I love finding natural real world light, compositions & textures when photographing the emotion in front of me - especially if there is an opportunity to ex...
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I love finding natural real world light, compositions & textures when photographing the emotion in front of me - especially if there is an opportunity to explore this moment through slightly abstract eyes & still convey the emotion I am seeing (DM me or visit my website for commissioned portraits).
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photograph was taken in my home in Eastern Ontario. I am always trying to find new ways to express emotion through my photography & photographing people, especially nude, is a wonderful way to explore vulnerable emotion.Time
This is probably one of my favorite images I've taken of Janet, my wife. I wanted to take the photograph earlier in the day so I planned the shoot for mid morning before the weight of the day set in. We were fresh in our hearts & our minds so the morning timing felt right. This beautiful photograph was taken at 10:12am during the mid-morning sunlight.Lighting
The lighting is very important & though it is natural it was used in a very intentional way. I wanted the warm sunlight to stretch across Janet's face, almost abstracting her in the light, revealing her from shadow into light & light into shadow - as if she was part of the light or being formed by the light. I tend towards abstraction in my work so using the natural sunlight & shadows to blend Janet's face & body into the scenery was an exciting opportunity for me.Equipment
I went handheld for this photograph to help keep the moment fluid, natural & flexible. A Tripod would have been too formal & too standoffish in my opinion. I wanted to appear present with Janet & I did not want to appear stuck behind a tripod - I wanted to be able to just drop my camera to my side & address Janet if she needed it. No flashes, just natural light. I also used my favorite Sigma 85mm 1.4 art lens. The Canon 1DX feels like a tank when it houses this lens, but wow does it take stunning images, like this one.Inspiration
My love & emotions for Janet inspired me to take this photograph.Editing
In my opinion, great photography requires a lot of work past the initial capture. I believe there is a lot of work to be done in the darkroom or at the computer, post-processing, after the photograph has been taken. This post-process work is not a reflection of skill or talent, it is just part of the creative process of photography as an art. I processed the image in black & white, balanced the tones, light & contrast. I balanced the skin tones just a little bit. The soft diffused light did much of the work for me. I over exposed the right-side of the frame by a half stop to help illustrate the light's emotional role in this photograph.In my camera bag
If I am photographing digitally, my bag has a Canon 1DX MK II with a Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art Lens, a 24-700mm f4 macro lens plus a 70-200mm f4 telephoto & a 50mm 1.8 lens. If I am photographing on film, my bag has a Broncia S2 medium format film camera with a 75mm, a 135mm & a 50mm lens & a Canon FTB 35mm camera with a 50mm f1.8 & 28mm f2.8 lens.Feedback
If I am to provide any advice for how to capture something similar it would be to let your emotions govern your intentional creative decisions & ground yourself in what your objective is. My intention was a photograph that felt natural, so I went handheld, used natural light & worked with Janet in natural, easy going ways. We didn't do much in the way of makeup or hair. I wanted to capture Janet as she was in the moment. With these types of shoots, I don't provide much direction, I want the subject to find their own direction to find their own way emotionally - it is more authentic for me - so for this type of shoot I provide encouragement & positive feedback to let the subject know their process & experience is valid & contributing in beautiful ways to the photograph. I recommend others try something similar.