A First Session with Stephanie

Stephanie's boyfriend has known of my work for quite some time, and when he shared it with her, she immediately expressed an interest in working with me...but as a serious martial arts practitioner, it had to wait until a set of serious bruises faded from view.

Digital infrared original

Though the weather is inching towards a time when working outdoors is a viable option, Stephanie and I decided to have our first session together in the studio, where the weather would not present an issue.

For this image of Stephanie, I decided with her fair skin, it would be best to set her against black, so she would really stand out from the surroundings. I really have only taken two approaches to studio photography - much of my early work (1988-1998) worked with a black background, setting the model in a sea of darkness. From 1999 onward, I tended to prefer working with a white setting, usually setting the model against white sheets and using studio lighting to mimic natural light.

Digital original

While working against the black, between "posed" images, I caught a glimpse of Stephanie's hands on the back of the chair she was seated on - they were beautifully lit, so I paused to make an image or two.

Digital original, 11 frame stitch

For the final photos of the session, I switched to working against white, and focused on a series of portraits; Stephanie's fair skin and light hair was a little challenging to work with on white, but the portrait above had some beautiful lines, and a great expression.

A Spring Field Trip

Digital original

Whenever I have "nothing to photograph", I fall back on composition. Line, shape and form. All images come down to this, in the end.

Digital original

There are obvious questions when photographing other people's artworks (being it sculptures or graffiti), but in the above case, my motivation was pure - practice practice practice. I strongly feel that without constant pushing of the boundaries, and continual question of creative assumptions, there is no way to grow as an artist.

Digital original

I have always loved "ghost" stickers, and this one, on an aluminum pole, was particularly striking to my eyes.

Ingrid at Herring Cove

I'd say this was my first outdoor session with a model for 2008, but given the two winter sessions working with Ingrid and ice, it is more accurate to say it was my first warm session with a model. Though still very much spring, the warm sun and light wind made working outdoors for a couple of hours more than reasonable.

Digital original, 20 frame stitch

I've worked on these rock before, but am always amazed at how easy it is to find new spaces to work in. For the above image, I really like how two-dimensional the composition became when combining the long lens and deep depth of field.

Digital infrared original

There are times when images are created through the creative dance between models and myself, and then there are images that just "happen" - the above photograph was made as Ingrid stretched out on a rock...just enjoying the beautiful warm spring day.

Digital infrared original, 14 frame stitch

After photographing someone for a decade, it would be expected to have run the gamut of possibilities, but with Ingrid, her ability to respond to settings never fails to surprise. In this case, the strong diagonal in the rock was more than enough to inspire her into a striking, dynamic pose.

A Waterfront Field Trip

Digital original

There is a real pleasure to making an image which is just rich visual pleasure. My macro lens and galvanized steel helped create the above photo.

Digital original

I have such a love of symmetrical compositions that it is pretty much the default, unless there is another more obvious approach. With this bollard, the bright yellow lines provided the perfect excuse to centre the subject.

Digital original

Walking back from the waterfront, I caught a glimpse of this wet, weathered roof, and used a long lens to capture it.

Memory of Water Opens

Memory of Water, an exhibition of water Nudes, opened tonight at ViewPoint Gallery, in downtown Halifax. View a video on the exhibition and the opening here. 

The opening was a great success, with over 120 people showing up, including many of the models. With each model who did show up, I made sure to get a portrait of them in front of their image (the above two images)

Ingrid Returns to the Frozen River

Digital original, 19 frame stitch

Shortly after our first session experimenting with winter nudes, Ingrid and I returned to Dawson Brook to try to build on the earlier images. This time, rather than spending all our time and energy getting to the bottom of the falls, we decided to stay at the top, and work with the brook itself.

This image has a much more traditional approach than the results from our first session. While the pose looks cold, Ingrid is actually lying on her clothes, and not directly upon the ice.

