Hands on model photoshoot

Of course in this case "hands on" means applying theory I am discovering in practice. Models, unless you are in close relationship, highly dislike physical contact at a photoshoot.
So, to try my theories and get some new tips I invited a model for a nude studio shoot. I had a list of poses to try and a mindset of getting them to look as good as possible. And it worked perfectly.
Enter Geminine

She is a nice person and a professional model. She does not have a "fashion model" figure and it makes her a perfect candidate for my project as I'm aiming for "girl next door" type of models.

This is what she looks like without clothes

Stay tuned!

Today I had my first photoshoot dedicated entirely to this blog. I was testing different model poses and pose adjustments and made several amazing discoveries. In a day or two I will publish a number of dos and don't for basic posing. You will see how a few posing changes may dramatically improve your photograph.

When soft is better than hard: lighting in nude photography

If you are not a photographer, it may come as a surprise that light can be of two types: soft and hard. Soft light does not produce deep, dark shadows. A perfect example is the light on an overcast day, which is diffused and even. Hard light is the complete opposite: shadows are going to be very dark, and sometimes even completely black.

I honestly wanted to illustrate this concept with a nude model, but, unfortunately, did not have one handy

This is the reason some vacation photos sometimes don’t look good as people tend to have very strong shadows on their faces.

Also note the shadow pattern on model's legs. This wouldn't happen if the light were soft.

The same theory applies to nude photography-- hard light may produce shadows where they shouldn’t be and add serious flaws out of nowhere. There are exceptions: when you are photographing in dark with only one light source, hard lighting is the only option and it may produce incredible results. Also, when photographing athletes, it is generally better to use hard lighting as, when applied properly, it emphasizes muscle texture and volume.

Note the completely black shadows

So, for most cases your choice should be soft light. Where can you find it? There are a few options available.
1) Shoot in shadow. Even on the brightest, most sunny day, if you place your model in the shadow of a larger object (e.g. a wall, a tree, or a vehicle), she will be properly lit since there is still plenty of light around. This will solve the problem of harsh shadows.

Here is a participant of Toronto Naked Bike Ride under the shadow of a tree, creating nice soft light.

Shoot from the model’s shadow side. Contradicting the common belief that you should not photograph against or into the sun may help you create some amazing photos. An obvious bonus: great rim lighting outlining hair and body shape.

Note the bright light on the edge of the model's face and on her back. This is typical when shooting the shadow side

Shoot on an overcast day when the whole sky looks grey. It may seem that everything looks colourless  and flat, but this type of lighting is perfect for portraits. You may also (on sunnier days) wait for a cloud to cover the sun.

Very nice and soft light created by cloudy sky

When you’re indoors, use a big window. Move closer to the window to get more light for your photo. Here’s an important tip: look for a window that is not on the sunny side of the building. The sun is the most common source of hard light and coming through the window won’t make it  any softer; you will get the same dark shadows. If you are shooting next to a shadow side window, you may get some of the most beautiful photos that can be produced indoors.

Soft light from a big window.

Create good light: use a reflector or a flash. If you don’t have a choice and must shoot in a bright sun, get a reflector.

This is a basic 5 in 1 reflector that can be purchased for under $20

A reflector is used to create spots of light in order to fill in harsh shadows. Just aim a reflection of the sun at your model, and you will get very nice, dimensional lighting.

A reflector is the simplest tool for creating professional looking photos

Sometimes you can use a natural reflector, such as a white wall or a reflective window to fill in the shadows. With some experience, you can get professional looking photos without any extra equipment.

If you don’t have a reflector, you could try to use your camera flash to fill in the shadows. This requires expert knowledge of your camera settings, and a flash powerful enough to make the changes visible.

To fill the shadows on a bright sunny day, the flash must  be really close to the subject.

Now that you are aware of the different types of light, you will start to notice them, the changes that different light makes to your photos, and what works best. Feel free to submit your photos with different lighting to our Flickr pool. I will try to give some feedback on your lighting and suggest possible improvements.

