Lighting The Nude

I've always admired the work of Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton, especially their nude work.  Part of me really thinks that the ultimate fine art photography is a nude.  For those of you that might be offended by that I'm really sorry, I hope we can still be friends, but for me the human animal is really the most beautiful one and photographing it is the ultimate gift.

Anyway, with that in mind, thanks to a model I met last year I finally worked up the personal courage to try some nude work.  I had done body painting photography about three years ago, but surprisingly that just isn't the same thing.  Putting yourself in a place where you are lighting, posing and composing a nude figure is not only vulnerable and nerve wracking for the model, but also for the photographer.  Quickly I learned though that not only was I not scared, but it didn't feel weird.  I wanted more.  And so over the past year I've been able to photograph a few nudes of men and women in the studio and I've really been happy with the work.  I wish I could show it more, but I like to keep that sort of thing off Flickr, this blog or my regular websites.  My end goal?  I'd love to do a personal book or ultimately a fine art show with prints, wine, cheese.  You know, my own little thing were people come all dressed up and pretend I'm a master at what I do!!

With this goal in mind I bought another book for my library called "Lighting the Nude" by Roger Hicks, Frances Schultz and Steve Luck.  The book is absolutely excellent and full of lighting diagrams, photos and the work of several photographers.

I'm not going to say I loved every image in the book.  I didn't.  But some of them were jaw dropping and most were fantastic.  As with all genres of photography we all have our personal tastes, likes and dislikes.  What I can tell you is that the book is beautifully printed, usefully laid out and is extremely inspirational.  Over about 375 pages are more than 140 setups for nude photography.  Each photograph is accompanied by a lighting diagram and description of how it was done as well as occasional photographer comments from the original artists.  There is a wide range of styles in the book from classical to fantasy to erotic to romantic.  I didn't find all of the tips useful but some of them were very very good.  Looking back at my recent nude work and flipping through the book I can see it's influence on my early attempts at the genre.  Then again, I buy a lot of photo art books and I can also see my influences from several masters.

If you are considering trying nude photography, and I'm not talking about the Playboy genre, but more fine art photography then this book should certainly be high on your priority list for shopping.

And with that, and a post that really lacks in photos I'm just going to say that I recently had the chance to play with the Olympus EP3 in the store last week.  My quick first impression is that it really does focus super quick.  Unbelievably so.  I still wish it had a viewfinder.  Also I finally caved.  Yes I bought the Olympus E5.  First impression?  Wonderful. Love it.  It is much sharper that the E3 in the file, retains those gorgeous Olympus colours, and the build quality feels excellent indeed.  Reminds me why I love those cameras.  Lastly the screen on the back is superb.  I'm sure I'll be talking more about the camera soon.  I'm still trying to decide if I should take it with me to Alaska on a coming vacation or one of the micro four thirds cameras instead.

OK I can't have a post completely without photos.  Here is me at a recent photo booth we did at a wedding.  Photo booths are fun.  Looking to boost revenue and show the guests at the reception a fun time?  Consider adding them to your list of options for the Bride.  They are as much fun for us as they are for the guests.

I know the blog hasn't been updated a lot recently, sorry about that.  Wedding season will slow down soon enough and I'm sure I'll be posting more.  Thanks for dropping by!

Raising the Bar with Gavin Seim

Our last Smug meeting was quite a big success with our biggest crowd yet at 35 photographers.  We had Gavin Seim from the Pro Photo Show come in as our guest speaker and I believe he was speaking at the Seattle Smug yesterday on the same topic.....Raising the Bar.

Photo by Greg Howard

Gavin has been a photographer for more than 10 years and is only 26 years old.  His topic was actually a fairly controversial one speaking about how we advertise ourselves as 'professional' photographers even though we may have just picked up a camera and built a website.  The days of apprentices seem to have disappeared as photographers sell themselves, probably disingenuously as seasoned professionals.  Today, with a million online tutorials and the democratization of information it is fairly easy for someone to pop by the Strobist blog, get enough information to be dangerous and then hang a shingle as a photographer.  I should know, I did it 3 years ago.  Gavin is trying to bring seriousness back to the craft.

Now I personally think that the information sharing we all benefit from today is a good thing.  I love that photography is so open to people of all levels and that it is so popular.  I don't mind competition both from more and less experienced photographers either.  But frankly, there is a lot of really poor work out there and as our economy keeps under-performing, a lot of people are looking at photography as a way to make some part time money.  There is nothing wrong with that, but there is no argument I think that it is diluting the profession and driving down prices and quality.

Photo by Greg Howard

Gavin is a dynamic and quirky speaker.  I really enjoyed listening to him as did many others, but I could definitely see his message wave over the crowd like a dark cloud and rain down on some of the people in the room.  I remember being newer than I am now (I still consider myself as new) and having that confidence and at the same time uneasiness in my ability as an artist and photographer.  But it wasn't meant to be a bad thing, it was meant to be a reality check.  Get real with where you are in your craft.  Respect your craft and don't over or under sell yourself.  He talked about the history of photography, the pieces and components of a technically well done photograph, selling and showing large prints not just Facebook images.  Gavin basically called us all out.  Are you in this profession to act as a professional and deliver a professional product or are you here for weekend beer money and some Facebook 'Likes' for your ego at 600 pixels across?

I think it's an important topic right now in this industry.  We can't survive as a profession when everyone calls themselves a photographer.  Just go to any wedding and you will see 6 people chasing the working photographer around with their DSLR trying to out-shoot the pro.  Heck they may have more experience than the $500 Pro anyway.

To be honest, I think as the economy improves we will see a slight return to the old market or at least a shrinking of the amount of photographers hanging shingles in a profession that isn't as regulated as to who can call themselves a pro as plumbers, lawyers or dentists.   It is a fun job, but it is also a hard job.  Hard on your body, hard on your wallet and hard to make money at.  Those that make it through will be all the better for it, but getting your craft of photography and your business practices to a higher level will only help you weather the storm.  I sincerely believe that we can embrace new photographers and help them learn, it will only help the industry as a whole.  I also believe that the days of being a grumpy old photographer set in your ways is a recipe for failure.  Working together to educate the public, and each other about what good photography is and isn't can only help us all.  In the meantime, if you need something you can just go to Craigslist now and hire someone for $50 and they'll give you a disc of 'pics.'  That is our current reality.  It is up to you to separate yourself from the herd.

Thanks to Gavin for coming up to Vancouver Island.  If you get a chance to listen to his podcast on iTunes, I highly recommend it.  Well worth the time, and heck, it's free!

Thanks for dropping by the blog.  I always appreciate people taking the time to read what I've written.  I promise I'm onto happier topics next including a couple of book reviews.