Surface Tension Session (2007) #6 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

The first session of the second day of working with the water pool saw Andree arrive bright an early. We'd worked together for the first time a month before, but when I described the pool project, she immediately wished to participate. With the experience of the previous day's sessions guiding me, we began with a series of portraits, and then moved onto bodyscapes.

Digital infrared original

Some of my favourite images of Andree are of the water slowly drawing back off of her body; I'd ask her to submerge, and then very slowly bring her body to the surface - the results were really magical.

Digital infrared original, 18 frame stitch

Towards the end of the session, Andree moved into a pose which placed her head just out of the water, below an arched arm, and on direct axis with the rest of her body; it flows directly from some of the images of the previous day, but has a simplicity and clarity which was missing in the earlier versions.

The image was featured as a 15"x54" print in my 2008 exhibition "Memory of Water".

Surface Tension Session (2007) #5 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original, 8 image stitch

The final session of the first day working with the water pool in Halifax was spent working with B_; she'd posed for me before both indoors and out, but this was our first time working together in a studio setting.

Digital infrared original

The image above I particularly like, even though the water pool is only a minor part of the composition; the curve of the shoulder and hip, the wet hair, and fine water drops on B_'s skin are beautiful.

Digital infrared original

All through the three days of working with the waterpool set, I continually returned to archetypal images - in this case, portraits of each model with their head emerging from the water. The great pleasure of working with so many models in the same set was that each approached the same basic directions in their own unique ways!

Surface Tension Session (2007) #4 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

The fourth session was kind of a continuation of the third; Miranda's roommate Nicole came to model with her (though we did some images of Nicole on her own at the start of the session).

Digital infrared original

Working with two women was a different than a couple; much of what I created with Miranda and Nicole was about contrast; one model's hip contrasted with the other's back, the lines of a stomach echoing the curves in a breast.

Digital infrared original

When Miranda and Nicolle offered to pose together in the waterpool, I wasn’t aware at how closely their bodies mirrored each other. Only when we began working together did I quickly realize that as soon as the session was done, I wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other.

Surface Tension Session (2007) #3 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The third session with the new water pool was with Miranda, who's been one of my most constant models over the past eight years. Her comfort with modeling gave me the freedom to experiment with motion, something that didn't work well in the smaller pool I used in Moncton.

Digital infrared original

One advantage of using studio flash with the water pool images was its ability to freeze motion. In this case, I asked Miranda to repeat a motion that produced interesting ripples in the water around her. The success rate was incredibly low (perhaps 80-100 images for each success, but when it worked, the results were quite striking.

This image was featured in the 2008 exhibition “Memory of Water”.

Digital infrared original, 8 image stitch

The more I work with the pools, the more focused I am on the beauty of still water; the beautiful reflection of Miranda's leg, hip and torso couldn't be more beautiful.

Digital infrared original

The best thing about this session with Miranda was that her partner was also posing with her; the added model made the photos a little more challenging to make (two bodies are harder to pose than one, at times), but the results were really pleasing.

Digital infrared original

Surface Tension Session (2007) #2 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

The second session built on the strengths of the first; unlike the water pool in Moncton, there was lots of room for models to pose within, and I could easily make images of full bodies emerging from the water.

Digital infrared original

The origin of this series, Surfacing, was all about a body emerging from a water pool, but the more I worked with this new studio set up, the more focused I became on the surface tension, between skin and water.

Digital infrared original

Surface Tension Session (2007) #1 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

When ViewPoint Gallery decided to change location in the fall of 2007, I realized I'd have an unprecedented opportunity; during the renovations of the new space, I'd have access to an empty space which would be perfect to set up a water pool studio. After securing rental of the studio for a couple of days in December, I set about designing a water pool to work with, and the lighting set up.

Digital infrared original, 6 image stitch

The first session of the two days of photography was with C_; though she hadn't worked in any of the earlier pool explorations in Moncton, she had looked through the results, and was more than keen to help me explore the possibilities.

Digital infrared original

The best part of working in the new gallery space was how much room there was, both to set up the pool and lighting, and to move around in. The camera angle turned out to almost as important as the model's pose, and it was great to have so much room to move around in.

Digital infrared original, 13 image stitch

Ingrid Indoors (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Ingrid and I don't often work together indoors; her preference for natural settings mirrors my own, and usually we just try to pretend winter doesn't happen. In this case however, she asked if I wished to come over to her place, and build on some of the work we have done recently with skulls.

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

I most often find colour works best when it is subtle; in this case, the slight colour of the sheets behind Ingrid emphasize her skin colour. The shallow depth of field focuses the image on the skull and hand, but the colour completes the image.

Digital original

I don’t often include much context with my indoor Nudes, but in this case, Ingrid’s wall of plants seemed the perfect setting for this portrait. The light, coming through a single window, was just perfect, especially on her face, set against the cascade of spider plants behind her.

Digital original

I am still completely enamored with the beauty of bone and skin, and would love to do a whole series of different skulls and models...the only real issue is quite obvious...where to get the skulls. For now, I will content myself to work with the small number Ingrid has, and the one bovine skull I own.

Andree's First Session (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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I don't often work with models who have had prior experience modelling nude; the vast majority of people I photograph have never even modelled before, let alone modelled nude. Andree was an exception, having worked with a number of  other photographers before me. As a result, this session quickly moved from the first couple of images, where the model and I are getting comfortable with the process, to working in earnest, and making really well crafted photographs.

Digital original

A third of the images I made of Andree during this session focused on portraiture - the light that came through the large windows on one side of the room we were in was lovely to work with, and continually inspired images. As we worked together, I frequently asked Andree to pause, so I could make an image.

Digital infrared original

Though portraits were an important part of the session, it was the bodyscape images, working with Andree, the soft, directional light, and a plain wall, that pleased me the most. Andree's posing combined with the beautiful light helped create a set of photographs that are really pleasing.

A One-on-One Field Trip (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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I don't often post images from one-on-one mentoring sessions, but in this case, I really like the results, and thought I'd share them. Though I made more than a hundred images while working with this particular student, two really stick with one - one of a japanese maple in their front yard, the epitome of colour, mixed with my penchant for shallow depth of field, and the other a study in line and tone - a photograph of skylights in their main room. In many ways, the images are polar opposites, but that us much of the reason why I like them so much.

Digital original

Kalee's First Session (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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As it was her first session posing nude, Kaylee and I began the session with some clothed portraits, to get her introduced to my approach. I seldom work with props or the like, but in this case, the Kalee's necklace was the catalyst for making this image, providing a little glimpse into the person who’s face is the anchor point of the image.

Digital original

Though I only met Kalee once before this session (at our meeting to discuss working together), she had a great comfort in front of the camera, which lead to this striking portrait.

Digital infrared original

While most of the session was spent working in colour, and focusing on portraits, the final portion of the afternoon was spent working with the infrared camera