Tower of Power

Canyons

Time and Space

A still photograph is usually a section of space captured at a single instant of time. The photograph to the left breaks the paradigm in that it is a single image spanning multiple time periods. It is easier to appreciate the image if you click on the photograph which will cause your browser to display a larger copy of it.

The image was created with an ordinary digital camera attached to a tripod. The tripod collar is marked at 30 degree increments. A separate photograph is taken at each 30 degree increment. The tripod remains stationary, but the camera is pivoted into the next position. The photos are taken with the camera set on manual. The shutter speed and f/stop are constant, set to an average of each frame of the picture you plan to take.

Back at home the individual photographs are stitched together using Photoshop. Photoshop does a reasonably good job of matching the images up, but the final post-production work involves fine tuning of the joins, minor color corrections, and masking out seams between the photos when they are too harsh.

I have experimented with the technique over the last year on landscapes. This is the first time I included one of my models.

Double Sean

This is a continuation of the "Double Negative" series I began a few weeks ago. The prints in this series are all made by sandwiching two negatives together in the enlarger to make one print.

Usually a double exposure is created by exposing the same frame of film twice. Creating a faux double exposure with two negatives gives the photographer a little more control because any two photographs can be chosen and they can be aligned however one wishes.

Iron Man

This is a solarized print of Sean, the model that appears in a web gallery called "Iron Man" on my website.

Sean

This photograph of Sean was taken March 5, 2005 in the studio. This and others from that same shoot are posted in the gallery entitled "Iron Man" on my main website, however this is one of my favorites from the shoot.

Sean was a real pleasure to work with, an unassuming man and an athlete with natural ability as a physique model.

Sometimes a model has very little sense of their own grace and the photographer needs to exert total control over their positioning. Unfortunately that can easily lead to a downward spiral of creativity. The model wrongly assumes the photographer wants something he cannot understand and ceases to participate in the shoot so the total responsibility for creativity falls on the photographer, who is already occupied with lighting, composition and the technical details. When you find a model like Sean who can comfortably contribute to the art from the moment he walks in the door as well as amiably take direction, it's a rare treasure.