For those of you who also read the blog of Ivory Flame and who have a memory of more than six months – probably most of you ;) – you may recognise that Holly also posted some images from this series in January of this year.
You may wonder why I would let the model debut the images when this was a paid shoot, and indeed the whole argument of giving images to a model after a paid shoot is much argued about on modelling forums. Unfortunately when you put your point across on these forums you are often drowned out by those who shout louder and who choose to deliberately misinterpret your comments, on this blog I am King so I am more at liberty to give a more leisurely explanation, so this seems an appropriate post to do that.
I should point out that I totally respect those photographers who choose not to give images to models after a paid shoot. Indeed one of the photographers who I really admire states in the rubric of his profiles on various sites that the model should not expect images, and that arrangement works very well for him.
I want my images to be appreciated by the widest possible audience, and in general a model’s website & blog will get a lot more hits than a photographer’s, especially a photographer like myself who through choice, and laziness ;), doesn’t really put his images out there. So as long as the model credits the photographer that objective is achieved, and the models I give images to always do that.
One of the arguments for not giving images to a model is because they have cost money to produce, so shouldn’t be given away for nothing, while the alternative argument is that sending the model some web-size images for website/blog use does not incur any additional cost and does not devalue the images. I can understand both points of view, but currently agree with the latter.
Finally most of the models I work with do not just do this for the money, yes they have bills to pay like the rest of us, but they genuinely want to create something artistic, so why would I not want to give them access to our joint creations.
Anyway enough rambling, hopefully you have an insight into why I allow models to use images that we have produced – even before I have displayed them, and on to what you actually came for some images of the truly inspiring Ivory Flame. Taken last year in an interesting cottage, and with a first floor balcony giving me the opportunity to produce some shots from above.
We’ll start with the same image she started with on her blog post. The floor suited her complexion and hair perfectly.
Given what I said about the colouring I actually quite like it in monochrome as well.
We shot quite a few images in this set, as lying on the floor gave Holly great freedom to produce poses that are just not possible when standing in a studio. Here’s what the original looks like, with the light coming in through french windows above her head, and a handily placed wood burning stove to her right :)
I cropped tightly to the edge of the french windows as the darker shadows gave a nice edge to to the top of the image, I then removed the stove using the content-aware fill facility of Photoshop.
The rest was pretty simple, a curves layer to increase the contrast and then I found a filter in Topaz Adjust with the catchy name of ‘Brown’ that I felt further enhanced the match of the floor colouring with Holly. I’ve actually reduced the opacity of this filter in my version of the images, but I’m not quite sure which I prefer? I also used a curves layer to lighten the bottom with a gradient on the layer mask.
I’ve also tried wider and close crops
Working with Holly gives you the not unpleasant problem of working out which of the many great images to use in exhibitions, and given that while writing this post I heard by email that I was successful in my EFIAP application I need to get started on that again. Although I have a number of other ideas for using my images after a recent trip to Scotland.
There are still quite a few images from other parts of the cottage, I will hopefully post those in the near future. So thank you Holly for a really memorable collaboration that day, and for giving the images a wider audience on your blog and modelling profile.
3 Comments
Aww, lovely blog and good to read you side of that argument in depth, and I appreciate you sharing your images with me, so that I can then go on to share on with so many people I know will appreciate them, as much as me and you. I REALLY do adore these ones :-) I love the different shots, crops and edits featured here, you’ve really brought them out so beautifully. It was such a simple but beautiful composition to work in.
I have a lot of respect for your work Mr. Pile. It appears you have great respect for your models as well. With your ability to express yourself and willingness to share your knowledge, as well as having great photography skills, you should teach your craft.
I can’t help but see Ms. Flame as flying in these photos rather than lying on a floor.
Photos 3 and 4 are heavenly supernatural.
Holly, you are always welcome to images as they are as much your creations as mine. The fact that your whole body is in a single plane does show how perfectly proportioned you really are.
Thank you Mr. Pope for your kind words, I do indeed have the utmost respect for all of the models I work with. I would agree that she does look as if she is just floating through the air, the way she can express herself while simply lying on a floor is truly inspiring.