In 2006, Sharon and I had gotten into a rut where we were shooting a lot of brightly lit glamour images that pop and we started to lose our inspiration as there is only so much one can do with glamour in a cramped basement studio.
So, I started looking at more classical nudes and also loved the shadows in some of the old hollywood glamour a la George Hurrell. I wondered how I would approach this type of shot when I actually stumbled upon the lighting seen in this image purely by accident. I was just experimenting with light placement of a single light source. I loved the outcome. There is a bit of fill light on Sharon’s head and back due to a mirror that I mounted to the wall at the end of our bed.
I will be playing with this style of lighting again for our book of nudes. We shoot our first images for the book this Sunday, in an old abandoned motel.
Back in 2007, I finally picked up a set of gels for my Alien Bees studio lights. I wanted to create more of a classic nude yet I wanted it toned. I set up a strobe to camera right and put an orange gel on it. It threw way too much light on the model without light modification. Ater weighing the option of using a snoot or a grid, I put a 30 degree honeycomb grid on the strobe, metered it to 1/60s and an aperture of f/11 and shot this image with my Canon 5D.
Back in 2004, I was posting heavily on The New Nude, a site which features natural nudes; nudes which contain little if any makeup, in natural locations such as forests, waterfalls, streams and any other “natural” location.
Shortly after I joined the site, Eolake Stobblehouse published a book called “Natural Beauties,” which contained the best of the best of these natural nudes from Domai.com.
The photo above was our first attempt at creating a “natural nude.” It is very similar to the cover photo of Natural Beauties. This is not a coincidence. Sharon and I used to start off mimicking an existing work and then changing it up to make it our own.
If you can, pick up a copy of Natural Beauties. It is a beautiful book with very little text, just pretty nudes.
Welcome to my new blog. This blog, an extension of my Slices in Time blog, will feature only my nude photography.
Since this is my first post on the blog, it is only suitable that I should post my favorite archive image. This image has a story to it as most of the images I post on this blog will. Sometimes they will be funny, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes erotic and sometimes (as you will find out) shocking. One thing is certain; I will always try to make it interesting to you, our readers. .
Back in 2005, Sharon and I attended an arts event called “Art In The Woods,” which featured buskers and artists from Windsor and area. There we met a local film photographer named Bob Pope. He introduced us to his work, mostly a product of 35mm film. We took a business card, took a stroll and enjoyed the other artists and displays around the event grounds and finally went home. We crossed paths with Bob again at a later date, at which time Sharon and I mentioned that were afficionados of nude photography and practiced creating nude images. Bob, a man of good taste immediately expressed interest in shooting Sharon if we were interested. As it turns out, we were. We wanted to see how another photographer would see Sharon “through his eyes.” Bob secured a location; an old industrial building that used to be an army barracks, located on the corner Albert St. and Edna, in Windsor. We met him for a nude photo shoot of Sharon.
The industrial building was full of character and the walls inside were painted silver; yes SILVER! Bob, a member of the Arts Council – Windsor and Region proceeded to take some beautiful photos of Sharon in various states of dress and undress.
I wouldn’t be able to call myself a photographer if I didn’t bring my own camera. As a matter of fact, I did. I brought my new Canon “Digital Rebel” 300D digital SLR (my first dSLR) and my Canon 100-400mm stabilized lens. During a break in shooting, while Bob changed film, I took a shot of Sharon leaning against a pillar in the building.
The image I am talking about is, of course, the image at the top of this post. It is titled “Industrial,” and has been a personal favorite of mine and Sharon’s ever since that day. I posted it on my Photo-A-Day site (feel free to google for it) and I am proud to share the image with he readers of this blog. If you would like to see a larger version of INDUSTRIAL, click on the image above.
Thanks for tuning in and stay tuned for future posts!
