Shelly in the woods
November 22nd, 2006
Here’s Shelly again in the North Carolina woods. She did a great job looking beautiful and comfortable when it was fairly cold while we were shooting. It was a sunny day which creates some limitations and some opportunities for photography.
Many photographers talk about the “golden hour,” that time a lovely light near the end of the day. Many say that you can’t really take photos in the middle of the day. While it certainly is easier to shoot when the sun is at an angle, I disagree about shooting at other times. To me, there is no “good” or “bad” light. Light may be easy or challenging. But there are always ways to use the light that is available. I’ve found the somewhat limited dynamic range of digital cameras to be an advantage in difficult light. All you need is a bit of a vision for what you are trying to achieve in the image…previsualization, if you will…and an understanding of how your camera renders tones…a bit of knowledge about the zone system…and the ability to read the histogram that digital cameras provide. I enjoy exposing to hold detail in the highlights while allowing the shadows to go dark. There is detail in those shadows if you want to pull it up, but I find the altered representation of the sunny scene…transformed into a dark and mysterious world…is much more interesting than an accurate representation of what the eye sees.
The trip was a good one. I traveled 5,335 miles in 17 days, driving a total of 86 and ½ hours. Thanks to Deb, Morgan, Alden and Linda, and Mike and Mel for giving me places to stay. And thanks to Cathleen, Amy Jo, Rose, Echoed Light, and Shelly for modeling and helping me make some fine images. I’ll be on the road again before long. Think I’m going to have to find a way to get to a warmer place for a while this winter.
I’m having all sorts of internet issues since arriving home. Something has happened to my web site and all the pages of photos seem to be gone. Don’t know if it was hacked and attacked, or if there is just some problem with the web host. Haven’t gotten any response from my webmaster yet. And, as noted before, AT&T/YAHOO screwed up my internet access and took way too long to fix it yesterday. But at least that’s working again.
Pano Redeux
November 21st, 2006
I’m uploading this panorama again because it seems the one below won’t open to a larger image. This really needs to be viewed larger to see it well. I hope this one will work right.
I haven’t been able to post since I got home because of a screw up by my ISP. For the record, AT&T/YAHOO high speed internet customer service leaves more than a little to be desired. But they finally got things working again a few minutes ago, so this will have to do for today’s post. More from Shelly in North Carolina tomorrow.
On the road again
November 20th, 2006
Shelly called to say she has a sore throat and doesn’t feel like shooting again today. I’m sure it has nothing to do with her wading around in a lake nude yesterday… So, since I don’t have a shoot today, I’m going to make the drive back home and end this trip one day earlier than planned. It will be good to see my wife again and I’ll have an extra day to get ready for Thanksgiving.
Here’s Shelly out in the woods yesterday, looking beautiful and showing no signs that it was chilly and that she was getting a sore throat.
And here is another panorama from yesterday. Shelly wading in a beautiful lake that was up to a higher than normal water level and flooding the surrounding woods. Shot with my Canon G6 and stitched together with the Canon software that came with the camera.
Thanks for reading. There will be many more posts coming with photos from this trip and other things I’m working on…hope you come back.
Kudzu
November 19th, 2006
If you have not lived or at least visited the south, you may not know about kudzu. Everyone should know about it. Introduced in the 1930s as a great way to control erosion, it has taken over the south and in some ways defines the boundaries of the old south even more clearly than the Mason/Dixon Line.
Kudzu will take over any area where it isn’t controlled. It will kill everything else growing in the area, including wonderful old trees. In the summer and throughout the year in areas where it doesn’t freeze it can completely cover large areas creating an eerie scene as it covers everything. In summer it is nearly impenetrable. If left uncontrolled it will tear down a house. When there is a frost it turns brown and some of what is underneath is revealed.
It’s winter in North Carolina. This is Shelly from today’s shoot in her kudzu-covered side yard. You never know what is going to be uncovered when the kudzu turns brown.
