Thursday, July 29, 2010

Introducing "The Sessions on West Hall"


Here’s a small sampling of the new work I’ve shot over the past six weeks. As the title suggests, these images will be part of a collection I’m calling “The Sessions on West Hall”.

The collection will show the figure in more of an environmental perspective than my past work has. In truth, I’ve been working in this direction since last year without being fully aware of it. Even more remarkable is the shooting location is so versatile that much of the work shot there will fall under already existing projects and genres I’ve been shooting for years. The only real difference between the new and old work is the light source; nothing but old Sol himself.

Actually, there is another difference: these sessions drug me out of my 2010 winter and spring funk, and into the light again. I’ve approached the work with a renewed sense of direction, vigor, and purpose. I’ve enjoyed shooting this work in ways I haven’t for a long time. Simply put, I’m happy.

As always, I’m curious to hear from you. Speak up and let me know what you think.

**********************************************************

Over the past couple of weeks, I've spent lots of time editing images from the recent sessions. I’ve also been busy planning more sessions at other locations around Savannah, including my own home.

I’ve used my home as a working studio before, but never with window light. The living room of the house is large enough to do portrait and bodyscape work with studio lights, but as is the norm in such a space, the low ceiling is problematic. The saving grace is the large picture window that spans 4/5 of the room. A few weeks back, a friend came over and we tested the window light in various locations throughout the house. The results are promising. Even though the living room window faces west, the two thickly leaved and gigantic magnolia tress in our front yard shade the window nicely. The end result is window light that I think will work very well on the nude form.

Our front door and hallway also provide a softly diffused light that should be excellent for portrait and upper torso work. At a minimum, it’s worth a try.

Check back often and please stay in touch. There are more beautiful and wonderful things to come.

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful work from a true ar-teest! Great job Billyangelo ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, I know who you are..."anonymous"!

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful window light, Bill. I wish I had light such at that in my own set-up.

    I especially like the first image.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Dave -

    It is a fabulous place. More coming soon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What if you had placed sheers on the windows in the first shot. The rail is destracting, my eye keeps being pulled outside.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello Anonymous...

    Interesting you should bring this up.

    I like being able to see through the windows. To my eye there's a pleasant feeling of environment the sights outside bring to the image. There's also the fact I didn't have suitable materials on hand with which to minimize the view through the window. The available fabrics were either too sheer and had no effect; or they were too opaque, causing too much loss of light.

    I've looked for the "perfect" sheer fabric in the past with no real success. The better option for future sessions may be to do some grooming and gardening on the porch.

    Thanks for taking time to comment.

    ReplyDelete