Ingrid and Victoria in the Studio (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The real reason for my borrowing the Pentax 67 was to use it for an evening studio session with Ingrid and a friend of hers, Victoria. Just like my first session with Ingrid, I didn't have the chance to meet Victoria before the session, so I was working with my fingers crossed. I had a number of out-of-date rolls of Konica 750 120 infra-red film which I wanted to use up, and I felt it would make more sense to use it on a 6x6 or 6x7 camera, as opposed to my 6x12 roll back. As it turns out, using the out-dated film was the best decision of the day.

6x7 cm film

The session was unique for more reasons than the film; Ingrid and Victoria, the models, were the first pair of models I've worked with in an intimate context who were friends, as opposed to a "couple". Before we started working, we spent some time talking about what I was looking for, and on the whole, I felt the session was really successful. I was hyper aware of crossing the line between sensuality and sexuality. As it turns out, the most intimate image of the evening was the last pose (to the upper right) which I'd left up to the models to find. Far more intense a pose than I would have suggested, the image has exactly the elements I was after: tenderness. trust, and an all-enveloping warmth.

6x7 cm film

Above I say that using the stale Konica 750 IR film was the best decision of the day, while that is certainly true, I wouldn't have said so the night I processed the film. When I pulled the negs out of the developing canisters, my heart fell - almost all the rolls were fogged! The negs looked horrid, and though I could see the ghosts of some of the images, I truly believed the images were a write-off. Prudence, thankfully, reared its head though, and I saved the negs, hanging them to dry so I could see if anything could be salvaged from them. The next day when I contact printed the "ruined" negatives, I was amazed to see the film had reversed in the shadows, yielding images naturally solarized because of the high base fog. More than 3/4 of the negatives printed wonderfully as straight prints, with the remaining images printing nicely after some creative intervention on my part.

6x7 cm infrared film

Thus, a disaster turned into a blessing. The fogged IR negs have yielded some of the most intriguing images I have ever produced - and since this effect will almost certainly be unrepeatable, they are all the more precious. The 4"x5" images I produced of Ingrid and Victoria are strong and will find their way into other parts of my oeuvre, but they pale when set next to the rich freshness of the infra-red images.

Friends Model Together (Long Lake, Nova Scotia)

After spending my morning in a flowing river, I spent the afternoon working on more water nudes in a lake - an opportunity to try out my Nikonos underwater camera which I had bought two years earlier, but had never managed to actually use before.

4"x5" film

The most frustrating thing about the session was that I misplaced my swimming goggles, and had to guess at the composition of each image - thus all the images are too tightly framed, and almost all are dismal failures. The image to the left is the only marginal success from the two rolls I produced - but, for all its shortcomings, I quite like it. Next time, I hope the session will take place on a sunny afternoon, and yield more contrast and variation to the images. For the moment, I am happy that, at the very least, the camera works.

6x7 cm film

I used the borrowed Pentax 67 extensively in the afternoon as well, finding it far more functional for working in the water than the view camera (it is quite a trick to use a tripod with only one hand - the other has to be kept dry to manipulate the view camera and load the film-holders). While I missed the view camera's flexibility and tripod, I was very pleased with the results from the 6x7 colour negatives. The Pentax allowed me to work with a speed and spontaneity usually impossible for me. The reflections in the water would have been much more effective if I had had a tripod (permitting me to stop down for more depth of field) but this disadvantage was off-set by the reality that I could not have made these images with a view camera.

6x7 cm film

Another session with new models, the afternoon yielded some good work, as well as some amusing moments. Both models had tattoos, so almost every image involved the careful arrangement of limbs in order to remove tattoos from view - occasionally sending the models sliding into the water at unexpected moments! While the morning session was plagued by bugs, the afternoon at the lake was totally bug-free - a nice change.

Working with Rocks and Water (Ingramport, Nova Scotia)

35mm infrared film

Of all the different settings in which I work with the Nude, by far my favourite is water- the elegance of a figure emerging from water, fluid or otherwise, is very seductive to me. I have long wanted to work with colour film and moving water, but have never had the opportunity until now.

4"x5" film

As fate would have it, I had arranged to borrow a friend's camera (a Pentax 67) for the evening studio session, and had brought it along, on the off chance it would be useful in the morning session. It was. One roll of 120 film, with ten images on it, shows the potential of colour for water nudes, and has made me eager to get back to the river and work some more. We will wait until the fall, though, when the bugs are less voracious!

