News from Billy Monday
Sienna Watching for Teenagers, 2008Teenagers
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, 2008Feurey, 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!