News from Billy Monday
Sally Freedman, 2008The Nikon D300
While I normally prefer to work with rangefinders, they do have their limitations. So for the last two years I’ve been keeping a Nikon D200 close at hand, in case I wanted to use long lenses, or to shoot moving subjects, or for any of the other uses at which SLRs excel.
The D200 is an excellent camera. It’s very solid body and (to me) nearly perfect ergonomics make it a comfort and a pleasure to use. It fits right in my hands and does nothing unexpected.
Several photographers had new D300s at my workshop in November, 2007. From that day since, I’ve had several opportunities to use D300s and have very impressed by the image quality on each occasion. It’s got the same solid build as it’s predecessor, and the ergonomics incrementally improved over the ‘200. 14 bit raw files made at ISO 3200 are really quite usable, and noise at ISO 400 and below is virtually non-existent. But the feature that got my wallet out of my back pocket was “Live View”, something that I initially thought was a marketing gimmick.
Live View, in so called “Tripod Mode”, make the camera a pleasure to use when mounted on a tripod. The giant screen clearly shows your subject and the days of squinting through the tiny viewfinder are over. You can zoom on your subject which helps in facilitating a very precise focus. It looks like I’ll need to start carrying a dark cloth, because I intend to be much more disciplined about using a tripod both on location and in the studio.
I’ve had a couple of nice sessions as I begin to get accustomed to this new body. Sally Freedman came in from Chicago and we worked both in the studio and in the woods and waterfalls around Frederick County. I’ll be posting more images we made together soon.
From the Mannequin Series, 2008The Illuminated Figure
I’m excited to have 5 pieces hanging in a show which opens Saturday, June 14, at Art-n-Soul Studios in Allentown, PA.
The Illuminated Figure, a gallery show featuring 5 contemporary photographers is an event created by photographer Scott Nichol, one in which I am honored to be included. The title is an apt description, for each of us in the show seem to have a certain luminous style, and I’m looking forward to finally meeting a couple of the other photographers.
My 5 pieces are from my winter “Mannequins” series, and one other piece is seen here with this post.
We will all be at the opening on the evening of the 14th, along with several of our models, but the show will hang until mid-July. If you’re so inclined, please come have a glass of wine with us at the opening, it would be a pleasure to see old friends and to meet new ones.
Way Out West
I’m on my way out to Utah to scout locations for my upcoming expedition. The western landscape just begs to be photographed. My model for this trip will be Candace Nirvana, and it looks like the weather will be on our side.
Weather here in the mid-Atlantic has not been so cooperative. We’ve had great gobs of rain and everything is soggy. The rain does make for super saturated greens in the landscape, and the clouds have also been tasty, so I’m not complaining. Here’s an image Susie B. and I made this week after a steep hike to a local mountaintop.
Teenagers
Anyone who shoots nudes in the natural environment will tell you that locations are pure gold. It’s a blessing to have a great model, but those locations can be so hard to come by!
I’ve discovered that a sure indicator of a cool location is the presence of teenagers. Discarded beer cans, spent condoms, and the occasional solitary flip-flop are all signs of a good place to set up for some photography. Like a wily tracker in a spaghetti western, I keep my eyes peeled for these signs of success.
Sienna Aldridge and I had planned a shoot at a really spectacular Maryland location. She came down on the train and tolerated my driving around in circles trying to find the location (I’ve only shot there a half-dozen times). The weather was absolutely perfect - and the teenagers knew it. So they were out in full force, and they took quite an interest in the beautiful redhead who kept taking off her clothes. Or maybe they were looking at me, I’m not sure.
Well, despite the interruptions we did get a few decent images made. Now I have learned that summer is here, the teens are out in full force, and work will have to be done with more discretion.
Feurey, and waterfalls
I started out the summer with a glorious plan to shoot clouds, wind and weather. Glorious, it was, and may still remain. But the tasty clouds in my mind’s eye have failed to appear in sight of my camera. Maryland’s spring has featured dense, low hanging grey clouds and rain,rain,rain.
I find myself returning to the 2007 plan of shooting waterfalls, a plan which fell apart due to a drought. No drought this year! The cascades here in Frederick are flowing full strength and the richly textured rocks and saturated green colors are calling my name.
I’ve made several images in the cascades this spring, and some of the most pleasing were with a new DC-area figure model named Feurey. She was enthusiastic about trekking about in the local woods, crossing rivers via fallen trees, and posing nude despite the occasional trout fishers. Look for more work featuring this talented model!