Art Nude with IvoryFlame
TechnicalBoy offered me the chance to use some of his day shooting the talented IvoryFlame. Naturally, I couldn't turn down the chance to do an art nude studio shoot with an experienced model with support and advice from an experienced photographer. TechnicalBoy spent the morning shooting and I arrived at about half one to do the afternoon session.
I spent half an hour or so watching TechnicalBoy and IvoryFlame work to get an idea of the differences between working with an Art Nude model and the more conventional modeling shoots I'd done previously.
TechnicalBoy assisted with the initial setup, and we agreed to limit it to a single light, using a strip softbox initially, and then towards the end of the shoot, I moved to a beauty dish.
IvoryFlame led with the poses, as a professional she was very aware of poses and what would work well, and there was little need for me to suggest anything, which was helpful as it was my first attempt at Art Nude. We started with a very simple standing poses approach, and then moved on to using a tall black stool, a covered table for horizontal poses, a series of small black cushioned cylinders and finally returned to some standing poses, this time with billowy skirts. The skirts changed the approach of the shots from very static, to requiring movement and it very much changed the feel of the resulting images.
One of the things I particularly enjoyed was that Art Nude played towards my preference for strong shadows, without clothing the shadows are a more powerful aspect of the image.
I learned a lot at this shoot, both in terms of studio lighting (which was helpfully timed as I had a studio shoot the following day) as well as the medium of Art Nude. I would like to do some further reading and research before shooting again, as I think I would produce some better images with a bit more of an understanding of the nature of the field and some of the conventions.
