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<p>For me, the camera is a way of making art. The chief requirement of a visual artist is <em>imagination</em>. I am not a photographic technician, though I admire those who are. I bore very easily. After the first few shots of the same set-up, I want to know what <em>else </em>I can do with the camera, with the lighting, with props, with the subject (wardrobe, or pose). In the moment when I am photographing a pretty woman, it is a bit like "love at first sight," a kind of intoxication with the capture of the image. I have the same experience when I <em>don't </em>have a camera, and just wish my eyes were a camera. (I love the beauty of many women. I know myself well enough not to mistake the visual delight in the moment with anything more significant, for those of my friends who get anxious with this kind of talk. :-) ) It is easy just to keep going for that moment of delight, and I often take several shots of the same pose, just to see if I can get a "best of the bunch." Digital photography is so cheap that it is easy to just keep firing away.</p>
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<p>It is helpful to photograph the same pretty or beautiful young woman a number of times, because the impulse to create something beautiful with the same subject forces me to think of something different for each session. I come up with ideas in advance, often from what I have seen other photographers do, or from what I have done with other models before. When I am thinking, What do I do with this person in front of this light and this camera? I get an idea, which is a kind of imaginative "pre-visualization" of the shot. I take the shot, look at the back of the camera, and can see instantly what is good, and what could be better for the next shot. Sometimes I just tell the model to move and assume whatever pose crosses her mind,  and it works, or works well enough that with a tweak or two I can get something more pleasing.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1815-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15923"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1839-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15921"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2007-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15922"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sheldon's idea, and with the lights it <em>worked!</em></figcaption></figure>
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<p>Photography is "light-writing," and by implication a photograph requires at a minimum a dynamic range of tones -- even if it is very high-key (bright) or low-key (dark). As I say in my previous post, art involves <em>abstraction,</em> and to abstract something is to remove something from it. The middle photo below hides the lower part of Sheldon's face, thereby keeping attention on the upper part. With domestic photography (like my photos of my granddaughter's birthday party, in my previous post), you need visual or social context to understand the image. When you photograph a pretty or beautiful woman, you create mood with the light, her pose, her expression, and her clothing. Context is less important in the studio, unless you are using props or a set (furnishings).</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1787-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15925"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1805-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15926"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2394-Edit-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15924"/></figure>
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<p>It is no surprise that models sometimes become actresses, because they know how to imply mood: apart from the lighting, the eyes, the angle of the head, the set of the lips -- all contribute to the image. Are we seeing the person who is there, or a persona she presents for the camera? A good actress disappears into her character, so the question doesn't occur to one.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2175-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15935"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2201-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15930"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2277-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15939"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2283-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15932"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2326-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15936"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2371-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15937"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2440-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15931"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2449-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15933"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2459-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15938"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2481-1-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15940"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2482-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15941"/></figure>
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<p>Consider the last two images. What is the difference between them? The second was the original pose that I saw, but Sheldon dropped her shoulder, which is what you see in the first. But I saw in the original pose a defensiveness, a frailty that I found fetching, so I asked her to put her shoulder up again, and captured what I wanted. Which one do you like more, and why?</p>
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<p>As I say in my previous blog post about my family in Linthicum, Maryland, black &amp; white abstracts from life, from what we see (unless we are completely colorblind). Some images just call out for a treatment of some kind -- black &amp; white, black &amp; white toned in some way (like sepia), or some combination of color and black &amp; white and the color original.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1925-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15942"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2007-Edit-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15943"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2098-Edit-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15946"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2121-Edit-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15944"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2183-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15945"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2119-Edit-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15947"/></figure>
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<p>The third-last image is the original color one, overlaid in Photoshop with a black &amp; white version treated in Nik Silver Efex Pro with a medium sepia toning, at about 90% opacity. The sepia and border treatments are deliberate throwbacks to an earlier era. The star in the background looks like that found on military vehicles, which sets the image (imaginatively) in the 1940s. The treatment in Silver Efex in the last image heightens the model's expression. The simple beauty is downplayed by increased texture and detail in the mid-range tones of the face, for the sake of mood. There is a suggestion of sadness in the eyes, which is the creation of the post-processing software. The beauty is still there, but it is now somewhat <em>dramatic.</em></p>
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<p>I took over 700 photos of Sheldon, and it was difficult to choose the best. Here are some that I haven't included above. Some show the use of a "go-bo," or "go-between," which broke the light up so that light and shadow fell over Sheldon's face and form in a pleasing way.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1860-Edit-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15956"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1832-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15963"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1839-1-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15954"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1850-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15966"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2114-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15972"/></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A2164-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15975"/></figure>
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