pause

I've just taken a few moments to file negatives from earlier this year, and I'm seeing a departure from my usual patterns of shooting.

For one thing, I'm only seeing about 16 models so far for 2008. I'm probably forgetting a couple, because the purely digital work isn't here, I'm looking only at film negatives. But that's about half the number I've worked with each of the previous few years.

A few of those have been unknown or brand new local girls, basically people I agreed to shoot with just for practice, not expecting too much from them.

One reason for the drop in total numbers is that I've worked repeatedly with a few favorite models this year: especially Inga and Claudine, about three times each so far, and twice with Iona Lynn. And I'm liking that, really finding the nuances, finding ways to get very different results from the same individuals over time. There are a few others from this year I'd shoot with again if the opportunity presents itself... Shae, Heather, Wenchi, Amy.

It may affect how I shoot from here forward. It's complicated because those faves are anywhere from 250 to 2,000 miles from here, as are most of the other people I really enjoy shooting with. And identifying the rare muse is a lot of work, both upfront in culling from all the online possibilities, and then in the actual shoots, finding the relatively few who have the talent, the compatible personalities and interests, the right energy.