Nothing to prove.

Monday I finished extracting the photos of Elfa from our shooting in the Ex Manicomio di Monbello, with the new workflow that is the last phase, because the retouching is happening inside Lightroom.
So now I've saved all the copies and uploaded on Archives.

This shooting with an outstanding beauty like Elfa, and with a camera lens combination that is the pinnacle of performances in my camera bag (the Fujifilm GFX 50S II + "Martin", the Zeiss T* 1,4/85mm Planar ZF named after the Patron that sponsored part of the purchase), and my 9 years of practice shooting nudes, has made me think.
When you're working at such levels of excellence, you're still facing challenges, like long exposure times to compensate occasional low levels of daylight (like on these stairs), or the erratic movements from the undisciplined model.
But when you're selecting the photos, you find some masterpieces that are not perfect, but are transcending quality altogether.
You've made everything you could to make perfect photos, but as soon as you start pressing the shutter the first time you have to be prepared to embrace chaos, accept compromises, and take home the best possible result despite the problems you've implicitly accepted by choosing such location.
All the work you've done before is still going to come through the pictures, you just can't hide it; all your choices, good or bad, are going to be recorded on the sensor.
I can't say this photo is perfect from a technical point of view, but I love it even more for its imperfections.
I feel I have nothing more to prove about my craft, and the same goes for the model, and the equipment.
Even in the worst conditions, the message is so poetic that it is worth hearing, and it overcomes the noise from higher ISO settings, easily.

In other photos of Elfa you might find the wrong eye in focus, or some blur of the head moving around, but if I have selected it as a good one, I take responsibility for every defect you might find.
I'm not selling you a perfect industrial product, I'm selling you art nudes, distilled beauty.
And yes, I do love this photo, because of the sensations it is provoking in me, and because it is even better that being there with the model herself... no heat, no smell, no dust, no mosquitoes, no dangers... believe me, I should know, I was there!

If you want to learn more about the Bramley Apple Project or Archives, or DA subscriptions, ask me on bramleyapple@yahoo.com