#bravocharliemodel

[douglasfur365]

Barbara, 2018

West Seattle

Back when I used to write a lot I would practice this technique where when I would finish something I would put it away for as long as I could. I’d come back to that writing with fresh eyes and I would typically think one of two things; this is absolute total trash, or this is better than I remember. Most often it was the former. I’ve been trying to do the same with my photography, putting shots away and coming back with fresh eyes. When we were shooting this stuff in the shower the clear curtain seemed like a good idea... but I was having trouble focusing and so we eventually pulled down the curtain and shot without it. The shots without turned out amazing and I felt really down on most of the shots with it. Recently I was looking back through this set and I had that moment of “wow this is way better than I remembered.” 

[douglasfur365]

Barbara, 2018

West Seattle

Are you a Pentax fan? Before I got my Nikon FE my main shooter was my Pentax K-1000 and it’s still one of my favorite cameras especially with the 50mm f2 SMC lens. Have you ever looked at that SMC, Super Multi-Coated and thought that it was the equivalent of Truecoat or some other nonsense selling feature. I also took this same shot with an older Nikon Lens on my Nikon DSLR and I really had to edit out the glare and reflection. This shot is exactly how it came out of the camera, that Super Multi-Coating is no joke. Enough about the lens. I’ve had the pleasure of shooting Barbara twice now and she’s got a beautifully intense and vulnerable look, especially what we shot out in the woods had the look like she was going to cut you, but also a lot of vulnerability in there too.

[douglasfur365]

Barbara, 2018

Seattle

Following the haircut we took a trail through some nearby woods taking portraits along the way. At the end of this trail was a sizable power substation. I had about fifteen shots left of the JCH Street Pan 400 and decided that the concrete structure was a great place to finish that up. When shooting black and white I start to observe things differently, I’m looking for patterns, contrast, and texture, and I loved that concrete wall especially when contracted by Barbaras black outfit and her lighter skin tone.

[douglasfur365]

Barbara, 2018

Ace Hotel Seattle

“Can We Really Party Today? No. 1″ Burn in.

I love film oddities, those moments on rolls that make you take a step back and ask yourself “what the?” Yeah so... the burn in at the start of a roll isn’t really an oddity, depending on your camera it’ll happen on every roll. What I love about the burn in is when it works out like this. The funny thing about this shot was that for many photographers it’s just a throw away, but I just thought it looked so cool, and then when I saw Barbara post it and I realized that I’m not alone. More than anything this shot has so many grades of color from the exposed white to the incandescent light of the room, the purple hair, and blue hues outside on the brick. 

[douglasfur365]

Barbara, 2018

West Seattle

Aside from the evergreens there was very little actually alive on our walk through the woods, but we did run into this bush with all these pretty little white flowers. There really was no question... we were going to shoot here. Of everything we shot outside that day it was this spot from various angles that consumed the most film.  I thought the flowers created a nice juxtaposition to her dark clothing and brought something gentle to the hard edge look she was rocking. This specific shot where she’s looking to the side was my favorite.

[douglasfur365]

Barbara, 2018

Seattle

I really liked the idea of the first part of this shoot with a moody black and white film, this was mostly based on what Barbara had told me about why she was feeling like shaving her head, and it really struck me. This idea of relieving stress and anxiety by shaving off your hair, this dead weight that in some cases you might have been carrying with you for years. I rotated between my DSLR for color here but it was these black and white shots that captured the moody tone for me perfectly. Later when we moved out to the woods I shifted to Ektar which brought vibrant color to this very beautiful and freeing situation.