Tutu by Miles Davis is one of my favourite albums and greatly influenced not just my ears but my eyes at the time it came out. The cover, a broody monochrome [ever so slightly sepia], was definitely in the style I was feeling matched my mood at the time. I shot a few portraits that year, 1988, in the studio at Mid-Cheshire College of Art & Design, which emulated the style of the album.
Fast-forward 25 years and here I am, today, sat at my computer looking at some shots I recently made with Mini Miu and thinking that there was a distinctly 'Tutu' sort of thing going on.
I'd shot these with Miu direct to monochrome', very largely in the style you see them now. All that's been done is a little darkening, a tiny bit of toning and of course the mirroring and replication of one shot to create the effect of a whole body.
I'm liking how these are working out. Frankly, from straight after the shoot until a couple of days ago, I thought the whole episode had been a bit of a disaster on my part... it's reminded me of another useful thing from 25 years ago and the film days I was enjoying back then: sit on shots for a while, don't feel the need to work on them the minute you get back home. Unless, of course, you want to. A little brewing time between making and baking is sometimes just what you need to see a direction clearly.
Here's a link to the 'Tutu' cover, in case you've never seen it:
http://991.com/newGallery/Miles-Davis-Tutu-314144.jpg
Miu's 50px account is here. Be advised, she has some rather racey shots there! :-)
http://500px.com/minimiumodel
Gear?
Nikon D700
Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6G
Alien Bee Ringflash through its 'Moon Unit' which I have modded into a softbox.
Processing?
Shot to monochrome in-camera
Duplicated, mirrored, flipped and then a little burning-in and subtle toning in Photoshop to get the very, very dark sepia feel.
What can I say??? COOOOOL!!! Love it. Thoroughly enjoy working with you and your post-production inspiration… 😀