Art nude shoot with katy Cee part 2

Well this was fun! For the second part of my shoot with Katy I wanted to play about with movement and slow shutter speeds. I used 1/10th sec for most shots with D-lite + grid set to 3 as the main light and an SB28 popped behind the model for a bit of edge lighting.

I'd also got it in my head that I wanted to make an indian headdress for this shoot which turned out rather well I think. Once I'd got the materials together it only took an afternoon to make and was actually really quite an enjoyable project.

Most of these shots are quite heavily photoshopped in one way or another. I wanted to make them surreal, magical and unique and after the stark simplicity of part one of this shoot I really enjoyed indulging in some photoshop creativity.

Related links
See part one from this shoot here

See more of katys work here

And check out her fantastic photo props company here

Equipment: lightroom 4

This is an exciting week for photographers, not only do we finally see the launch of the eagerly anticipated Canon 5D markIII But adobe have just launched the very latest version of lightroom, which looks very good indeed with two whole new moduals for handling GPS tagging and book publishing as well as extended video support, soft proofing and enhanced social media integration.

But the really big news for me is the massive 50% price drop! For such a powerful program this is an absolute bargain.

These are the top new Adobe  Lightroom 4 features according to Adobe...

• Highlight and shadow recovery - Bring out all the detail that your camera captures in dark shadows and bright highlights. Now you have more power than ever before to make great images under challenging lighting conditions.
• Photo book creation - Create beautiful photo books from your images with a variety of easy-to-use templates included in Lightroom, and then upload your book for printing with just a few clicks.
• Location-based photo organization - Find and group images by location, easily assign locations to images, or plot a photo journey. Automatically display location data from GPS-enabled cameras and camera phones.
• Extended video support - Organize, view, and make adjustments and edits to video clips. Play and trim clips, extract still images from them, or adjust clips with the Quick Develop tool.
• White balance brush - Get more consistent color across your image in scenes with mixed lighting sources. A flexible brush lets you refine and adjust white balance in targeted areas of your shot.
• Additional editing brushes - Expand your creative control by targeting particular areas of your images using new local editing brushes for noise reduction and moire removal.
• Video publishing - Easily share video clips in HD format on Facebook and Flickr. Or save HD clips formatted for phones, tablets, TV, and more.
• Soft proofing - Save time and ink and help ensure your prints meet your expectations. Soft proofing lets you preview how an image will look when printed with color-managed printers.
• Enhanced online sharing integration - Easily post images to more social media and photo sharing sites like Facebook and Flickr. With selected sites, online comments about your images are visible within Lightroom.
• Emailing from Lightroom - Email images directly from Lightroom using the email account of your choice.
• Importing libraries from other software - Bring the power and elegance of Lightroom to all your images, new and old. Easily import photos from other applications.

Adobe Lightroom 4 is available for immediate download from Adobe.com.

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Art nude shoot with katy Cee part 1

Katy is a wonderful model to work with, full of energy and giggles, we had lots of fun shooting this series.

There is very minimal post processing done on these images, most of what you see was done in camera. The coloured blocks where actually pieces of acetate which i suspended from the ceiling. of course I could have achieved similar results in photoshop, but then I wouldn't have got the same interaction between set and model.

Related links
You can read about what went into the planning of this shoot here.

See more of katys work here

And check out her fantastic photo props company here

Shoot Planning #1: Shoot Diagrams

Using shoot diagrams

Fig 1 Prep diagram for It is written

Shoot planning is a crucial stage in the photographers work flow, and in particular being able to communicate your idea's to the model and anyone else involved in the shoot. Personally I find shoot diagrams can be really useful at the planning stage particularly if I'm building sets or working with specific themes. It not only helps me to visualise what I want to achieve but also assists in conveying that vision to others.

Fig 1 shows a diagram I did a little while back, this idea ended up morphing completely into a short film that I made with  Lauren Marie called It is written.

How to make an effective shoot diagram

Fig 2 Prep diagram for Katy Cee shoot  ~ card hung from the ceiling

I use a very simple method for drawing shoot diagrams in photoshop. Firstly find a few images of models in various poses. It helps if these poses roughly align with your overall theme. Open a new document in photoshop and pop you reference photo in. On a new layer simply trace the models outline with a small hard brush (it helps if you have a graphics tab to do this) .

Adding details and props
At this stage turn off the ref photo and you can then begin drawing in props and set pieces, clothing and even colours either as swatches down the side of the image or as part of the image. In addition to this I sometimes find it useful to add thumbnail ref photo's to illustrate lighting, props and mood etc. Use your imagination there really is a massive amount you can do with this.

Shoot diagrams in practise
For my  art nude shoot with Katy Cee I wanted to create a set in the studio with lots of objects hung from the ceiling, at the planning stage I wasn't quite sure what these objects would be and using shoot diagrams really helped formulise my idea's and discuss them with Katy. The idea's I had in mind for what objects to use where; Leaves, feathers, petals, sheets of card or broken dolls. We both liked the sheets of card idea and in the end I found some wonderful sheets of coloured acetate in my local craft store that worked out even better.

Related links
You can see the rest of the images from this shoot here..

and check out more of Katys work here...
katycee.wordpress.com/

Katy also runs a wonderful photography props hire company specialising in stuffed animals, you can check that out here..
www.thehouseofdeads.com/

Shooting lingerie and nude with Allegra

When shooting nudes its very important to have the correct approach and attitude. Your model is putting themselves in a very vulnerable position and employing a lot of trust in your professionalism as a photographer. It is vital that you do everything in your power to make them feel 100% safe and comfortable. Here's a few rules of thumb that I use along with  some nude & lingerie images that I shot recently with a fabulous model named Allegra

Discuss levels and stick to them
It is very important that you are completely up front and discuss the levels that the model is comfortable with right from the very first correspondence. It is then even more important that you stick to these levels rigidly. If you try and push your model into something they are not comfortable with you will quite simply end up with a very unhappy model, rubbish pictures and a bad reputation.

