digital infrared original, 10 frame stitch

Once I had made a small series of standing and portrait images of Alexandra, I invited Liam into the spotlight beside her, and shifted the session to focus on the two models together. Both Alexandra and Liam proved to be very comfortable in front of the camera, and the rest of the session focused on the two of them, beginning with standing embraces, and closing the session with the two of them down lying on the white sheets against a white backdrop.

Digital infrared original

As seems to always happen, working with the two models was a stark contrast to working with Alexandra alone. The two models had a physical comfort with each other which was immediately evident, and more often than not, after giving a suggestion for a pose or modeling position, the two
models would shift it subtly, and reveal an altogether stronger result. Much of the session was spent simply recording what unfolded before me, as opposed to struggling to create a pose which came together with the lighting to create a successful image.

The session came to a close when we ran out of time, as opposed to ideas or possibilities.

Toronto in Infrared

Digital infrared original

After my thirty minutes photographing for the Naked in the House competition were over, I still had some time to spend in Toronto, so my friend Hugo, who was playing host to me for the day, took me on a driving tour of Toronto.

Digital infrared original

There wasn't really enough time to stop and photograph, so we played tag with images, driving around the city, and making what photographs I could create at intersections, stop signs, and other pauses in the traffic flow. At the time I felt this was a kind of laziness, but in retrospect, it leant a very particular feel to the images - almost all of them were of the canyon of architecture particular to large metropolises like Toronto - narrow streets bordered by tall office buildings forming urban canyons.

Digital infrared original

Naked in the House 05

It was in the middle of the summer of 2005 that I first heard of Naked in the House, a photo contest out of Toronto which is now in its fifth year.

Based on the simple premise of one camera, one lens, one roll of film and one nude model, the event (which in the past has been presented on Fashion Television as an annual special) sees twelve photographers given thirty minutes each to work with a naked model in a specific location with some pretty strict limitations placed on them. Jane, who I first worked with in June, had mentioned the TV show to me numerous times over the summer, so when I received an e-mail invitation in late September to participate in Naked in the House 05, I had some point of reference.

6x7 cm film

After much debate (mainly focusing on the cost of close to $1500. CDN, which would require me to sell some equipment to pay for the cost), I decided to accept the invitation, and just over six weeks later, I stepped off a plane in Toronto with a borrowed Mamiya 7 (thanks Steve), a roll of 120 film, and butterflies in my stomach.

As it turned out, the Naked in the House competition was quite different from what I'd envisioned, though I suspect this is from misinterpretation, as opposed to misrepresentation. When I'd read through the promotional material, I missed the fact that the model for the event was a fashion model, not a figure model. I suppose the give-away to this should have been the fact the TV presentation of the event has always been on Fashion Television, but as I do not have a TV, that little detail escaped my attention. While on one level, it might be proposed that a figure model was little different from a naked fashion mode), I would argue that there is a major difference, and my experience with the competition bears this out.

6x7 cm film

Even before I'd arrived at the competition, I had some reservations about the process; usually when I work with a new model, I spend some time sharing my work, and learning what they are seeking from the work; in this case, however, I knew I would have 30 minutes with the model and was expected to deliver three finished image at the end of the process...three frames out of ten on a roll. This did not permit much time for chit-chat, so it went without saying that I'd have to forgo the preliminaries, an approach I found unsettling and foreign.

As soon as I started working, I began to feel the difference between a "figure" and a "fashion" model; the make-up and carefully coiffed hair was a dead give away but the model's literal interpretation of my directions and her for very specific directions in regards to posing and positioning was a little shocking. With the models I usually work with, the process is very much a collaboration, with the model and I working together to discover the possibilities, but for this event, the model was more like sculpting clay, waiting for my very specific directions before moving. This totally stumped me, and while I managed to adjust to it somewhat before the end of the half-hour, the only image of the finay three that really feels "genuine" to me is the first one I made, where I'd just made one image, and model was just relaxing out of the pose...I asked her to stop moving, made a quick composition adjustment, and made the photograph.

