Discovery from Adversity (Dorey Lake, Nova Scotia)

This was the time session K_ and I have worked together this year; as the first worked by the ocean, I thought we'd spend the second working in a river; by August, Nova Scotian rivers tend to be quite warm, and more than a pleasure for models to pose model in.

Digital original with a mean shutter blend

It was only when we'd parked, and walked into the location that I realized I'd left all my neutral density filters at home (with 9 filters in sizes from 72mm to 145mm, I have a separate bag for them)...and my plan had been to use neutral density filters to provide me with slower shutter speeds to blur the water around K_'s figure.

It is said that discovery comes from adversity, and in this case, that is certainly true. Though I had never used the technique, I knew it was possible to combined multiple images into a mean blended image, which should in theory provide "blurred" water if there were enough source images. With this in the back of my head, K_ and I began making images.

Digital original with a mean shutter blend

For each composition that worked, I tried to create at least 8 exposures of K_ in the water; these typically had shutter speeds in the 1/4 to 1/2 second range, which meant they had only a moderate amount of motion blur. When combined into a mean blended image in post production however, they emerged as a wonderfully smooth image displaying as much if not more water blur than I usually work with.

Though I had no idea the approach would work at the time, my faith in the abstract concept paid off - K_ and I made a number of really striking water Nudes, each of which is made stronger when combined with the mean shutter blend. I suspect I would have been happier working with my more traditional approach of "real" long shutter speeds accomplished through Neutral Density filters, but in the end, the final result is all that matters, and I am more than happy!

Digital infrared original with a two-frame stitch

Towards the end of the session, K_ and I walked to the head of the river, and did a few images on the side of the lake that fed it; there was a fabulous tree that rose into a deep blue that was was just perfect for infrared. After K_ found a pose on a smooth rounded rock below it, I made a series of images with the 17mm TS-E lens that gave full expression to the massive tree rising above K_.

Waterfall II with Tanis (Dawson Brook, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

Tanis and I began our second session of the day working with a shelf of rocks that ran along a small brook; the geometric shapes of the rocks caught her eyes and Tanis wished to see what we could make of such a structured natural setting. After some experimentation, I felt that looking almost straight down worked best, accenting the hard lines of the rocks, but also focusing almost exclusively on their moss-covered top sides. The rich green worked perfectly with Tanis' colouring, and placing her body heading almost straight into the corner seemed the perfect way to both mirror and provide a visual counterpoint to the flow of the stones.

Digital Infrared Original

The reason I selected this location was for the brook that flows over the rock shelf and quickly transforms into a 20' waterfall - a waterfall that was unexpectedly inaccessible because of the three full-sized trees that were collapsed across it. Where I'd worked for a dozen or more sessions over fifteen years was now completely unusable. Not willing to give up, Tanis and I moved to exploring the possibilities of the brook itself, but to be candid, I had a hard time believing we'd find much to work with in the shallow water...

...until I began to look through the camera. While Tanis was stretching out in the rapids flowing over some rocky steps, the river to her right was as smooth as glass, and with a cloud obscuring the sun, the even light cascading down upon Tanis was perfect to set her figure off against the surrounding dark water and moss-covered rocks. I had time to make five separate compositions of three poses before the light changed, and Tanis and I moved further up the river, in search of softer light.

Digital original

Overall, the session at the second waterfall location was a blend between elation and frustration. Some of the images practically lept off the camera's LCD screen in review, the were so striking. At the same time, the fallen trees limited the composition and posing possibilities, and the light changed quite frequently, which made exposures challenging (there's nothing like the sun coming out during a 4 second exposure). In the end, with the sun more out than behind clouds, we called it a day and headed back to the car.

Waterfall I with Tanis (Kentville, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

I first worked with Tanis in 2011, but because of her location (an hour away from Halifax), it is only now, four years later, that we've managed to meet up for a second day of photography. The first location I chose was a waterfall just outside of her hometown, right beside the highway.

We started the session working with the top of the falls, in the narrow river that flows under the highway, and down the rock face. After initially making some image of Tanis in the falls, we shifted to her posing with her figure crossing over the river, which turned out to be the most successful image!

Digital original, two frame shutter speed blend

After we finished up at the top of the falls, Tanis and I carefully clambered down, and proceeded to work in the water at the base - we made number images working both where the waterfall met the pool at the bottom, and with Tanis on the falls themselves, but there was nothing that had more impact that a portrait we made right at the start, with her kneeling in the water and leaning back into the falling water.

