K_ & W_'s Second Day of Modeling

Digital infrared original

The second day of working with K_ and her friend W_ in New Brunswick saw us head further afield, and find more successful environments to work in, this time along the banks of the St John River. In the forest that ran between the river and the road, we found several perfect stands of trees to work in, and in some cases, entire trees that had been uprooted by recent storms; one of my favorite images of the day was of K_ reclining in such a tree, a figure of grace in the midst of chaos.

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My favorite image of the day, however, was made a couple of minutes later, as K_ sat in the smooth curve of a large branch; the sunlight coming through the leaves cast a wonderful highlight on her back, and the sweep of her hair was absolutely perfect, mirroring the slight movement in the tree above her.

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Though the river wasn't exactly warm, and the day's brisk wind made full immersion less than pleasurable, W_ did some modeling standing in the shallows along the side of the river; it is a challenging thing to just stand and be nude, but as soon as she started pulling at some of the river grasses, everything came together in an image somewhat reminiscent of the photo secession style from 100 years ago.

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The last photographs of the day, and the visit to New Brunswick, were made in a nearby lake - a little warmer than the river, both models did some modeling in the water proper, but again, it was a standing pose - this time of K_ walking slowly towards the shore, which really stood out!

Christ Church Cathedral at Night

Digital original, 2 frame exposure blend

After a long drive from Moncton, I arrived in Fredericton just before sunset; after a quick bite to eat, I headed out to do some dusk photos of Christ Church Cathedral; several years ago I photographed it, but lost the images in a memory card failure, so it was nice to finally revisit the location.

W_'s first Two Sessions

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W_ had never planned on modeling for me; she'd accompanied K_ on her first session working with me earlier in the day, and by the end of the afternoon, asked me if I'd like to photograph her. When K_ and I finished up in her friend's house, W_ disrobed, and we proceeded to make a series of particularly pleasing portraits against a wonderfully textured wall.

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After a break for dinner, W_ and I headed out to a hillside location nearby, to work with the evening light. The sky was layered with soft clouds, and the evening sunlight was softly diffused, providing lovely highlights on W_'s figure as she looked to to the last light of the day.

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The last images with W_ were made after sundown; the dying light was wonderfully soft, and I photographed W_ through a sea of high grasses, which created a wonderfully soft screen between us - a lovely romantic image to end an unexpected, but very pleasing session.

K_'s First Time Modeling

The primary reason for this trip to New Brunswick was to work with K_; she'd contacted me online after learning of my work from a friend, and after some back-and-forth over, we made plans to spend two days working together.

Digital infrared original, 2 frame exposure blend, three image stitch

The primary challenge (as often is the case) was my lack  of knowledge of the area around Fredericton, but with some assistance from our mutual friend, and luck, we found some outdoor spaces to start working with, and eventually created the above image - the best of our outdoor session on the first day.

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Much of the afternoon was spent working indoors in the apartment of a friend of K_'s; as soon as I saw the position of the window in the shower, I asked K_ if she'd be up for posing in the shower. Minutes later, my favorite image of K_ was made, above.

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The close of the session saw straight portraits being made as K_ lay on the sheet-covered couch. The morning and afternoon sessions weren't perfect - the lack of locations was certainly impairing how much K_ and I could explore the possibilities of working together, but at the same time, so really pleasing images came out of the day, so at the very least, we've laid down a foundation.

Tanya along the Petitcodiac

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As soon as a couple of days of photography in Fredericton were confirmed, I immediately contacted Tanya, to see if she'd have any time to work with me while I was passing through Moncton. As it turned out, she could arranged to take the day off, so we met mid-afternoon, and headed south of Moncton to work along side of the Petitcodiac River.

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The light for this session was fabulous, alternating between soft cloud-filtered light, and strong, angular sunlight. Whenever the sun came out, I immediately shifted to looking for spaces where the shadows would compliment the pose, and an old wharf pier, long weathered and surrounded by grasses, provided the perfect stage for a sun-drenched pose.

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All in all, this was a great session; Tanya is always a pleasure to work with, and though our sessions are few and far between, we have never failed to make some really strong photographs. The last images of the session were of Tanya lying back on some abandoned and crumpled culvert tubes, with the late afternoon sunshine falling across torso, and just kissing the line of her cheek. A lovely final image for a great couple of hours of photography.

A Day of Field Trips

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I lead no fewer than three field trips today, with the first one being along the Halifax water front by the morning light. I've photographed the above sailboat many times before, but never saw this really pleasing composition prior to today.

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The second field trip was at McCormack's beach, and immediately both myself and the students were captivated by the life along the shore line. A hot summer day, people were playing the shallows, swimming and fishing.