6x7 cm film

I think the most frustrating element for me was not so much the fact that I was photographing a fashion model (as opposed to a figure model) but all the extra crew who were part of the process. I had expected a film crew (and got two) but the addition of a make-up artist and a hair stylist brought the total number of extra people on the set to 8 or more people. While the prescence of the film crew was anticipated, the make-up and hair professionals injected a totally unexpected element, often jumping into the frame just before an image was made to primp this or adjust that, more than once taking away an element that I'd been attracted to in the initial composition. Normally, when I am photographing a figure model, the only interaction in the session is between that person and myself. Both the make-up artist and the hair stylist were obviously skilled in their areas of expertise but, to me, their prescence felt diametrically opposed to what I normally do in my nude photography; their goals were to create, enhance and maintain a certain ideal of beauty, while my intent is to simply reveal an already present beauty.

Colleen in Toronto

While my reason to visit Toronto was for the Naked in the House competition, I didn't have to be at the competition location until 2:30 pm. My morning was spent working with Colleen, a first-time model who'd just by chance contacted me a week before my Toronto visit, asking about modeling. The world works in mysterious ways.

Digital infrared original

As she'd both seen my work online, and personally knew Monique, a model with whom I had worked,, there weren't too many preliminaries to work through. so less than fifteen minutes after meeting, we had started to work together. Because I knew I would be working with Colleen, I'd brought not only my tripod (which I'd need for the competition in the afternoon), but my white and black sheets, to use as backgrounds for the work in the morning.

I began the session working with portrait poses, covering the background with the black sheet and using the large picture window as a light-source. I'd been somewhat worried about the light levels in Colleen's apartment, but there wasn't an issue - occasionally I even worked without the tripod, exploring the possibilities of shallow depth of field.

Digital infrared original

It is always a balancing act, working with a first-time model - the process of gaining the subject's confidence, all the while putting her at ease and insuring the session is enjoyable is an as important as getting the right exposures, selecting the right lens, or having the right light. With Colleen, it didn't take us long to hit our stride and the session very quickly evolved from the opening portraits to encompass everything from stylized body abstracts to full-frontal nudes. I even spent some time experimenting with long exposures and zooming the lens, something I normally would reserve for a session with a more experienced model as spending time on creative experiments in the middle of a first session is sometimes not the best way to spend valuable time.

Digital infrared original, 5 frame stitch

Hindsight being 20/20, the great irony of the day was that the morning's session, with the inexperienced first-time model was much more engaging, challenging and rewarding than the afternoon's session (below) in a multi-million dollar house with a professional model. I have no doubt this says as much about me as it does the process, but all the same, what I had though of as a warm-up session, working with Colleen before the Naked in the House competition in the afternoon, turned out to be the highlight of the day.

Ingrid at the Coast

Ingrid and I have not often had the chance to head out and work together on our own for a variety reasons; this isn't to say that working with her when other models or photographers are present is a problem in any way but I have no doubt that it does affect the tone of a session. On this day, however, it was just Ingrid and me planning to work along the coastline of Polly's Cove, on what I expected to be my last chance to work outdoors in Nova Scotia for the year.

Digital infrared original

 The day was perfect; the air was a pleasant temperature and it was sunny with a scattering of high clouds moving through the sky, providing occasional shade to the shoreline if I was patient. The first set of images Ingrid and I made was a couple of stitches of her posing with the rocks at the top of the bluff overlooking the ocean, but these felt as if they weren't taking advantage of the magnificant scenery around us, so we picked up and headed down to the coast. I'd hoped to work on the rocks beside where the ocean met the shore, creating images of the breaking surf behind Ingrid. It took a while to find the pose and camera position, but once all was in place, it took perhaps two minutes until the right wave presented itself, throwing a fan of foam high into the sky behind Ingrid.

After finishing with the ocean surf (our experiments were cut a little short when a wave actually broke over Ingrid, soaking her thoroughly) Ingrid and I spent a little time exploring the massive bedrock forms along the shoreline, making a series of images in the crevasses and cracks in the stone. At this point, the sun was dancing between the clouds, and the images were swiftly changing between being harshly lit, and delicately described, which made it a little frustrating to work (with every change in the light, a new exposure was called for, which dramatically slowed down the working process, and caused a number of images to be lost, as I couldn't get the right exposure before the light changed for a second time).