Digital Infrared Original, three frame stitch

The end of the session was spent working out of the water, below the falls. I've made numerous attempts in the past at capturing the size of these falls in contrast to a Nude, but this was the first time I've managed to accomplish both of my goals - making an image which really portrays the scale of the setting, and which has a pleasing placement and pose of the model. In large part this is because I used a 17mm tilt-shift lens, and managed to keep Tanis from becoming too distorted, but it also is rooted in her her pose, which works perfectly with the rock shelf to the side of the falls.

A Coastal Session with Lavender (Polly Cove, Nova Scotia)

Lavender and I reconnected this winter when she modeled for the Surface Tension project in January; after that session I suggested we do some more work outdoors this summer, and she agreed. After a weather cancellation several weeks before, we finally managed to get out - all be it on a foggy afternoon. To be honest, we both felt the fog was quite magical looking, and enjoyed the slight temperature drop, as it was cooler near the coast.

Digital image, two frame shutter speed blend

The first set of images we made were created right at the edge of the shore, with breaking waves sweeping in from the open sea behind Lavender. For each pose Lavender found I made a dozen or more images, each trying to make the most of the beauty of the ocean swirling behind her. The above image was exactly what I was seeking to create, blending the beautiful serenity of Lavender's pose with the fluid energy of the ocean behind her.

Digital infrared original, two frame stitch

Lavender and I created a number of really lovely images over the first two hours of this session, but it was the above photograph, created towards the end of the session, that really stands out for me. Lavender's body fits perfectly into the rocks around her, and the reflection of her luminous form in the seaweed on the opposite side of the frame balances the composition perfectly. I'm often asked why I use infrared cameras, and this image is a perfect answer to the question; without the infrared sensitivity, Lavander's figure would lose some of its beautiful luminosity, and the seaweed in the distance would be a dull yellow brown.

 Digital original

The final location we worked with was a lovely layered rock face with a seam of quartz flowing across it. Lavender was able to stand within a crevasse and work her body into a pose along the leading edge of the rock. The high cloud was finally beginning to thin, so there was a little more direction to the light, which in turn provided more modeling to Lavender's figure, while not introducing the hard shadows that come with direct sun.

A Short Session with Ingrid (Sandy Lake, Nova Scotia)

Ingrid and I had no destination in mind when we set out to work on this lovely summer evening, but very quickly, we narrowed down the options (close to Halifax, few to no bugs) and ended up at the old saw mill site; we'd both worked here before, but not together.

Digital infrared original, three frame stitch

The first set of images was made on the saw-dust pile (to call it a pile does not do it justice; it would be like calling the Sahara a sand-box); there was not much machinery left, but the main drive shaft, where I'd worked with Miranda during my last session working with film in 2005, was still there. Ingrid explored a number of pose possibilities over a handful of compositions, but the above image was my favorite, with a really pleasing composition, and a lovely interplay between the lines of Ingrid, and the wheels upon which she posed.

Digital infrared original, nine frame stitch, two frame image blend

The second space Ingrid and I worked in was also a part of the old mill; a mix of concrete and metal. Because of the setting and time of day, there really was only one angle that worked aesthetically, so once Ingrid got up onto the structure, we made a quick series of images with a variety of poses - the final image that most draws me in is actually a combination of two poses, which creates a rich interplay between the two figures (all be it both of them Ingrid).

Digital original, three frame stitch

The final set of images were the most engaging for me - off to the side of the site was a massive rusting hunk of machinery (obviously part of the old mill); there was no sense of its purpose, but just by chance, it was at a perfect height for Ingrid to pose upon. We spent a good fifteen minutes explore the possibilities of the space, and I ended up with a really interesting set of images. It will take some time before I can "internalize" them to the point where I really know which is the strongest, but the first one that really caught my eye is above, with a great sense of life and motion to Ingrid's pose, and a really pleasing interplay between her body and the gears.

St George's Interior (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, 14 frame exposure blend, 2 frame stitch

My second chance to photograph in St George's Church built on the work I made earlier in the summer, but with the increased resolution of the Canon EOS 5DsR, the images took things to a new level of detail and fidelity.

Digital original

As with the previous session in the church, I worked between the ultra-wide 17mm tilt-shift, and longer lenses - a 300mm. The above detail of the organ took full advantage of the compressed perspective and narrow angle of view of the long lens.