Shelly did a great job of modeling today. It was cold. She didn’t seem to care. She even waded into a lake for several shots. Thanks, Shelly.
The model I had planned to shoot tomorrow has had to cancel, so I’m going to shoot Shelly again. It is supposed to be colder and raining tomorrow, so it will be more of a challenge and should yield some different-looking photos. Stand by for samples.
Tomorrow is the next to last day of my trip. On Tuesday I’ll drive home for Thanksgiving with my family. I expect blog posts will continue…there is a lot more from the trip to post.
Back to the desert
November 18th, 2006
Back to a shot of Rose outside Albuquerque. I’m still in Chapel Hill getting ready for game day with my OSU-fan hosts here. But spending a little time going over earlier shoots before I start shooting here over the next couple days.
Rose was a great model to work with. She was cold and dirty and getting all scratched up by those rough rocks, but she kept at it and delivered the grace needed to make shots like this work. Hope I get to work with her again.
Window
November 17th, 2006
Another shot of Echoed Light with her window light grazing her body. She has been having some trouble getting to know her new windows in her new house, but I’m confident she will find the key to her vision with these windows. The light is certainly there in a nice range of qualities. And her insight and openness in her self-portraits is remarkable. If you haven’t looked at her sensitive work, I encourage you to check it out: http://echoedlight.deviantart.com/ She is very talented and very brave in front of the camera.
I’m now in Chapel Hill, with two shoots set up before I head for home in a few days. It’s been a good trip so far and I’m looking forward to adding some images of two lovely ladies here.
Echoed Light’s Window
November 16th, 2006
Spending a quiet day in Gainesville, Florida, today. Last night I had dinner with an old friend and caught up on our lives. Tomorrow I’ll drive to Chapel Hill and most likely spend Saturday involved in an Ohio State/Michigan party. Then shoots scheduled for Sunday and Monday. And then back home for Thanksgiving.
This is Echoed Light at the window that provides the light for many of her beautiful self-portraits. She is a very talented, expressive photographer as well as a beautiful model. I hope to be able to work with her again in the future.
Arch Model
November 15th, 2006
When I first walked in to her friend’s house with Echoed Light, I immediately saw this hallway of arches. The photo possibility was obvious. Of course, the model had to be arched. Echoed Light in echoed arches.
The Girl In The Window
November 15th, 2006
The girl in the window. That’s Echoed Light’s other on line identity. So I thought I’d start with this shot of her in the dining room window at her friend’s house. Loved the light and the reflection on the new floor. EL is way ahead of me on editing the images from our shoot and has posted a bunch of them on her deviant art site here: http://echoedlight.deviantart.com/ Of course, she didn’t drive 850 miles yesterday, so she’s had a little more time to look at them than I have. You can also see her images on Model Mayhem here: http://modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=44231 She is a very fine photographer as well as a beautiful woman and talented model. A great combination to work with.
Desert Forms
November 14th, 2006
Here’s my model becoming one with the rocks in a wilderness area outside Albuquerque. She was great to work with out in the desert. She really got what it was I was after and was willing to take the chances to get into the right spots. In fact, she was a little more adventurous with climbing around on the rocks than I was totally comfortable with. But there were no accidents, and once again I managed to get the shots I was after without losing a model in the process.
For those who care about this stuff, this was shot at 18mm with my 18-200 on my D200 Nikon. Shot at f/8. I love my 18-200 because my back doesn’t hurt as much when I go hiking. My 80-200 f/2.8 stays at home where it’s my standby boat anchor now.
Today I drove 850 miles from Little Rock to Gainesville, Florida. Not doing any shooting while I’m in Florida, just visiting friends and family. But it will give me time to edit my work with Echoed Light in Little Rock. Should have something from that shoot for you tomorrow. It was a great time meeting and working with Echoed Light. She is a real treat. More about her when I post some shots from our shoot.
I’ve decided to limit my daily travels on these trips to no more than 700 miles from now on. 850 miles is just too much driving for one day. Those last couple hundred miles seemed very long.
