In the Summertime...

Once again, I’ve not too much to report photographically. Edits and post work continue on the early summer’s work, and more sessions are in the planning stages for later this month and early September.

I can report that I appear to have developed a successful, workable, and practical image organization system. As with most things, time will tell. So far though, so good.

This past Sunday I did a short session in my home with Michelle R. My approach to the session was one of trial and error, and the results are directly in line with that mindset. We toyed with the idea of some outdoor shots; however, it was burning hot. With the air temperature in the high 90's and humidity in the 60 or 70 percentile, the heat index factor - think of it as sort of a 'reverse wind-chill' - was near 112 degrees. No thanks.

We did create a small number of usable images; unfortunately that was the exception and not the rule. I’ll post one or two with a future entry.

Here are more from that fabulous space on West Hall Street.

More From "The Sessions on West Hall"

Editing and new session planning continues as time and life permits. I’m still very excited about this new work and am very eager to get it out where it can be seen

For some time now, I’ve wanted to get the work onto the walls of art galleries outside of Savannah. I believe one way of doing that is to enter my work into juried competitions. It’s not something I’ve done too often; I think in the past 12 years I’ve entered two. However, after a recent telephone conversation with friend Dave Rudin, it occurred to me it may be the best way to start the process.

Until now, this is not something with which I’ve had much interest. I don’t know exactly what’s out there in the way of juried exhibition opportunities, or how to find them. If anyone can share or recommend resources for calls for entries, it would be much appreciated.

I do maintain portfolios on various photography and art oriented sites, such as Community Zoe, Photo.Net, and the well known Model Mayhem. While these are good places for other artists and photographers to see my work and offer the occasional comment, I don’t think they’re sites gallery directors frequent when looking for new artists to show. Serious market research would seem to be in my future.

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My image organizational system isn’t performing as I’d hoped; time for a bit more investigation into the subject. My image workflow, meaning the steps I take in getting from the RAW digital file or negative scan to the final image isn’t the issue. Organizing my images, and keeping them organized, is. What worked with film isn’t translating so well to digital.

With that in mind, I’m going to slow the editing down a bit and concentrate on getting a very solid file organization system in place.

Stay tuned.

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.

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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.

Patience, Patience, Patience

Angulaire

Unfortunately, I don’t have too much to report, photographically speaking. Nor do I have any new images to show. Here’s one with Anna from my 2008 project titled Contre La Lumiere.

I’ve been working on improving my digital workflow. Mostly, I’ve been trying to smooth out some kinks associated with how I store and handle image files which are in process or are finished and ready for output. Lucky for me, something that appears to be workable has emerged.

On paper, it looks quite cumbersome. But when applied, I think it will work; after all, it’s little more than one or two slight modifications to what I was already doing when I shot a mix of film and digital. Considering the thousands of images I’ve shot in my recent sessions, I’ll have ample opportunity to put it to the test.

However, the real post production work will have to wait until early next week. My wife is returning home tomorrow from an extended trip abroad and our goddaughter is arriving for a few days visit. For those reasons, it’s unlikely I’ll have another update here for at least a week.

In the film processing area at the darkroom where I used to do my work, there was a sign over the sink. It read "Patience, Patience, Patience".

That's what I ask of you now. Know that good and beautiful things are on the horizon.

And the Angels Did Sing...

The space I’ve been shooting in the past few weeks is, as I’ve written in recent entries, simply gorgeous. And the beauty is not just about the space itself, but the light within it.

This past weekend, I shot there with three models; two during a marathon Saturday session and one during an intensive Sunday afternoon session, with Sunday marking the fourth time working the space. On Saturday, the models worked jointly and separately and at some point in the day, a miracle occurred. The heavens opened and the angels sang.

Perhaps it’s inaccurate to say this burst of creativity only took hold this weekend. Certainly, it was there when I first saw the space, roughly three or four months ago, and it was there during my work with Michelle and Megan. The level of creative energy has been a constant, but this weekend was the first time I was hotly aware of it.

Sunday evening, as I did an initial edit of the day’s images, I began to understand that I’ve created and shot a new and entirely different body of work without any planning or forethought. That makes me one very overwhelmed but very happy photographer. My cumulative efforts in this space have yielded what I feel is my best work in a decade or more. If you’ve read this blog, you know that’s not something I could say if it wasn’t from the heart.

Today’s images are of me working in that beautiful space with Michelle. Friend and photographer Justin Taylor assisted in all of the sessions at this location and shot these at my request. I should mention that the space is also Justin’s home, and had it not been for his and his roommate Eric’s unyielding generosity, none of this new work would have happened.