Digital original, 5frame exposure blend

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A Wet Rainy Monday (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

I was hoping to be out photographing today, but the constant rain and fog wrote off that plan. Instead, I moved ahead with improving my Lightroom catalogue; I spent the fall and winter replacing old scans of medium format film with new copies, photographed using a copy stand I built, a macro lens, and my Canon EOS 5D MKII. Today I took that same approach with my new Canon EOS 5DsR, and applied it to the largest format film I used, a collection of 12"x20" film images I made in 2001.

Mounting a 12"x20" negative on a frosted window

After an initial test with a diffuser proving the back light for the negative showed up issues (the copy image also recorded the fabric pattern of the diffuser material). I tried again with a sheet of vellum, which proved perfect, providing a soft, diffuse light behind the film, but not transferring a pattern behind the negative.

12"x20" film

Once all the film was copied, I imported the RAW files into Lightroom (as a negative image, above), applied an inverse curve (shifting the negative image into a positive), cropped out the rebate, applied some tonal adjustments and retouched some dust and marks on the image. The final result (below) is a 39 megapixel resolution image from the original film file.

12"x20" film

St Paul's Church (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, three image exposure blend

I spent this morning working with a one-on-one client in St Paul's Church, in downtown Halifax; the oldest building in the city, it was a perfect place to practice photographing indoors. The first composition I made is almost mandatory for me when working in a church - a view down the central isle, looking towards the altar. I took advantage of the new HDR and PhotoMerge options in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to finish this image in a faction of the time it would have taken me a year ago!

Digital original, three image exposure blend

As we moved towards the end of the church, the organ pipes became the focus; I enjoyed the interplay between the pulpit and the pipes, and made this vertical image to emphasis the space around the altar. For this image I used my Canon 24mm TS-E lens; ironically, when Canon came out with the EOS 5DsR, they also release a list of recommended lenses - and this lens was not on the list, but as this image proves, the lens has no problem recording all the rich detail of the scene.

Digital original

Upon a Foggy Evening (Long Beach, Nova Scotia)

This session was my first working with K_ on her own; she'd first posed in the fall of 2013, but that session, and each time she modeled since, was with her friend Jenn. There are definite advantages to working with multiple models; it permits each model some downtime while I work with the other, and opens up the opportunity to make images with two figures, as opposed to just one, but at the same time, there are distinct advantages to working one-on-one, the greatest of which is establishing a rhythm to work the work.

Digital original, two frame stitch

After many days of harsh sunlight, it was a pleasure to have a chance to work with soft light - and even more pleasing when we arrived at the coast to find it was overlaid with fog; I've only worked with the Nude in fog a handful of times, but each time has marveled at the quality of the light.

Digital original, two frame resolution stack

The portion of the beach K_ and I worked upon was scattered with long-bleached tree stumps and standing remains of trees; these provided a wealth of spaces for K_ to pose, and occupied the majority of the session. There is a real pleasure to working with a confident model, in a location rich in potential, with perfect light and no concern about time or pace

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

The IR Converted EOS 5Ds (Polly Cove, Nova Scotia)

Though I received my new Canon cameras (a Canon 5Ds and a Canon 5DsR) almost a month ago, it was only today that I finally managed to get out and work with the infrared converted EOS 5Ds with a model.

Ingrid was kind enough to come out to the coast this morning, and spend an hour working with me and the camera; because of my schedule, we ended up working in some of the worst light of the day, with hard, unrelenting sunlight falling almost directly down upon Ingird.

Fortunately, we managed to find a number of spaces the had enough curve and drop to them that there began to be some form to the figure from the falling off of the sunlight.

Digital infrared original

Long ago I discovered how rich seaweed could be in infrared, and one of my favorite images from this session was made in a small patch of seaweed near to breaking surf; a narrow ledge on the opposite side was enough to give Ingrid a space to pose in, and after paying some attention to the direction of the light, we together came up with a pose that brought the image together.

Digital infrared original, two frame stitch

One of the final photographs of the short session was also one of my favourites; made from almost directly above Ingrid, I really like the surreal quality of the light, pose and setting.

All in all, it was a good full test of the new camera, and setting aside small differences of button layout, and the obvious advantages of 2.5x more resolution, it was just another photo session - which is idea, because while the camera brings so much more to the process, in terms of the quality of the results, it didn't seem to really make much of a change to the process as a whole.

Digital infrared original