Brenda Donna 665-II

I love this one, the lighting and toning look spot on for my tastes. Just abstract enough to make the mind work few a fraction of a second to conclude what the eye is seeing. I hope you're still shooting these.

Perfect use of light

Incredible image and excellent use of lighting. Was this made with a single source of light?

This was really a very simple set-up in it\'s production. Single light source using a Dynalite head in a Chimera Softbox with a silver lining. If I am not mistaken, I removed the internal diffusion sheet from the Chimera, but put one layer of Roscoe Tuffspun over the strobe head. The hard part was getting the model to move until the light raked just right and then holding that position. The funny thing about this session was that it was done while the original model was in makeup and working with the stylist. This particular young lady, Brenda Donna, had accompanied the model to the session and got to looking at some of my work in progress. She asked if I thought that she might sit for me some time. Being an opportunist, I said \"How about now?\" Time being of the essence, we set the lighting and exposure in about 10 minutes, burned 5 or 6 665 roids and then quickly exposed 2 rolls of 120 ektachrome before the original model was ready. Since she was a paying portrait client, I could not keep her waiting. She was a very \"well to do\" young lady from the upper east side of Manhattan. She asked to see the roids from our impromptu session and then asked if I could do some like that for her. The difficulty came when I requested that she execute a release in order that I might use them in an exhibition scheduled for later that year. She initally refused, but after some rather delicate discussion, she agreed... with the stipulation that I withhold publication for a minimum of 10 years. She would not budge on this point so I reluctantly agreed. These along with some of the Brenda Donna prints will finally be exhibited later this year in New Orleans for the first time. The Brenda Donna images are a perfect example of using and trusting your instincts and emotions to create an image. One light, one model, one camera and 10 minutes to complete the project. Had I had lots of time, 5 or 6 strobes and 20 rolls of film, I probably would have screwed the pooch and ended up with who knows what.

Love the tone. Nice image.

This is done on Black and white paper?ILford Warmtone is a Black and White paper is it not?

You are correct... Ilford Warmtone FB is a B&W paper. This print has been Selenium toned with 1:3 solution for approx. 10 minutes. My time in the toner tends to vary with different negatives until I like the way the print looks. Not very scientific, but it works for me.

Thank you. Do the shodows and dark tones of the print look as richly BLACK as what I see on my screen or are they also have a tint of selenium in them? Thank you once again....ILYA

There is absolutely no detail present in the shadows in the original print. I like to engage the viewer and then let them imagine what's hidden in the shadows or just outside the frame. The deep shadows significantly pick up the Selenium when in the bath for this long. With the Ilford Warmtone FB, even the white borders around the image tends to pick up a hint of a light cream tint. In 29 years, I have never used any other paper beside Ilford, so not sure how any of the others might react.

Thanks, If the print has the same color as the image on my screen why even think of trying others, Azo would have been Red and not this warm golden tone of skin...
One more question 2 1/4 Hass has a square negative and since your image is not you must have wanted it to be somewhat horizontal? works....