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Whenever I wonder if I really need to carry all the gear I do, I remember images like the above, and realize that without my netural density filters, I never could have realized such an interest photograph.

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The last field trip was focused on night photograph, with the students and I experimenting with painting with light along the Dartmouth waterfront. A long day, but some really enjoyable experiences, and successful photographs.

Claire in a River

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This session was set in one of my favorite locations to work in - an easily accessible river with relatively shallow water levels, and some interesting rocks to work with. We began the session with Claire posing on a trio of large stones that interrupt the river flow; this gave her an environment with a solid foundation to keep still on, as the water broke over her body, and swirled around her.

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As Claire was taking a break between water poses, I caught a glimpse of her sitting in the water pool, backed by the sky reflecting off the water behind her. I quickly set up my tripod and made a series of portraits; the above image, with the largest aperture (f/1.2) just happened to have the best expression!

Digital infrared original, 15 frame stitch

Almost fourteen years before this image was made, I worked for the first time in this River, and as it is said, you can’t visit the same river twice. I have worked in this spot perhaps a dozen times, and never made an image with such a perfect balance between the water, rocks and model. The combination of the pose, the water level and flow-rate, and the soft light all come together in one of my best water Nudes in years.

Claire at the Coast

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There’s a simple beauty in the above portrait, made a little over an hour into our first time working together, that can only be rooted in Claire’s enjoyment of the process. The large aperture portrait lens (an 85mm f/1.2) helped provide some of the mood, but the simple joy on Claire's face is the real hero of the image!

Digital infrared original, 2 frame stitch

There are times when everything comes together perfectly in a single image, and the above photograph of Claire reclining in a shallow water pool is one of those. The sky above was clear and bright blue, but in infrared, the blue turned dark, and the faint, wispy clouds separated themselves from the horizon, and presented a very different result. I can make one image like this a year, I am a very happy photographer.

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The last portion of the session was spent with Claire working in the ocean; not many models have the fortitude or enthusiasm to spend much time in the Atlantic Ocean, but it was obvious Claire really enjoyed herself. The only reason the above has an element of contemplation is that I was continually photographing as she moved around in the water, and managed to capture a moment of reflection between more expressive images.

South West England XVIII -Goodrich Castle, Hereford and Gloucester Cathedrals

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Goodrich Castle is a now ruinous Norman medieval castle situated to the north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye. With a full day of photograph planned, I only had time to walk one side of the castle before I had to continue on my way, but as one of my favorite castles as a child, it was great to see it for real at last.

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On the walk back from the castle to the car park, I saw this beautiful tree in a field, and had to stop to make a composition - one of my best infrared landscapes to date!

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The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a mediaeval map of the world dating from the 13th century. Smaller, and more compact that some of the other Gothic Cathedrals I'd photograph on this trip, it was also MUCH less crowded, and it was a real pleasure to be able to photograph in a space without having to wait out piles of tourists.

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The nave of Hereford Cathedral was quite lovely, with bold normal arches on the bottom row, and 12th century arches and windows above. The stone ceiling is believed to have been built at the same time

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The cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral were built between 1351 and 1412, and are one of the earliest examples of fan-tracery in all of England. Much of the stonework of the cloisters is overlaid upon earlier Norman walls from two hundred years earlier. The dramatically wide angle of this image gives some sense of the beauty of these magnificent halls.

This image of the cloisters has become my favorite image from this entire trip.

Digital original, 17 frame exposure blend, 3 image stitch

The dramatic perpendicular period walls and fan vaulting over the high altar were stunning to look at, and even more enjoyable to photograph. The East east window (at the top of this composition) includes elements of medieval stained glass.

South West England XVII -Canada Day in South West England

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The east window of Worcester Cathedral was a beautiful example of early English Gothic; with the 17mm tilt-shift, and careful exposure blending, I managed to capture some of the beauty of the space. The ceiling of the nave at Worcester was an interesting contrast to many of the ceilings I had seen over this week; only the bosses (where the arches meet) and a very small part of the arches were painted; regardless, it was a beautiful ceiling to photograph.

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Though the focus of this week was on exploring the interior of religious gothic architecture, I did, when the time and setting worked out, work with the infrared camera and the buildings I was spending so much time within.

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In most cases, the cathedrals and abbeys I was photographing were in large towns and cities, and there was just too many urban elements for my aesthetics. With Tewksbury Abbey however, the landscape around the building was perfect, as was the sky!

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The ceiling over the altar at Tewksbury Abbey is incredible to behold; the luminosity of the room, the lightness of the architecture, and the bold colours  all came together to make an incredible space. Even with the 17mm tilt-shift lens, exposure blending and multi-image stitching, it is hard to convey the incredible beauty of the space.