Digital original

Part of the question of this new direction is "what should Winter nudes look like?"; while my first inclination was to work with water and ice, there's no denying that the above image, of snow covered moss, speaks of winter just as well.

Digital original, 38 frame stitch

The final images of the session were made at the very bottom of the falls, looking up stream at the show and ice that line the river. After I made the stock images of the setting (six rows of 6 frames each), Ingrid experimented with a number of different poses in several spaces along side of the river. With the distance, and the noise of the river, it was challenging to communicate, but somehow we managed to get things done.

Ingrid Models on a Frozen River

For several years, Ingrid has expressed interest in doing some modelling with ice and snow, but this was our first real attempt at working with winter nudes. After a week long cold snap, a day with mild temperatures (6 Celsius) arrived, so we headed out to Dawson Brook to see what the winter presented in the way of inspiration.

Digital infrared original

As we walked into Dawson Brook, we stopped several times to made images, including the above infrared image of Ingrid with ice. I'd thought the infrared camera might work well with the snow and ice, but it turned out to be less than pleasing in most cases, with the above image being a notable exception.

Digital original, 31 image stitch

Ingrid only headed out onto the ice after I had thoroughly stomped on it - if anyone was going to fall into a freezing river this session it would be me. This setting had exactly what I sought - a lovely shelf of ice for Ingrid to model on, and a full waterfall of running water to contrast the ice in the final photograph.

After disrobing, Ingrid perched on top of her socks while we experimented with the pose; after a couple of non-starters, we made a handful of pose variations, the best of which is above. After finishing the colour images, I moved closer and made some hand-held images in both colour and infrared (which were not very successful).

Digital original

I have such a dislike for photographing on bright, sunny days that when Ingrid suggested an ice-nude session, all I could think was that if I was lucky, I might find some ice in a shady spot. Little did I know how important the direct sunlight would be to the images on the ice shelf - the delicate highlights on Ingrid's torso really sing in the above two images.

The Flowers in Ice Explorations Continue

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

After my early successes with flowers frozen in ice, I decided to continue my explorations - this time freezing some small carnations and freesias. One of the blocks of ice was unusable - a solid mass of bubbled, but the others had enough clear areas to permit me to photograph.

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

The freesias, being smaller than the carnations, were quite different to photograph - their varied colours and more delicate petals produced a very different look in the ice

Digital original

By far the best block of ice was one with a purple carnation within. All the edges of the petals were lined with bubbles, making for a very mysterious, and magical result.

Printing for the Memory of Water

The printing of the last two images for the “Memory of Water” exhibition was a great pleasure - at 16"x54" in size, they are among the largest prints I have ever made. The two images at this size will be framed to 22" x 60" and bookend the exhibition which opens soon!

Three Pose Together during a Visit to Halifax

This session was almost an embarrassment of riches; Kayla, Jenn and her boyfriend had come to Halifax for a visit, and offered to spend some time working with me. Fortunately, I had the time to work with them, and before the three arrived, I had everything set up; white sheets, bright luminous windows, and both colour and IR cameras ready to go.

Digital original

I began the session working with Jenn and her partner. It is a real pleasure to work with a couple, as I can often step back from directing, and rely upon the internal chemistry between the two to create poses and moments to work with. There is a saying that a hint is more erotic than showing it all, but in this case, I applied that logic to lips, as opposed to bodies.

Digital infrared original, 4 frame stitch

Though Jenn's boyfriend had never modeled before, Jenn's first experience modeling was working with Kayla, so she took the lead. In many ways, the hesitation and insecurity that often foreshadows a first session dissipates when working with couples, as they already have a comfort with one another.

Digital original

It is a challenge to photograph three models under any circumstance, but made somewhat challenging when two of the three are lovers (I have numerous times photographed three models who are friends, and there is an equality of relationships that works well in those images). In this case, I tried to work beyond my usual default of “body as landscape” and focused on the relationship between the lovers, while still incorporating their friend, the third model.