I'm
a big, big believer in building a
local artistic community. If the
group has the right attitude, there is
nothing but upside to such an
arrangement: we can share
resources, communicate opportunities
(like traveling models), hold
multi-photographer & multi-model
sittings, share location ideas, and
share recommendations. Sure,
building & maintaining the
community takes a bit of work, but
it's well worth it.
Case
in point: I first heard about
Lynsey Joy after she posed with
another local photographer, R.J.
Young. We got in touch &
decided to work together this
Spring. Here are the images from
our first sitting.
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So much of "fine
art nude photography" is abstracted: you get to see light
& shadow & shape & form. While I have nothing
against such images (and I reserve the right to make such images now
& in the future), I find myself going in a different direction --
for these first sittings with models, I'm trying to get to know the
model, and as such, much of what we do could be characterized as
"nude portraits".
I love, love, love
these "getting started" setups, where I start by
photographing the model in the clothes she wore when she showed up at
my door, and we make a series of images as she removes her
clothing. For me, it builds the anticipation, it reveals quite a
bit of the model's personality, and let's face it, it is
exciting.
So, I ask Lynsey to
sit down & get comfortable.
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I
also notice that lately, I've
been photographing models with
their jeans/pants still
on. I have no interest
in producing
"gynecological"
images, but with their pants
still on, models are much more
comfortable -- they don't have
to worry about making sure
that their poses are
demure.
For
each sitting, I like to plan
several different concepts
(communicating these concepts
to the model before the
sitting if possible).
This is difficult for a first
sitting, because I don't know
the model or how she will
react to some ideas, but I
think I already knew that
Lynsey & I would do both
some "getting
started" images and some
"pants still on"
images.
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I am immediately
impressed with Lynsey's overall physique. She is fit &
muscular & very feminine. Some men are "breast"
men; others prefer a woman's butt; I would like to think that I just
appreciate the whole package, but if pressed, I would have to say that
I like looking at a shapely model who has definition in her abdomen
muscles. Lynsey is the total package. I'm quite
happy.
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Lynsey
also impressed me by being
very prepared for this
sitting. In fact, she
brought her own music -- a
collection of pleasant new age
music, which I enjoyed quite a
bit, too.
("New
Age", spelled "newage",
which rhymes with
"sewage". I
actually have quite a lot of
similar music in my
collection. I sometimes
call this music
"underwater music"
because it makes me feel like
I'm swimming underwater.)
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After giving me an enticing
glimpse of her wonderful breasts, Lynsey suggests that she does some
posing wearing her denim jacket, and I readily agree. I'm a big
believer in "less is more", and often models have great
ideas.
This is a favorite
image from this sitting -- while it is exciting to realize that Lynsey
is topless, the whole feeling of this image is quite restful &
pensive. The lighting is good. The shape/pose is somewhat
unusual but it looks natural.
(Note:
I'm going to start outlining my favorite images from a sitting, like I
did with this one here.)
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Lynsey
loosens up a bit.
I
get comments from viewers,
requesting a little more
detail about how lighting is
set up. Here's what I'm
using right now:
- There's
a medium-large (3'x4')
softbox as the main light,
just to Lynsey's
right. I find that
the light it produces
looks best if it is as
close to the model as
possible without intruding
into the image.
- There's
a small softbox to
Lynsey's left, positioned
a bit behind her.
That's what's providing
the fill light on the left
side of her face.
- Both
soft boxes are positioned
so that only a bit of
light falls onto the
backdrop.
- Lynsey
is sitting on a little
bench which is covered
with "studio
cloth" -- a fairly
heavy colored gauze.
There is a third light on
the floor pointing up --
it is under the studio
cloth, and you can see
that highlight behind
Lynsey on her left.
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I usually don't set
out to make sexy images, especially with a new-to-me model, but I've
got to admit that when you have a beauty like Lynsey moving around in
an open denim jacket, you can't help making some darn sexy images.
However, I'm also
interested in getting to some nude images, too, so I encourage Lynsey
to continue.
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We
are definitely making
progress!
While
this is one of the first views
of Lynsey's magnificent
breasts, my eye is drawn to
her flat & muscular
belly. Then, when I pull
my eyes from there, I am
particularly drawn to the
lovely light on Lynsey's face.
One
challenge to photographers of
the nude is finding a lighting
setup that works well for both
the figure & the face --
this is one such setup.
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I
finally ask Lynsey to remove her pants.
Doing it so sexily was all Lynsey. |
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I
love working with models as toned as Lynsey,
and I am quite gratified with the lovely
light. |
One of the things I
look for when I work with a new-to-me model is that I look at how she
moves. Certainly, I usually assume that a model who poses nude
has a good deal of self confidence, but I do find that some models
naturally limit some of their poses. Lynsey, however, appears to
be very confident and very uninhibited. From talking with her,
we both know that neither of us are interested in producing "low
brow" images, and we aren't worried about it.
One note:
lately I've been thinking a bit about camera position -- in
particular, how high off the floor should the camera lens be. I
believe that beginners tend to put the camera up in front of their
faces, so that if the photographer is taller than the model, the
resulting image is looking down on the model, and that can cause the
model's legs to look a little short & stubby. Here, the
camera is at the model's eye level, and that is good. But the
images that I've been liking the most lately are the ones where the
camera lens is about mid-figure level -- that produces figures with
the least distortion.
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Here
is Lynsey in all her
glory. And yes,
"glorious" is a word
I'd use to describe Lynsey's
beauty.
That
last point I made, about where
to position the camera (i.e.
how high off the floor) --
here's an example. It's
a subtle thing, but I think I
would have preferred to have
the camera a tad lower for
this image. But it's not
a big thing -- just something
to think about for future
sittings.
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One final image,
before we move on.
When I first
started making images, I think I had a lot more fun with unusual
compositions, and somewhere along the way, I've gotten away from
that. Now, I try to remind myself to try an unusual composition
every once in a while -- like this one, where Lynsey's figure occupies
only the top half of the image, and the studio cloth texture anchors
the bottom half.
What do you
think?
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