Why your camera does not matter (to some point)

clickable

You most likely heard the adage that your camera does not matter, and that you can take beautiful photos with any device. Though when you see somebody with a big camera and a thousand dollar lens you think, "Of course every photo he takes is going to look amazing". And this is understandable. There are far more awesome photos taken with incredibly expensive cameras than remarkable photos taken with smartphones. But what matters the most is skill. When you are skilled, you are more likely to buy an expensive camera because you know your needs.

In our case, photographing nudes, you will do just fine with a very basic camera and in some cases even with your cell phone. The photos above illustrate that point. One is taken with a $2000 professional camera, one with $400 advanced compact camera, and one with a Galaxy Nexus smartphone. All of the photos are straight out of the camera without editing. I’ve posted them in reverse order. That means that the first photo was taken with a cellphone! And here it looks better: the skin tones appear more alive. This teaches us several things. First, if you have a beautiful model properly posed and well lit, the photo will look good even if you do snap it with your phone. Second, you have to understand the settings of your camera in order to get better results. Third, you must know the limitations of the camera you are using. Let's talk about those limitations.

Cellphone/smartphone
1. It takes terrible photos when there's not enough light. Dusk or indoors with poor lighting - forget it. The image will be covered with excessive digital noise and you have to stay incredibly steady to take a photo that is not blurry. If you have a flash, use it only if you have to capture something you absolutely have to: don't try to shoot portraits or nudes with flash.
2. The resolution isn’t very good, even if it is 8 megapixels or more. If you want to print it in a large format or crop it, you will be disappointed - cellphone lenses are terrible.
3. Usually you have just one option: wide angle shooting, and it's bad when shooting people. Wide angle lenses that are used in cellphones are good for shooting landscapes or interiors. Essentially, they allow you to capture a wider view without moving back. But when you shoot people close up, you will see how some parts of their bodies or faces are comically exaggerated. You can see that on the cellphone photo above: one buttock looks larger than  the other because of the distortion. We will cover this later but for now, just keep it in mind.
4. Everything is in focus. It makes shooting easier but takes away some artistic control.



Point and shoot camera
1. Still not very good in low light situations
2. Lenses are not always high quality
3. Has troubles focusing, especially in low light situations.
4. Usually has very limited settings


SLR camera
1. Big
2. Heavy
3. Expensive
4. Requires quite a bit of knowledge to operate properly

The bottom line here is that if you want to shoot professional quality photos and are willing to learn, get an SLR. Otherwise you are making a good start with a point and shoot camera or in extreme cases even with a cellphone.

Reverse Engineering or What Makes a Photo Awesome

I find it is to easy learn something if you systematically understand its principles and  rules. Take driving a car, for example. It is an extremely complicated task, but in practice, we all manage to learn it. We get to know the rules to follow like speed; things to keep in mind, like checking your mirrors; and the subconscious application of skill when operating a car. The  same learning principle applies to photography. It is harder than driving, since no central body dictates the rules, so we have to find and understand them out mostly by trial and error and analysis. I like to look at great photos and try to understand what makes them great, especially compared to others. This is called reverse engineering.


Today I will show you one of the key principles in nude photography via reverse engineering.
I will use the Pirelli Calendar as an example, being one of the most iconic works in nude photography. In 2011 it was shot by Karl Lagerfeld, the world famous fashion designer and now, a photographer. The theme of the calendar was classical mythology. I will just use a few examples, but the whole set is easy enough to find on Google.


Take a look at these two images.

They are very similar:  similar composition, the same lighting and both feature beautiful models. [E13]The top photo is especially straightforward, simple, and symmetrical. The bottom one is asymmetrical, and this makes it a lot more attractive. We see more beautiful curved body lines as opposed to bold straight lines in the top photo.
Let's take a look at details. First, the models’ legs. In thetop photo, they are separate and fairly straight up and down. In the bottom photo, one leg is straight and the other is bent. This is a fantastic little tip that will instantly make most photos of women look better. Look at professional photos, and be surprised at how often this is used, probably because it works!
Make sure that your model's legs are together, and that one is slightly bent and positioned in front of the  other. The rear leg should be straight.
"Put your right foot slightly in front of your left, bend your knee a bit, and shift your weight to your left leg".
That's all you have to say to your model. It will sound professional and improve the photo dramatically. Take a look at this image from the same calendar:

The photo is still very much a frontal view, but one leg is in front of another and the knee is bent. It looks far better than the first photo.


