Classic Nude

After a few weeks away from my degree it has been slow and I find myself looking for projects, competitions and work to either amuse myself or occupy my time...

The week before last (I think) I found myself in one of such projects and it was intensely rewarding. Being out of the studio for so long now it felt strange returning to the blank canvas of a room and it I gave myself 2 hours for prep!

So I saw one of my old friends (I'll keep this anonymous...) had posted some recent pictures online from a shoot that she had done - I had to contact her immediately, I felt a little voyeuristic since I was objectifying her body for photographing purposes..but Hey! You can't deny beauty when it's there!

My idea was basic (classical nude, soft, beautiful) and my model was game!
The shoot was surprisingly easy, relaxed and rewarding. I was nervous myself, I can't even imagine what the model felt, but after a few shots I was onto something and the model was in her prime. It was a fascinating and liberating experience and definitely worth it!

 Here are some of the results, any comments welcome.

 I have another shoot pencilled in with the same model for September, hopefully with both medium and large format film cameras, in mind for some really beautiful large format prints.

Silver Effect?

So I've been doing a lot of revised editing recently, since learning a lot from the course I'm studying. Its pretty evident that I am miles ahead from where I started a couple of years back, and the post processing skills I have, have improved massively.

I've been trying recently to achieve a sort of 'silver' effect in some of the portraits, and I've been having some difficulties. I've got a little bit of where I want the portrait to be, but haven't quite got the method yet.

I have been using the black and white filters, opacity layers and blending modes to create a dulling effect on the images, then played around with the colour toning, and dodging and burning. I just can't quite seem to get the hang of it.

 

This is what I have achieved so far, and I quite like them as they are, but what I'm really looking for is some feedback/suggestions on how I could get a more silver-ish effect out of the images.

Back into the realms of the Studio!

Just a quick update today, very busy lady!

After a summer out of uni, and consequently out of the studio - we went back into it the other day for our first session with Brian Spranklen.

We only really covered some of the basics, to get back into the swing of things and reiterate what was learnt last year.

In the end, there was only half an hour or so to get some shots in - which was a real challenge!

The first set up I used, was a large soft box in front/just above the subjects head, to achieve the basic lighting image. 

Fairly standard, and in my opinion not very exciting.

For the second set, I used a honeycomb directed onto the subjects face, straight onto the tip of the nose to produce what's called 'Beauty Lighting'.

I'm much happier with the second, and with more practice in the studio this year I'm really excited to see what I can produce!