North Beach
Apr, 2015Views
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AlfieVitaro
May 17, 2015
Brilliant Capture Michael! Thank you so much for sharing. Aside from the obvious elegance and beauty of the subject, I love the reflection, the mountain range and the industrial atmosphere below.
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
In my apartment, in San Francisco.Time
My apartment is a sort of lightbox, with glass doors along one side (and a sketchy balcony) facing west. The southern-adjacent wall also windowed, but I keep that side dark. This was taken in winter, around noon. I tend to shoot in the early mornings, when the room is in shade. It’s amazing on overcast days, and even better if it’s foggy—which it frequently is. On this particular day it was clear, outside in the sun, and the room in shade.Lighting
As the project evolved, I found that it was difficult to continue to see new beautiful shapes without the variability of daily light. I work in black and white, in part, because it makes these even more challenging, and I was enjoying the challenge.Equipment
I’m reluctant to answer because I think too much emphasis is put on equipment. Yes, obviously, good equipment is good. But for me photography is about using whatever I have at hand, to do “this thing”. Anyway, most of the time I am using a Fujifilm XE-2. I have one workhorse lens I use everywhere all the time, a 18-135mm. (A 32GB card, but only because i can't find my 16GB card, which had always been plenty. I unload the card frequently.) No flashes, no tripod, no other equipment.Inspiration
At the time of this image, I was a few months into a new exploration in my photography: shooting nudes. I’d shot a lot of images over the years, and I’ve always considered myself a really good amateur, but I was too embarrassed, and perhaps too married, to explore this subject. So over the course of a few months, I had met two models, Janet and Lia, who I alternated shooting a few times—in the same small apartment, with no props, until I felt like I had creatively exhausted the subject for myself. Or at least had some thoughts about the subject. Female nudes are perhaps the most represented subject in art; I was just a little curious if I could do something that felt unique, or at least new for me. Was it just voyeurism? This idea of the voyeurism in this process was something I had explored before—shooting through open doorways and through windows—so in this particular afternoon, I climbed out on the fire escape on the south side of the apartment, and Janet was sitting on the sofa inside, then standing on the west windows and looking out. I could immediately see a few elements I was trying to get coordinated: the reflections in the windows in front of me, the way Janet’s side-lit body was catching the light, her body position in the vertical sliding doors. The window was closed so she couldn’t hear me. I had only asked her to move around the apartment… not to “model” but rather just to be at home. I always thought this particular image felt too contrived, but hell, the strength in her pose and the light really did combine sensually.Editing
At the time of this print, I was working at Adobe, and I had just been introduced to Lightroom. I had been doing most of my post production in Apple iPhoto prior to Lightroom. (I had even written a few books about it!) So I had been dragging my feet to convert. But Lightroom gave me controls I had not seen, and it took my work up a notch. I don’t do much post processing, but I definitely take out the color, and I tweak the greyscale until it feels right. Not very scientific, but I do know which levers to pull on.In my camera bag
I don't have a bag, but i always keep at least one (and sometimes 2) charged batteries in my pockets. And a lens-cleaning cloth.Feedback
You have to work with the light you are given, in my version of photography. Look for small things that characterize big things (and the other way too). Photography is a game, make some rules and play by them. It's poetry. And in my version i think of it as "haiku"-- a small gestural moment. Black and white is one of my poetic constraints, so is not-cropping (although i've cheated there now and then). Using natural light, and not posing the subject. And see what happens.
