The woman in Jeff's photo (with boyfriend and cross) reminded me of this woman, from whom I used to buy coffee at my favorite shop. It took about a month of interaction before she was convinced I wasn't a freak. In one evening I got three or four really great pictures...even her mom liked them... t

Mamiya RB67, 90mm Sekkor C, Delta 100. I had to use a waist level finder and hold the camera sideways while standing on a ladder. Great fun. She's the face in my logo shot.

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), September 12, 2000

Answers

After several months, I still haven't convinced the people at my usual coffee shop that I'm not a freak. Probably because they're mostly freaks, and they know one when they see one. Oh well, at least I seem to have been largely accepted as one of the resident freaks.

I've also used the high-angle method you mentioned (I'll post such a shot in another message). I have mixed emotions about your shot. I like the non-standard vantage point think it captures something about here posture and attitude that you wouldn't get from a lower perspective. I'm uncomfortable with the overall composition, though; it's strikes me as an unhappy compromise. I feel like it should be cropped tighter around her or that it should be a wider angle shot giving me a greater sense of her environment.

-- Mike Dixon (burmashave@compuserve.com), September 12, 2000.

I have some similar responses to Mike. I agree that I am a freak at the two coffee shops I frequent, although I seem to be able to photograph almost everyone. However, I feel like this shot should be more freaky. I really want to see all of the tattoo on her chest (do I have a thing about tattoos? is that a silly question?), since, if people put them there, there is a reason. This also has a very different feel than I am used to for a TM photo (that's Tom Meyer, not TradeMark), and maybe if I come back a few times, it will feel a bit different.

I do love the subject, I love the outfit, the tattoos, I'm not as bothered by the pose as Mike (love the boots) I just wish there was a bit more of her in this photo...

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), September 12, 2000.

Hey Mike, the environment is my studio, so what's outside the frame is lightstands and cords (kitchen to the left). I could come up from the bottom, but there's nothing to give at the top. Left side is film edge as is the right.

Jeff, I made a lot of pictures that night, I'll put more up some day. Some are from low angles, with serious attitude, and details like the logo image. I've got a good shot of one well studded ear that fills the frame (!).

Nothing too close on the tattos, they are accessories (like the jewelry) that enhance her personality, which was my primary interest.

I liked the contrasts between her round feminine body, friendly demeanor, and the spikey hair and storm trooper boots. The tattoos and piercings, that closer shots reveal, accentuate these mixed attributes... all clues to what's goin' on inside her head. A really fine person. That seques into that issue of friends or strangers to photograph. I use photography as an excuse to narrow the gap between these extremes...t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), September 13, 2000.

Tom, I'm not necessarily suggesting a closeup on the tattoo, but it does seem to be a major "accessory." Although I should add that I've never understood why women get tattoos in that location and then seem bothered by guys looking straight at them :-)

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), September 13, 2000.

Gotcha. It is rather prominant, but hardly (in my mind) overshadows other components of her physical presence.

Did you ever see the Saturday Night Live sequence with Sigourne Weaver? She was from thousands of years in the future and her eyes had migrated to where her nipples (actually) are, an evolutionary adaption necessary to maintain eye contact during conversations with men...t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), September 13, 2000.

This is great, particularly the contrast between the feminine head end and masculine legs.

I don't really like the space at the bottom, although the figure is so strong that it doesn't spoil the shot. Cropping is the laziest critical suggestion, but a 2:1 panoramic works for me, and has nice ironic overtones of Titian and Goya. As it is, I end up looking for advertising copy sneaking across the carpet.

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), September 14, 2000.

I keep coming back to this shot, it's got so much 'real' to it- the chair and rug are classic pieces, which drive the "Goya" mood- the lighting is great- stays on the girl and not the chair so she pops out of it- and shes looking into the camera which is a strong element seeming lost on a lot of photographers. I think they call this "giving it to you..." a great, relaxed confident model-

I remember when these grrls started wearing these boots with party dresses- Cindy Lauper era wasn't it? At least 15 years ago- they're also classics now-

-- Chris Yeager (cyeager@ix.netcom.com), September 14, 2000.

Struan, if her left boot was in there, I'd go with that aspect ratio, no problem. But I think it would look cropped, rather than deliberately framed, were I to do so in hindsight. And, say, do you know any corporations who need space for their type?

"a great, relaxed confident model", she was indeed confident and relaxed, primarily because she wasn't a "model". We had long, revealing conversation the whole night that only occasionaly included "wait... stay like that for a while..." t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), September 14, 2000.

It's your picture, but I rather like the way her left boot is chopped off, it gives the right hand side of the image a sense of movement and tension, in contrast to the more static comfy chair on the left. Crop to a double square and each half contains a good image in its own right, with some fun contrasts between the two.

Sorry I can't help sell it.

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), September 15, 2000.