Need More Saturdays Like This

"When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell... LEAP."  

~Cynthia Heimel, 

Model, Bayne

It was a good day. Well, a good night I should say. Not long ago I posted a video about Denis Smith and his Ball of Light documentary done by Sam Collins. My main intent behind the post was just to illustrate how you can still find something new in photography and become successful within this business by finding your niche. I should watch that 15 minute documentary every morning when I wake up just for the inspiration. I posted the link for the video and talked about it on the message boards of one of my photo groups. They decided to schedule an event based on the idea to go out and play with some light painting techniques. Well, the ball of light intrigued me most and you know me... I'll put a nude in anything. Every things better with a nude model in it.

But the idea didn't really hit me until I was talking with my friend VikiMae, (who you'll see pretty soon). Actually we were texting, I think and the thought came to mind the day before the event. I don't know if you have ever tried to secure a nude model for a shoot with one day's notice for a Saturday night, but Model, Bayne came to my rescue. She was on time and a real trooper because it got cold out in the desert. I'm talking chilly and the wind was a-whistlin'. This was PURELY experimental. I had never done anything like the ball of light concept before and it had been a couple of years since I had worked using Bulb exposures. To my demise, I had not recalled that I'd need a cable release for bulb exposures. Fortunately, my buddy JB came to my rescue or I'd have been doing a totally different experiment.

Model, Bayne

Bayne and her escort were perfect. Both were very helpful in not only posing and assisting, but also advising in my concept. Both have prior experience in photography. Bayne became even more endearing as we shared our love for film photography and the darkroom processes. It was cool to be able to talk that language to a model. Her patience and help was all to instrumental in making this experiment a success. Incidentally, she's probably the first nude model I've worked with that I didn't really see nude. I mean... I saw her but only in incremental flash bursts. These are shot in the dead of night and I'd pop her with split second bursts of light to momentarily expose her, no pun intended.

Model, Bayne

I'll definitely be working to perfect the technique. Its a little tricky to make as perfect of a sphere as I can with my ball of light and still expose the model without either one being overpowered. These timed exposures are fun and I think the fundamentals of my technique are sound. I just have to fine tune it and balance the ball and the model in perfect exposure. I'll keep working on it. Hope to get to work with Bayne again soon. If you've got an interesting project, you'd do well to consider her. The woman is the total summation of the elements of professionalism. I'm telling you...Hire her.