Wonderful things will follow.

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Web Site vs. Blog…

With the realizations mentioned above comes the realization I’ve more or less ignored my website.

The site has been static since early 2009. I had almost settled on letting the site go and allowing this blog to be my primary web presence. However, with representation through Horizon Gallery beginning earlier this year, and the newly created work, I’ve decided it’s time to revamp the site and to find a way to integrate it with this blog.

I’m a bit uncertain as to how to approach the blog side of things. Perhaps the easiest thing to do is to add a link button to the blog on the website home page. If anyone can suggest other ways to merge the two, I’m listening.

Timing on these changes is up in the air as well. I have a huge amount of post work to do. I’m not quite certain yet as to how or when all this will all play out.

I’ll keep you posted.

Happy, Followed by Sad...

 Two with Megan.

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Yesterday afternoon, I had quite a pleasant surprise when I received a phone call from New York photographer and blogger Dave Rudin. Dave operates the Figures of Grace blog. He is also one my favorite contemporary photographers working with the nude.

Dave and I have exchanged comments on various topics through our blogs and to connect a voice with the words on the screen was good. We both approach photography from the perspective of the traditionalist, though it must be said Dave is adhering much closer to those roots than my present circumstances allow for me to do. We spent nearly an hour talking everything from galleries to darkrooms. I was reluctant to end the conversation to fulfill a dinner obligation with friends. It was good to hear from him.

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The Door Closes a Bit Further…

…for me on film.

In my backyard is a detached storage shed where my larder of film and printing papers were stored in an old upright refrigerator/freezer. During the prior week, while I was out of town on non-photographic business, severe thunderstorms struck the Savannah area, a common occurrence in summer. I’m told power was out for several hours. When I returned home, I stuck my head in the shed and flipped on the light. It worked. Power was restored and my house was cool. It didn’t seem so bad. What I didn’t see was that the breaker to the outlet into which the refrigerator was plugged had tripped.

Fast forward ahead several days; I’m walking by the shed into the back yard when I notice a bad odor coming from the structure. I went in, opened the refrigerator, and recoiled.

In addition to film and paper, food was in the freezer portion of the now warm and stinking appliance. The photo materials in the freezer were saturated with detritus from thawed and rotting food. The materials in the refrigerator portion faired much better, only experiencing warmness.

There was no saving the freezer; rolls and boxes of film along with enveloped packages of paper were destroyed. The experience of cleaning up the mess and throwing it all away was, to say the least unpleasant. Yet as often happens in times of suffering, knowledge was revealed.

I’ve written often of my struggles moving between the film and digital worlds. As I toiled through the foulness in the Savannah summer heat, I began to understand the final reality that my time with film; a time when complete sessions were recorded on film and worked by hand, was over. The financial reality is I can’t afford to set up, run, and maintain a darkroom. Even if I could, the fact remains that other aspects of life simply won’t permit me the time it takes to do it and do it properly.

A long time has passed since I knew I would have to make the transition to digital imaging. The alternative was to end my photography, and obviously, I chose to transition and continue. Still, I held on to all of this stuff for over six years in the hopes I was wrong.

So here I was, sweating and unpleasantly odorous, two trash bags stuffed with sour smelling film and worse smelling pot roast, chicken, and fish, looking at hundreds of undamaged rolls of film and boxes of paper and wondering what in hell to do.

I decided to pass them along to another Savannah photographer and friend who also works with the figure, and shoots only film and can maintain a working darkroom. At least I know everything will go to good use and not wind up in a landfill. But I’m not giving it all away, at least not the film. I’m keeping a handful of each variety.

You know. Just in case.

Quietly Busy Times, Plus a Change of Heart....

Two more from Michelle’s recent window light session.

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There’s not really much to report.

The delivery deadline for the American Cancer Society’s local chapter annual art auction, to which I’ve agreed to donate a piece, is looming. I’ve not quite decided which image to send; there are a couple I have in mind, but I’m reserving judgment until the upcoming weekend’s three scheduled sessions are in the books.

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Ah, Model Mayhem

I’ve decided to re-do my Model Mayhem profile and portfolio. After my rant here a few months back, I rewrote a good bit of it to reflect my then sullen mood. It was cumbersome, complicated, and quite frankly, off-putting; I suppose something not very different from me at the time. The ‘Profile’ portion revisions are done and the result is a much lighter, friendlier version. Take a read if you like and let me know your thoughts. The actual portfolio updates should happen in a week or two.