Eyes above the neck line
Staring inappropriately at the model is a big no no, its massively disrespectful and at best will see you labelled as a lecherous school boy.

keep you hands to yourself
It is perfectly feasible to direct a model with words and demonstration, there is absolutely no reason why you should be touching your model.

Protect their modesty
Even at a full nude shoot you should try and provide a private area for the model to get changed and suggest that they cover up between sets.


Avoiding the smut.
There is a fine line here,whilst its good to be able to complement your model and bolster confidence its not a good idea to make overly sexual or suggestive comments.

To conclude
The bottom line is if you go into a shoot like this with respect for the model as a person with dignity (as a pose to a sexual object) and the attitude that you are there to make beautiful images, you won't have a problem.


Big thanks to Allegra, she's a really fantastic model to work with, highly recomended! see more of her work here ~  www.modelmayhem.com/1641825  

Other places to find me on the net...         WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

 
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Vintage Showgirl Shoot

DIY Ethic
Here's some pictures from a shoot I did last weekend with the marvellous Eve Kann, you may remeber her from the Cat Woman Shoot I did. As with the cat woman shoot, the costume for this one was another of Eve's fine creations ( she is a talented young lady ).

Lighting and look
We really wanted to go for a classic 40's era look for the pictures, so i kept things very simple with one Elinchrome head mounted high camera right with a 30 degree grid on. The nice thing was that Eve's feather headdress acted as a kind of gobo, creating some wonderful shadows on the backdrop. Gotta love those happy accidents!

Processing
Very minimal post processing done on these shots, I mainly just added some split toning in lightroom to give the colours a vintage feel.


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Photoshop: before and after, which do you prefer?

After posting my behind the scenes video illustrating how I lit a recent nude shoot with Ayla Sky, a number of people where interested in seeing the shots before I'd done any photoshop editing to them. So I thought I'd follow up with some before and after shots.

The following 8 shots from the shoot are the ones with the most post production applied and I'd be  really interested in hearing peoples views. The 'before' shot in each case has had very minimal/basic colour & contrast adjustments made in lightroom. The 'after' shots in most cases have had a few texture layers applied and in some a bit of selective blurring.

I've numbered all the shots for easy reference, so that just leaves the question, which do you prefer? let me know in the comments...




WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER



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Lighting #5 ~ Ayla Sky nude shoot with BTS video

Just before xmas I had a fantastic shoot with an amazing model called Ayla Sky, we shot two quite different sets over about 4-5 hours in the studio and had loads of fun while we were doing it. I put together this fairly lo-fi video {shot on my mobile phone!} to illustrate how I lit the two different sets.

One of the things I hope you will get from this is that you really don't have to have masses of super expensive equipment to create great images. In fact I have always found that a little bit of restriction  actually leads to more creative solutions, and a lot less faffing around! Indeed, when it comes to lighting, the old adage 'less is more' so often rings true.

Don't get me wrong, having great equipment at your disposal is not a bad thing at all, especially when you're doing professional commissions and need consistent reliability. But its not the be all and end all and it definitely does not guarantee that your images will be great.

You can see more of the finished images on my website ~ www.image23.co.uk

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

image23: lighting set up for a nude shoot with Ayla Sky from image23 on Vimeo.


Related posts
See more posts on lighting techniques 
See these shots before and after photoshop 
Shooting nude and lingerie with Allegra

Click through to see all the pictures from this shoot...

Interview: Midnight Digital

Christophe Dessaigne is a French artist who lives in the south of France, in a small town called Perpignan, near Spain on the Mediterranean coast. His creations are open doors to fantastic and dreamy horizons where digital photography serves the fanciful imagery of surrealist photomontages. His universes are desolate, vast and insubstantial. Gigantic scaled structures rule the landscapes, dwarfing human beings to the size of ants. His post-apocalyptic kingdoms, equally poetic and terrifying, are visions of the end of the world. His work has appeared in cover art book and CD covers in Europe, and has recently been featured in Advanced Creations and PSD Phoshop Magazine. His photographic visions are invitations to remote and chimeric territories. A travel into a mysterious journey.

www.midnight-artwork.com




Who or what influenced you to become a photographer 

I've always been attracted by images. When I worked as a journalist for a local newspaper I used to work with photographers. It's probably my first contact with this media. I think I'm doing photography because I like to create stories and atmosphere. 

I love the awesome sense of desolation and loneliness in your images, was there anything you can think of that inspired this or where you just naturally drawn to this type of image. 
I remember when I was kid I watched Planet of The Apes, the first movie. At the end of the film there's this cult scene : Charlton Heston is riding a horse on the vast deserted beach, the camera's slowly moving backward revealing the Statue of Liberty ~ wrecked and emerging from the sand. That specific scene was a blast for me and it's still probably my main influence (with movies like Blade Runner). It is one of the most creative and impressive post-apocalyptic sights ever. 

How to use flickr effectively

Flickr can be an awesome site for photographers, but to really get the most out of it you've got to get your head around how the site works and crucially how to help other people find you. This post is my rough guide to getting the best out of Flickr including how to find endless cool stuff, effective networking and boosting traffic to your own photo's.


Getting around

The thing I've grown to really love about flickr is how you can end up on these endless  journeys of inspiration, there is just a massive abundance of amazing imagery and exceptional talent, it a bit like being given free reign of the world biggest photo library ~ very exciting and VERY daunting! Of course what you really need to get to grips with strait away is how to navigate such an endless sea of imagery...