Now that the legs are out of the way, let’s move up above the waist. Notice how the girls in most photos all have their arms up? This trick makes their breasts look more shapely, especially if they are bigger. Ask your models to bring her arms up and her breasts now look perkier! Try this and post your results (if you are brave enough) to blog's Flickr pool.

Photos are located at Fashion copious

The two simplest ways to improve your photos instantly

I will start by covering the very basics for those who have never tried photography beyond quick smartphone or party snaps. The most important factor towards good photos in all kinds of photography is  that your subject is properly lit. This does not necessarily mean the photo has to be all bright, as there are photos like this

where the subject is intentionally dark. But the brightest spots in such a photo must be as bright as possible, nearly white, otherwise the photo looks dull, just like the one in my  previous post. The truth is:

 MOST AMATEUR PHOTOS SUCK BECAUSE THEY ARE TOO DARK

Therefore, you must ensure that there is enough light when you are shooting and there are different ways of doing this : moving closer to the window, turning towards the light source or turning on alight in the room
I will show you some more examples as we move on, but let's get to another tip.

TAKING YOUR PHOTO IN BLACK AND WHITE INSTANTLY MAKES IT LOOK BETTER

This is a method often used by amateur photographers for a simple reason: it works. When you remove all the colours, there are a lot of distractions that vanish from your image. Let's take a look:

We have a model with pink hair, which draws all of the viewer’s attention and also causes pinkish reflections on her chest. This doesn't make her look healthy. Sometimes a model's skin may have pigmentation or marks that don't look good on camera. Let's remove the colour.

Now, all of a sudden, the photo looks "artistic".  In fact, it just resembles classic photos you've seen somewhere or other, and subconsciously you associate them. All the unhealthy hues are gone from her skin, and she's a blonde now!

Let's apply our first tip to the photo, too - make it properly bright, or as photographers say "exposed"

Some people may like the darker version better because it leaves more to the imagination, but this photo is technically more "correct", if this term ever fully applies in photography.

Follow those two tips and see how your photos improve and receive more compliments.

The first post, obviously

My passion for photography stemmed from a very simple wish: I wanted to photograph my girlfriend (and maybe some other girls) naked.  I loved looking at professional and amateur photos and I was fascinated by the female form. But shooting with my first digital camera, a Canon A70, I was quite disappointed. The photos I took of my girlfriend weren’t anything close to what I’d seen at all those websites. I mean artistic nude websites, of course. It wasn’t that she wasn’t pretty or that her body wasn’t perfect. No, it was exclusively my fault. The photos turned out almost like those you see on Failblog from time to time.

So I bought a better camera, gained access to a studio and tried some more. By then I was single, so I found a great girl online who was willing to pose. I had a nice camera, a studio full of lights, a gorgeous model and was more experienced, but my photos still sucked. The photo I picked out of the session as my ‘best shot’ was incredibly dark and mundane, but I thought it was artistic. Now I know – it wasn’t.

As years passed, I practised more and more, and my photos got technically better. However, I was never able to shoot a true masterpiece except by accident. Now, being a professional photographer, I am still fascinated by nude photography, as it is something I am unable to produce effectively.

Browsing through Flickr photos, looking for inspiration, I had my light bulb moment! Some nude photos are good, despite being taken with a point and shoot and using  an amateur model. That being said, some photos which are taken in a studio, with a model who looks like a Playmate still don’t look good.

I have decided to start to analyze photos by breaking them down into pieces. I found there is a system of making a good nude photo, on the spot, with any model, and any camera. It is going to be quite complicated, and though some people are born with it (it is called innate talent),  I’m sure it can be learned. So I’m going to teach myself and I welcome you to join me.