Digital infrared original

The last portion of our day was spent working on the seaweed, working with the hard lines of the direct light, and the luminous quality that infrared sensitive cameras give to dark brown rockweed. By this point, the sun had settled high above the clouds, and the light was even and consistent, if a little contrasty. Most of the images we made on the seaweed were multi-frame stitches, with and angle of view wider than that of my widest lens (12mm, equal to 18mm on a 35mm camera). In most cases, I was stitching less for resolution than composition, as the spread of the seaweed and sky before me was just to dramatic but, for a couple of the images, I used a longer lens (50mm) and made higher resolution stitches to facillitate printing at much larger final sizes.

Digital infrared original, 6 frame stitch

The end of the session came somewhat reluctantly. I still had a three hour drive back to Moncton ahead of me, and the afternoon was growing cooler, so as the tide slowly drew the seaweed back under its blanket, Ingrid and I climbed back to the high ground and headed back to Halifax.

Miranda on a Hill of Sawdust

The second half of the day I spent working with Miranda was spent exploring the possibilities presented by a massive pile of sawdust from a long abandoned saw mill in the middle of the woods. I am not exaggerating by using the word massive - this sawdust pile has to have been close to 500m long, and easily 8m high - putting us close to the top of some of the trees that surrounded it.

8"x10" flm

Initially, I was somewhat dubious that the sawdust hill would present much of interest visually, but when we can across the first piece of abandoned machinery, a line of half-buried chain of massive dimension, I began to change my mind. Then, moments later we came across a partially buried drive shaft of some huge machine, and I immediately set down the camera gear, my eyes suddenly alive with the possibilities.

Digital infrared original

Five minutes later, Miranda and I were exploring the possibilities of the piece of machinery. We both were very careful to avoid placing footprints in the soft sawdust around the metal, while doing our best to discover the most successful pose possibilities. After a couple of minutes of experimentation and sketching with the infrared DSLR, we'd worked out a number of successful poses, and changed over to working with the 8"x10" view camera. I worked with the camera placed on the shady side of the drive shaft, using the direct sunlight as a rim light, which also had the side effect of helping to set Miranda's figure off against the surroundings.

After we finished working with the half-buried machinery, I made a small series of portraits of Miranda, standing with her back to the sun. This was somewhat of a hold over from the New Brunswick Portfolio, where our mods-operndi was to constantly inject a portrait series into almost every location.

Digital infrared original, 18 frame stitch

The end of the session was spent working with the huge chain that we'd seen when we first arrived on the sawdust pile. I wasn't sure what could be done with it, but the lines and shapes of the links, emerging and disappearing over and over again was quite engaging visually. After some experimentation, Miranda managed to find a number of very successful poses, which when combined with the lower autumnal angle of the sun, lead to some very dramatic images in this desolate location.

One thing to note about this session is that is was my last using my 8"x10" view camera. For personal reasons, over the fall of 2005, I made the transition to working 100% digitally, selling the last of my film cameras, and changing my chemical darkroom over to a digital one.

Miranda at a Dam

Since moving to New Brunswick from Nova Scotia in 2003, I haven't had much chance to explore new locations as much of my time photographing in Nova Scotia has been spent working with places I was already familiar with, the logic being that it is better to make images in known spaces than risk spending a day looking for a location, only to find nothing workable. This session, however, saw me journeying to a new location, guided by my friend, fellow photographer and occasional model, Miles. He'd worked at the Sandy Dam several weeks earlier with Ingrid and, after viewing those images, I agreed with him that this would be a great place to spend a day working at with Miranda during my next visit to Halifax.

Digital infrared original

The location turned out to be near ideal, especially given the weather. The day was both sunny and windy, and being an early fall day, the wind was quite cool. Miranda was well sheltered, however, as the dam dropped down below the surrounding landscape and protected her from the chill wind that swept across the lake above.

While I was somewhat frustrated by the harsh sunlight, I was well aware that it was all that made it possible for Miranda to model; without the sun, the day would have been quite chilly. In light of that, the first images I made worked aggressively with the shadows, both on Miranda. Using an extremely wide angle lens on the DSLR camera, I use the shadows as a composition element, drawing the eye to corners, and emphasizing the flow of the image.

Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch

The other prevalent feature of the back side of the dam was the small set of steps that lead up to an access door. The steps were perfectly centred with the doorway above them; it was this symmetry that I worked with first, making an image with the view camera that centered Miranda on the stairs and used a rise movement (shifting the lens up higher in front of the film) to show all of the doorway alcove above her, without any distortion. Fortune shone her brightest as I was about to make the image and a small cloud passed over the sun, causing a brief shadow to fall across the scene.

Digital infrared original, 16 frame stitch

The final images of the session were created using the same pose of Miranda lying back on the steps but I prowled around her, exploring other angles of view. These I made with the infrared camera, using the different tonal response of the modified digital camera to give Miranda's skin a particularly sculptural quality that is impossible to obtain by any other method. In this case, it also showing some of the veining that infrared film can sometimes display under the right conditions. Again, fortune shone on me and, just as I began to make the image which would eventually be assembled into a 16 images stitch, the sun went behind a cloud, giving me the soft, even lighting I am so enamoured with and which produces such lovely results.

Hannah & Krista at Bas-Cap-Pele

Hannah and Krista had both expressed an interest in modeling one more time before they left for central camera at the beginning of September. As I wasn't able to make it down to Halifax again before then, they offered to drive up to New Brunswick, and spend a day working me.

Digital infrared original, 44 frame stitch

In stark contrast to our previous session together, the weather was gray, overcast, and threatening rain. Ever optimistic, the five of us (Miles and Natasha were also along, planning to work together in the same spaces as Krista and Hannah and I were going to use), headed off for the coast, planning to work with the rock formations Miranda and I had used just over a month earlier.

The model's response to the space was much the same as Miranda's, and very quickly they were discussing the possibilities of actually climbing up on the hoodoo to pose. I told them it was too high, and not practical, but moments later, when I turned back from my camera gear, both models were perched on the rock, smiling and asking for pose suggestions. The first step I took to making the final image was actually not working on the pose, but the surrounding image. Knowing the setting was so dramatic, I decided to make the image as a multi-image stich, and with the models such a small portion of the final composition, I made the overall image stitch without the models in position - this permitted them the comfort of sitting, and reduced the time they'd actually be nude to the small time-frame in which they'd be the focus of the camera.

Digital infrared original

With the stitch complete, I then checked around for unexpected visitors, and then moved to working with the models on the pose. Very quickly they discovered that there were only a limited number of positions they could comfortably (and safely) hold on the top of the rock, and with some suggestions from the camera's position, I helped them refine these into a very striking pose, with their bodies flowing in both directions off the side of the rocks. In about five minutes, I was finished with the pose, having made the final images to add into the stitch. Just as I was helping the models down off the rock, the weather started to break, and a light drizzle began to fall. Rather than give up the rest of the afternoon, after a quick debate, Krista and Hannah agreed that we'd try to work for a while in the sea caves, which would both keep the session going, and permit me to build on the images I'd made in that location last month with Miranda.

Moving into the cover the rocks provided turned out to be a wise decision, as the light drizzle soon turned to genuine rain. The rock caves provided plenty of shelter for me and the camera gear, but relatively swiftly, both models were totally soaked, so we proceeded to make some images with them working in the ocean. The most successful of these images was a portrait of Hannah rearing out of the water. This was made by blending two images - one with a short exposure to ensure Hannah's face was sharp and detailed, and one with a much longer exposure, to catch the water flowing over her body as it flowed off of the rocks around her. In the past I have used blended exposures to control image contrast, but never to combined part of an image with movement, and another part as totally still. The final results were very pleasing, and open up another digital technique to use when working with water.

Digital infrared original, 43 frame stitch

The final image of the sessions was one on Krista emerging from one of the rock caves. Hannah, Krist aand I had just finished a series of images focusing on the two of the in the caves, when I asked Krista if she could fit inside one of the small holes, and lie back, as if she was emmerging from the opening. The results looked stunning, so I very quickly shifted to using a longer lens and stitching the image together, to increase the final print's resolution and quality.

The combination of two keen, enthusiastic models and such a stunning space lead to a wonderful final session for these two, before they departed for central Canada.

