Michael

Michael Crowley
This is the second photo session I have had with Michael Crowley. A series of his photos from the first session can be seen in the Door Men gallery on this web site, and my studio work from that first session will soon be published in a future gallery later this year.
As well as physique modeling, Michael is a personal trainer who lives in on the central coast of California. He has a very pleasing natural physique and an easy going attitude.
This shoot also began an experiment with a different backdrop. I've been using black backgrounds for several years now, but recently decided to try a white background. Black backgrounds tend to accentuate highlights on the model's skin. I am hoping the white background will, in contrast to the model's skin tones, become the brightest spots in the composition and allow me to keep even the highlights on the model's body no brighter than a medium gray. You'll start to see my results on this Photo blog in the coming months.
Although I have experimented with color from time to time, I think my true calling is black and white, which I shoot almost exclusively on film. This photo was taken at the beginning of the studio session with Michael with a digital camera to test the studio lighting arrangement and to verify the light metering. I've only recently started working with digital cameras, mostly for landscapes, but occasionally in my physique shoots.
What I enjoy most about digital is the immediacy of the results. While my film is being developed I can copy the digital photos from a shoot from the memory card and start working on some of the pictures right away.