My First Session with Ingrid (Pennant Point, Nova Scotia)

6x12 cm film

A dismal and dreary Canada Day was vastly improved by a new-found friend phoning and asking me if I was interested in going and making some photos. Miles had earlier offered to introduce me to some friends of his who might be interested in modeling nude. Late in the afternoon we rather optimistically headed for the coast. A couple of factors made this course of action questionable; we were hoping that the foggy and drizzly afternoon would change miraculously into a hot and sunny evening (yeah...right), and I was crossing my fingers in regards to the model for the session because this was my first session with Ingrid ; she had seen my work, but we hadn't met so I did not know what to expect

4"x5" film

When we arrived at Pennant Point, we discovered a major surf running, slamming against the rocks and throwing spray up 20 feet or more. We slowly worked our way down the shore until we came upon a large rock shelf that projected out into the Atlantic. From this vantage point, we tried several ways to capture the power of the waves. The first image is the most successful of the images - the others with the surf in them were almost all white!

4"x5"

The last set of images were made in a "bone forest" - the site of a forest fire years before. By this time, Ingrid and I had found a rhythm - as the camera was already set up, capturing the image was simply a matter of exclaiming "That's it!" and tripping the cable-release. The already elfin features of Ingrid are emphasized by the pose and setting. Even though this image was made at sundown, the light was still decent and very even due to the prevailing fog, yielding a good negative.

Lilly's First Outdoor Session (Long Lake, Nova Scotia)

One of the best elements of working outdoors with the Nude is the ever changing landscape in which the images can be set. Sometimes simply wandering for a while can yield incredible spaces to create images.This session builds upon Lilly's first experience modeling, in a studio session earlier in the year.

We were limited on this particular day to staying close to Halifax, as it was late in the day. We drove out along a connector highway, and then, noticing a lake through the trees, we pulled over and parked on the shoulder of the road. One of the joys of living in Halifax is that it is literally surrounded by empty countryside, providing a great variety of spaces to work in.

4"x5" film

We didn't have a lot of time to work, so we started with the obvious - a rock outcrop. The first image was stiff and unsuccessful, but while exploring the scene with my 35mm camera (loaded with slide film), I discovered the image to the right - strong raking light striking the torso and side of the model as she lay back against the rock. I made the image on both 35mm slide and 4"x5" B&W film before we moved on to work in the water.

6x12 cm film

The lake I'd seen through the trees from the highway proved to be quite clear and, given the early date, was surprisingly mild in temperature. It was too cool for full-body immersion, but the golden evening light flowing down the Lilly's back, combined with the warm tones of the sandbar, made a strong visual plane for a simple standing nude - a colour image from the start.

4"x5" film

The final image, above, shows the wonderful compression of space that you can get with a narrow depth-of-field. Normally associated with long telephoto lenses, the division of a near subject from the background via blur creates a wonderful separation in an image - in this case isolating the nude against the receding lake in the background.

Megan in Fort McNab (McNabs Island, Nova Scotia)

4"x5" film

The image above was made in the radar tower of Fort McNab. The pose was inspired by a 6x12 cm image I had made minutes before. The earlier image is successful on its own merits but showed the entire room. This 4"x5 " image concentrates on Megan alone, and the power of her shoulders and back, combined with the tension of her single leg, makes the image atypical for me. Normally a caveat of my work is that the model be in a comfortable position; experience has taught me that if the model is uncomfortable, that will show in the pose and the image usually ends up a write-off.

4"x5" film

Made with a 1 second exposure, this photo was made in an underground gun shelter, with the only light coming in from a small window to the left. I was sandwiched with the camera in the doorway, and could barely focus and compose the image on the ground-glass. Megan braved a scum covered floor and struggled with the pose to make this image. The bizarre focal plane, which runs diagonally through the image from top left to bottom right is a result of a back swing and a front tilt, which I had neglected to reset from the previous image. The softness however adds to the image in a print, with only Megan’s face, and the centre of the wall in sharp focus.

4"x5" film

One of the photographers whose work I enjoy is Sally Mann who uses her 8"x10" view camera to create powerfully eccentric images of her three children in the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of her more famous and provocative photos is of her prepubescent daughter hanging in mid-air, holding onto a meat hook. This image is a direct homage to Sally Mann, though, being made on 35mm film, it is about as technically far from her work as one can get.

Megan First Outdoor Session (McNabs Island, Nova Scotia)

I've previously worked with Megan in the studio, and indoors, but this was our first occasion to work outdoors. The day was perfect - beginning sunny and clear, and gradually clouding over as the day progressed - softening the light and diffusing the shadows. We had the whole island to ourselves, and over the afternoon worked along Maugers Beach towards the Atlantic Ocean.