Miles & Natasha Tother Indoors (and snakes)

The second day of Miles and Natasha's visit to Moncton was split between working with them in the morning and two other models in the afternoon. The morning session was indoors for several reasons; first, I wanted to concentrate on couple images, and an indoor setting was easier for this, and second, Miles wished to spend some time modeling with a pair of corn snakes that recently moved in. I hadn't worked with the snakes and a model yet, but Miles was quite interested in the possibilities, so without really knowing what would happen, we made the plans for the session, and crossed out fingers.

Digital infrared original, 4 frame stitch

The beginning of the session was spent photographing Miles and Natasha cuddling, working with white sheets covering the window and futon, and focusing the compositions on the two models. The light was perfect, with the sheet-covered window behind them providing some rim lighting, and the other window to the left giving the main lighting.

We started out with prone poses, both models lying on the couch and embracing, but eventually shifted to sitting and kneeling poses; the variations of pose and composition possible when both models are lying down is somewhat limited. The best of the kneeling poses were of Miles embracing Natasha from behind, their knees formed a solid base for the image to sit upon.

Digital infrared original

When we shifted to working with the snakes, I immediately made some changes to my photographic approach. I changed from the infrared modified DSLR to the regular colour DSLR camera, and boosted the ISO from 200 (the minimum for the Nikon D70) to 400, which gave me a little higher shutter-speed to work with. The snakes sometimes move amazingly fast and I wanted to be able to stop their motion as much as possible.

Digital original

As it turned out, it wasn't the snake's motion that caused an issue, but the low light level's influence on the camera's autofocus system. Several times over the session I had the perfect composition and snake position, but the camera took too long to find the focus, and the snakes moved.

Miles & Natasha at Cape Enrage

Miles and Natasha drove up to Moncton from Halifax, for a combination visit and modeling trip; they had seen several of the locations I'd worked in with Miranda during the New Brunswick Portfolio production and hoped to be able to model in them. The plan was for Natasha to model for both Miles and me and the two of them to pose together.

Digital infrared original, 16 frame stitch

The day they arrived was bright with direct sun so we headed for Cape Enrage where I hoped the massive cliffs would provide enough shade to give us more even light. My guess proved correct and we arrived to find the entire cliff-face shrouded in shadow but lit by a mostly cloudless sky which gave the most beautiful, even description of tone a photographer could wish for.

After walking down the beach for a half-hour, we began working with most images beginning as solo poses of Natasha, with Miles being included once I'd made the most of what a single model in the  space could present. This method of working is very methodical, and not a luxury I can usually afford but, as we were planning to work for most of the day, my only concern for time was the tide, which was approaching its ebb when we'd arrived, providing us with six or more hours to work in.

Digital infrared original

 As the afternoon progressed, I became gradually more and more focused on the images of the two models. There is an subtle chemistry that flows between two partners when they are modeling together and, more often than not, this can take what was already a successful pose or composition and add an element to it that is impossible to create through direction from behind the camera. The more this occurred during the session, the more I focused on it, making fewer and fewer images of Natasha on her own and, much to Miles' chagrin, interrupting her partner's own photography to call him into the pose. Miles is quite indulgent in this regard, which I definitely appreciate, given the images it has helped me create over the years.

As the session moved along, the shadows along the shore lengthened until it covered all of the rocks, down to the sea. The three of us began moving down the shoreline, exploring the possibilities away from the rock shelf, where I'd focused almost all of the images I'd made to date at Cape Enrage.

The best aspect of moving below the high-tide line was the rockweed that is scattered around on the rocks. To the naked eye, this looks to be brown but, with the infrared converted DSLR camera, the rockweed turns into a luminous, pale plant, adding much needed contrast to the rocky landscape.

Digital infrared original, 5 frame stitch

The first images we made on the shoreline were of the two models entwined on the rocky bedrock, working their bodies to the lines of the rock, and into the lines of each other. Gradually, however, we shifted to working with landscape-based poses where Miles or Natasha would find a pose and then the other model would be fit into the space around the first pose. Unlike our earlier approach, each composition was intended to include the two models, so the design of the photographs was a little more deliberate and premeditated. By the end of the afternoon, we had spent more than six hours on the beach, the tide was coming in, and I knew I had some very successful images, both of Natasha alone and with Miles.