Theme - Icon from Byzantium

This image reminds me of an iconic view of the Maiden. The subtle posture. The kind emotional content. The hope for all the devoted for a good and long life.

I just finished reading "The Historian" and am very taken with the idea of Byzantium and Orthodox religious iconography.

When we worked with Sofia I could see the potential for creating very iconic images. A dash of the religious, a dollop of the devotional, a pinch of faded emotional content, and the ideas and visions of timeless beauty all played in my head as I photographed Sofia for this series.

I can't express how thrilled I am to have created something that I saw with my "mind's eye" first. These are the first of a short series of iconic Maiden, Madonna-like images that I am working on.

Strobist info: Alien Bees ABR800 ringlight, Canon 40D/24-105 f/4 L, Alien Bees B1600 pointed at the backdrop 4 feet behind the setup, and finished off with heavy post-processing in the Gimp.