35mm infrared film

The image above far exceeds what I expected from the viewfinder. Made on Kodak's HIE infra-red film, I had expected it to be under-exposed, as the sun was behind thin clouds rather than falling directly onto the model, as it has in the other successful infra-red images. Far from being under-exposed, the negatives was perfect, with the sky showing rich contrast, and the skin luminous against the sand. For twenty-four hours after processing the infra-red film, I was on a natural high, reveling in the richness of the dune-nude.

4"x5" film

I feel like I am at the centre of a whirlwind...in the last 12 months I have created more and stronger images than in any previous year since I started working with photography. It is frightening, and thrilling at the same time. Every time I go out to photograph, a little voice in my head whispers "Will this be it? Will nothing more come?". And every time I hang up a new set of negatives to dry, and see the ones that "rock", I feel such an elation that all doubt fades.

4"x5" film

Lilly's First Session (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

This studio session was the first session working exclusively with a 35mm camera in over five years. It was a very different way to work for me, and proved quite successful.

35mm transparency film

As the main purpose of the session was to provide photos for the model's portfolio, I decided to leave the big camera home, and just bring the pea-shooter. I did however, bring some rolls of infra-red and chrome in case Lilly felt comfortable enough to do some figure modelling.

35mm infrared film

On the whole, the session went well - it was my first time in an unfamiliar studio, and though studio gear is pretty much variations on a theme, there were a few minor quirks to work out. When we began working with the figure, I worked between two camera bodies, using both film emulsions simultaneously. By far the more successful images are drawn from the infra red rolls - Lilly's fair skin went alabaster, and the colour, though decent, failed in comparison.

35mm infrared film

Given that the session was not intended to revolve around images of the Nude, I was very pleased with the results. Though it was Lilly's first time modelling nude, there were some good images recorded. She is keen to work with me outdoors, and after such a strong beginning, I have great hopes for the images we'll make. The studio is always a double edges sword for me, and I have never resolved the issues it brings to my work, or the problems inherent in its use. Outdoors, on the other hand, seems like a hand in glove...

Erica Models in a River (Rocky Pond Stream, Maine)

35mm infrared film

The successes of the first session with Erica boded well for the work we planned to do the following day, but nothing could prepare me for the space in which we worked, or the images that she would help me produce there. There is little I can do to explain the grandeur of the space in which we arrived after an hour traveling over highways, back roads, and dirt-track. We walked out of the woods to see a swift flowing stream sweep over a wide shelf of granite.

4"x5" film

It was on this plain of water-covered rock that Erica and I worked for the afternoon - the entire session focused on water Nudes.. More often than not, as before, Erica found the pose before I had a chance to direct her - often going far beyond anything I would consider asking of her. Early in the session we were setting up an image when she yelled above the rushing water "What about this" - and then submerged her head in the water. This produced the strongest image of the day - the infra-red to the left.

4"x5" film

This session was my first working with swift-moving water since the images with Kris made two years before. I built upon the earlier experiences - where before I would take as many as five images of a single pose, varying the shutter speed, with Erica I was confident that one or two would suffice.

Chandler Models Outdoors (Orono, Maine)

35mm infrared film

I will be the first person to admit that males are underrepresented in my work. The challenge of finding male models mystifies me, but it has been a constant - even men who are comfortable posing with their partners are strangely reluctant to work with me on their own. It mystifies me to no end. Only three times have I been lucky enough to work with male models who were fully comfortable with the process - Chandler being the most recent.

35mm infrared film

I had worked with Chandler six weeks before, but the weather then had precluded working outdoors. This time our luck was better, and though we only had an hour to work, what was produced was really well seen, and in some ways, surprising. Given the tight time restriction, we decided to stick close to home, working in the same place along the Penobscot River where I had photographed in April. The landscape was vastly different however, as the floodwaters had long receded, and the riverside forests were in full leaf. It was within the base of these trees that Chandler and I began to work.

35mm infrared film

The results of the session were really pleasing - in a single hour of working we managed to come up with a number of dynamic images - all produced on 35mm infra-red. The number of successes is not as remarkable as the camera in which they were produced. Though I usually carry a Nikon loaded with infra-red film, it seldom eclipses the work produced with the view camera. The power and unique beauty of a successful infra-red image makes the burden of the second camera worthwhile, but until this session I had never had a body of images which were so heavily weighted towards the infra-red work. I am not sure if I should attribute this to ever increasing comfort with the film, to the visual effect of the super-wide angle of the 19mm lens, or just to luck.