Shelby with Whip, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

The model was a sweet cornfed blond from Texas without apparent guile or a mean bone in her body. Changing her from blond (below) to brunette (far below) made things a little more edgy.

How to wake the inner vixen?

I looked around for a prop. I asked her to wield a piece of rope as if it were a whip. I told her to think of someone she loved and hated at the same time. She had someone in mind immediately.

It’s not easy chaneling Helmut Newton (or at least making the attempt). Fortunately, I’m off to Yosemite for a few days wilderness camping with the boys tomorrow—leaving the complexities of adult life behind. Each kind of photography has its own unique challenges—and it is easy to forget that light is light—but I’m ready to channel Ansel Adams instead of Newton and move into heroic landscape mode.

View this image larger.

View this image larger.