my first foray into go figure (18+)

urbanaries

Attended a fine art nude workshop over the weekend. Very interactive and less formal instruction, we kind of flew by the seat of our pants as far as posing the models and made decisions ourselves on which lights to use.


1. Lit via Elinchrom strip bank (?), and a small overhead gridded hair light.


2. My attempt at bodyscaping...a lot of PSing to get it to look like this. Also lit with one strip bank if I remember, we were looking to create shadows. In my mind I wanted that milky "moonscape" look John Brody achieves, but missed the mark. I know there's got to be a better way to light this so the skin retains detail but imperfections are minimized. This is model from #1, so I wanted to retain her beautiful freckled skin without it looking blemished. :scratch


3. Three lights: one 4x6 camera left, strip bank camera right, overhead hair light. Was quite a treat to light the different physiques. We really had great models (3 female, 2 male).


4. My favorite of the day, shot with continuous flourescent lighting. I don't know how "correct" this pose is as it shows her armpit (pretty as it is!), but I wanted to accentuate the curvature of her hips.



Overall I was pleased with the experience, always great to have access to studio lighting and professional models! I just was looking for some very "Nikolai-esque" specifics on how to light skin in a flattering way, and it just wasn't that advanced.

Also bummed we had to shoot in JPG so the models could get copies that day, so there were limits to what I could do in post.

Thanks in advance for critiques and comments!!!

Mitchell

Nicely done!!

I really like #1 and #3. The lower body looks somewhat distorted to me in #4. Something about the angle and the lens used.

I'm not familiar with your camera, but don't you have the capability to shoot in both RAW and JPG. I do this frequently with my Nikons when I need to provide JPG files quickly. I still have my RAW files to play with when I get home.

Nikolai

Welcome to GF!
Congrats on breaking the mold!
You did nicely, esp. considering unfamiliar lights and the whole new uncharted territory.
A few nits that you may consider to look at in the future shots

#1
Vantage point. I don't know how many times I said it: shooting female subjects full height from a typical adult eye level makes subject's legs to look short. Recommended vantage point (height-wise) is between model's knees and waist. Below the knees is considered extreme and is typically used for special purposes. Another extreme is at least a head or two above subjects' head. Both extremes are often used in conjuction with a WA lens.

#2
Bodyscapes are deceiptively difficult to shoot right. I typically use the harshest light possible: bare bulb with a tight grid to eliminate the spill.
Another trick is to have the model (almost) in a normal (vertical) position, light her from above and then rotate the image 90 degrees in post.
The key, however is to add just a right amount of support light (in your case - next to the camera on the camera's left) to avoid the black void up front. This is one of the rare cases when I'm using a reflector.

#3
Good one (I'm not an expert on male nudity tough:-)

#4
I like the curves, but in general full frontal position is the least flattering. A little twist/rotation would actually emphasize those curves and make the image much more alluring. The lighting is a bit overwelming here, too, there are almost no details on the camera's left.

As for jpegs for models: that's why God gave us "RAW + JPEG" mode in most modern cameras

Once again - very good start! Hope to see more of your work here!

Nikolai

vino

I don't think your bodyscape is that far off. I think it is grand... nice work.