Vanessa in the Burned Forest (Halifaax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

When I described the burnt forest to Vanessa, she immediately responded that it sounded like a great place to photograph - and off we went. The challenge of working in the location, of soot-covered trees and stark contrasts never materialized, as Vanessa immediately began to explore the space physically, suggesting poses and settings for images.

Digital infrared original

All through the site of the forest fire, I saw potential - dramatic shapes set against the new growth on the forest floor.Towards the end of the session I caught sight of a beautifully curved tree that was too large to have Vanessa pose against.  I realized, however, that by using it in the background, I could mirror its lines in the model’s body. The lovely, silky bokeh of the 85mm f/1.2 perfectly completed the image.

Digital original

I have had such success with infrared over the last couple of years that I frequently go entire sessions without making any really memorable images in colour. During this session however, I was frequently shifting back to colour, as the sky was a strong, rich blue, which was beautiful to set Vanessa's body against - especially with the out-of-focus trees behind her.

Vanessa in the Engine Room (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

There is nothing as beautiful as window light, and this portrait of Vanessa, made in an abandoned World War Two era engine room takes full advantage of that. The large lens aperture helps keep the focus on Vanessa, not the setting, and the light on her face is near studio perfect.

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

I have always loved the drama of wide-angle lenses, but have frequently been frustrated by the distortion and warped perspective that they often add to an image when used with smaller cameras (as opposed to wide-angle lenses on large format cameras, which can correct perspective with camera movements). All this changed in June of 2009, when I received my 17mm tilt-shift lens, which opened up much the same possibilities with my digital SLR camera.

Digital infrared original, 2 image exposure blend

I don't normally use the tilt portion of my tilt-shift lens (though I did use tilt all the time when working with 4"x" and 8"x10" cameras), but in this case, to emphasize and downplay to the room around her, I tilted the lens severely towards Vanessa. I am not certain I like the effect, but it was fun to experiment with.

Vanessa on the Barrens (Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original, 3 image exposure blend

Vanessa came to my work through a mutual friend, and as soon as a day came along that worked for both of us, we headed out to my favorite Nova Scotian space to work in - the glacial barrens. The first successful composition, above, was made with one of the largest erratics in the area, and took full advantage of the exposure blending I have become so enamored with lately.

Digital original

It is hard to represent a session like this accurately in the blog format - I saved 115 images from the day's work, and only display three here. Vanessa and I made some really lovely image all through the afternoon, with her previous modeling experience blended with my persona aesthetic perfectly! The above photograph, one of dozens we made working in the ocean, is just magical with the sky reflected in the concentric circles around Vanessa.

Digital original

As we were walking back to the car, I kept looking for one more space to photograph in - for most of the session I'd concentrated on more dramatic images focused on the body in landscape, but I felt I hadn't made a really solid portrait of Vanessa yet. As it happened, a rock beside the path we were on was perfectly situated for the afternoon light to make a series of portraits, the best of which is above.

My First Session with Sui (Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original, 4 image exposure blend, 3 frame stitch

While Sui and I went to the coast primarily to work with water, we both decided it would be best to work with the rocks on the shore first, figuring we could head back to the car once she was cooled off from being in the water. After working a bit with rocks by the water, we found this massive rock wall; and within five minutes, I was clambering all around, exploring Sui’s wonderful pose. With careful post-processing, the harsh line on the rocks above her is pretty much invisible.

Digital infrared original, 2 image stitch

At the very end of this session, Sui spent some time working in a tidal pool; the water was only warm enough to permit one good pose, so we made the most of it. This was one of the few handheld images I’ve made with the Canon 17mm T/S lens. First I had to focus the image with the live-view (infrared does not focus at the same distance as the visible spectrum); then I composed the two images (shifting the lens between them) that made up the composition, all the while keeping the camera the same distance from Sui.

Elissa at the Coast (Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original, 2 image stitch

I haven’t often worked with models in the ocean (as opposed to my water Nudes in rivers and lakes, which abound), so it was a great treat to have Elissa model in the Atlantic Ocean for most of this session; the water was quite comfortable, and the sheltered inlet we were in provided enough protection from the swell of the open ocean. We made a couple of different images on this particular rock, but I liked this one the best, with Elissa’s pale skin providing a nice contrast to the dark shadow below the rock she’s upon.

