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Photography,
especially nude photography, can be very challenging.
I would consider myself to be "very experienced"
with regards to nude photography, but once a model is nude
in my presence, my brain splits up into several parallel
thoughts:
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Look at her! She's nude!
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I maintain a respectful tone for the session.
Always.
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I examine the light, making sure that it is elegant &
interesting.
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I watch how the model moves; I'm especially interested
in gestures.
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I'm maintaining a conversation with the model, making
sure she doesn't get bored or zoned out.
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I'm thinking about the technical aspects of the image
making -- it the exposure & color balance correct?
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I'm often looking for something new: is what I'm
seeing too similar to images I've already made?
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Am I encouraging the model enough? Am I giving
her plenty of feedback?
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How are we doing on time?
and so
forth. So, short answer to the question, "Why
do I make nude photographs?" -- it's stimulating.
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I like models
to move in ways that are natural to them. I don't
want models to "pose" or "act" -- I
just want them to react.
Ashlyn
naturally moves in an alluring & provacative manner.
Long ago, I resolved not to be the limiting factor with
regards to model's poses or limit, but I have to admit,
that some of the images Ashlyn & I made together exceed
my comfort level for the images I'll include in these non-restricted
web pages -- they just revealed a tad to much, umm, "fertile
triangle".
No matter.
That's why we created
The Secret Galleries, available to those patrons (people
who have made a donation) who specifically request access
to these more risqué pages. So, Ashlyn as a secret
gallery page, containing a few of the most revealing images.
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We "undress"
the set by removing the chair, but I ask Ashlyn to work
with the soft blanket. Remember, the objective of
a first session with a new-to-me model is "get acquainted",
and often giving a model something to do with her hands
can yield some good results. Occupying a model's hands
is especially effective if the model is not experienced
or is nervous, but Ashlyn is neither. She is quite
comfortable being nude in my presence, and she moves well.
Some of these "blanket" images are good; others
(like this one) not so much. |
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The image
to the right is a subtle cropping of the image above.
I crop pretty much every image. It comes from learning
photography on a rangefinder camera -- with a rangefinder,
you are never sure where the edges of the negative were
going to be, so I learned to include a little more in the
image, cropping the image while producing the final print.
In this
particular image, I like the definition of Ashlyn's hip
bone, and I found that including more of her lovely leg
distracts a bit from my point of interest. What do
you think?
I also
notice that Ashlyn continues to tilt her head away from
the light source, which is fine for lighting her figure
but not so good for lighting her face.
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Here's a favorite image from this session
-- in fact, as of this writing, this is my avatar in an
online photographic community website. Some thoughts:
- I like the off-center composition, which (I think)
works in part because the tonality of the background
is well done, the crease shadow on the left balances
the figure on the right, and the hot spot on the background
provides good tonal separation with Ashlyn's head.
- That hot spot is no accident -- there is a strobe
head, hidden behind Ashlyn's body (with the cable to
it hidden behind the backdrop). It gives Ashlyn
a bit of a glow.
- I love Ashlyn's shape, showing off her nudity without
showing any naughty bits.
- Her eyes look great.
- The big honkin' softbox brings out the various textures
in the blanket, backdrop, figure, and floor.
So, boom -- that's what I like.
I should note that this could be a tip for other photographers:
don't be afraid to step back and not to fill the entire
image frame with the figure. You can go peruse on-line
portfolios, and for many, if you look at them cross-eyed,
they will all appear alike because the photographer fills
the image frame. I like these (at more of a distance)
images, maybe for no other reason than that they are not
typical.
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| I'm not sure I like these "lying
on her back" images. I have two problems:
the creases in the backdrop are vertical, which conflicts
with the horizontal composition of the image, and the light
isn't all that flattering for Ashlyn's face. So, leaving
Ashlyn on the floor, I stand up. It's always a good
idea to check out alternative perspectives -- photography
should be active for the photographer. |
| Here's a phenomenon that I find interesting:
since I'm making the exposure by looking almost straight
down, I am not constrained by how to orientate the image.
This image to the right is the same as the above image,
rotated 90º to the right. I'm not sure which I prefer.
It's more natural to look at Ashlyn's face this way (on
the image to the right), but looking at the image in a horizontal
orientation emphasizes what's going on with the image.
Still -- there's something weightless about these images.
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Ashlyn &
I spent a lot of time playing with this first lighting setup.
We had agreed that we would work some in the shower, too.
The shower setup takes a good deal of time -- since the
space is tight, it takes a lot to get the lights just right,
and once we start throwing water around, we have to be very
careful.
When
I host a photography session, I typically pull all the furniture
out of the living room and use the resulting space as a
studio. Between the living room & the bathroom
with the shower, there is my dining room, and that's where
I throw all the living room furniture. On our way
to the bathroom, I notice that there was some really interesting
light being thrown onto the living room couch. I ask
Ashlyn to occupy the couch for some exposures.
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Between Here &
There
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