Ballerinas

This is the most painterly plate I have, and I love it.  You may notice that the edge of the toes are clipped.  I actually like the result, because I think it gives the image neat/hard vertical lines at the bottom edge, flowing upwards to softness and total lack of lines at the top.  On this shot, as will all my others, I don't have a fixed visible boundary line on the ground glass to show me where the actual boundaries will be.  My camera, wide open, is 10x10.  So when I'm shooting something less than that, say 5x7 like the shot below, I'm approximating on the big ground glass screen where the edges of the plate will be.  And I'm pretty good at it now.  There is a fix to this problem, but I haven't done it yet (which fact gives you a glimpse into my mind).  Anyway, I think this shot is simply gorgeous.