Digital original

Half-way through this session, I made this portrait of Elissa sitting on a rock between poses - the light was so lovely, there's nothing I could improve on.

Digital infrared original, 2 image stitch

At the end of the session, I asked Elissa, who'd already done some modeling in the ocean, if she could swim out to the small rock she's on in this image, so I could make an image of her set against the massive granite boulder behind her. I made an image of the same scene earlier in the year with Jessica (the last image in this session).

A Sunset Session with Allison (Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

Allison and I met through Model Mayhem, and for our first session, we decided to head to the coast for sunset, hoping for both good angular light, and a good sunset. The angular light was perfect, and the first strong image, above, took full advantage of it.

Digital infrared original

Allison was really enthusiastic about modeling in water, and after some initial images made in the ocean, we moved to some tidal pools, which were both shallower, and warmer. The low evening sunlight was still the focus of the composition, but in this case, it was only the highlights on her breasts and outstretched arm that took advantage of it.

Digital original

As the light moved lover in the sky, it became more and more magical on Allison's figure as it emerged from the water pool. I haven't made a lot of work with this approach, so I am really pleased with the results.

Working along the Atlantic Shore (Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia)

Digital, 8 frame stitch

I’d thought this session would be one spent working with the rocks along the Atlantic shoreline, but when J_ discovered how warm the water was, we spent most of the session working with it.

Digital original

I always try to make a portrait every session I work with a model who's comfortable with their face being in images; fortunately, J_ was more than comfortable, and many of the portraits we made were really pleasing. All through this session with J_ I returned to making portraits of her, always asking her to be back-on to the sun. Of all of them, this is my favorite.

Digital infrared original, 3 frame stitch

Several months before making this image, I’d created a photograph in the same space, but at the time, I couldn’t realize the image I really had in mind, as I didn’t have an ultra-wide angle lens. As soon as the session began, I mentioned to J_ that we’d save “that rock” for the end of the session, which was when this image was made. I don’t see this as a case of one image being better than the other, but it certainly is a situation where one image directly lead to another.

Miranda & Sagira on a Beach at Night (Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

This beach session began after dark, with a beach fire being lit, and wood being tossed on it until it grew bright enough to photograph by. Though we experimented with various poses, in the end, a simple embrace proved to make the best image of the session; there was something distinctly "pagan" about two women standing naked by a fire at night

Digital original

After working around the first for a bit, we shifted to some more "fun" images - Mirada with glow sticks, and Sagira with sparklers.

Digital original, 2 image exposure blend

The real reason for going to the beach was to try some outdoor painting with light with Miranda and Sagira below a star-trail filled shy; I've done lots of painting with light and night photography before, but never combined with the Nude. The process proved to be challenging; it was nearly impossible to pose the models (I couldn't really see them), challenging to move around them to paint them with light, and it turned out we were still too close to Halifax, which added a bight fog to the sky. In the end, it was something of a failed experiment, but I could see it being a direction to purse, perhaps in a warmer climate.

Noushka's First Session (Dawson's Brook, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

Noushka learned of my work through our mutual friend Miles (the model in Rivergod I and Rivergod II, among other images), so when she planned a visit to Nova Scotia, a photo session was part of the plan. The day we had to work together dawned sunny and bright, so we headed inland, to work in a well forested river - hoping for shade.

Digital infrared original

As it happened, for most of the session, Noushka and I did our best to work around the hard sunlight - even in the thickly wooded location, it was challenging to get out of the direct sunlight. Fortunately, the water drops glistening on her skin were the perfect subject for a number of images.

Digital infrared original, 2 image stitch

We made some more traditional water nudes towards the end of Noushka’s first session. We worked by the side of the falls where the stones around her were naturally dark and wet. The combination of the rocks, and the way the infrared camera rendered Noushka’s pale skin made Noushka’s pale skin even lighter, yielding a very dramatic result.

A Long Exposure at Night (Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

This is the longest exposure I have used for a digital night photo to date (2030 seconds), and feels like the gateway to new body of work, just waiting to happen. There is such a magic to long night exposures, both in how the colours render, and how the movement of the planet (and thus, the stars) makes the sky alive with light.