Bajamar, low tide, the quiet end of the day pulled all the way into the studio. We killed the room to black and brought in one hard light from the side, the kind that finds every line and lets the rest fall into shadow. Shiela Marie made it look like the easiest thing in the world, which is usually the hardest thing to photograph.

The suit did a lot of the talking, a gold-toned top with all this texture to it over a pale bottom, and a few gold pieces at the wrist and ear catching the edge of the light. Hand at the neck, weight shifted, chin turned just off center. Nothing busy. Just one body, one beam, and a whole lot of dark around it.

I love working this lean and this dark because there is nowhere for a pose to hide. Either it holds or it doesn’t. Hers held every single frame, and most of my job was getting out of the light’s way.