Photo of nude woman with a camera

What Camera Do I Need When Shooting Creative Nudes?

How to Photograph Nudes

What lens have you got on that?

I hate talking about gear when I am using it. As a long suffering wedding photographer I used to dread the approach of the serious looking old gentleman, scuffed brown leather cased, 50’s vintage, camera round his neck. Usually he had just been fiddling with for at least ten minutes to take one photograph of his rather overweight, and definitely bored, wife in her best hat.  I knew the inevitable question was coming.

‘What sort of lens have you got on that?’

‘That’ was usually a 6×4.5 Bronica film camera. We used to use medium format cameras because no one believed you were a pro with a 35mm SLR

My reply was often a completely genuine, ‘I don’t know.’

I could see him debating as to whether to rush off and exclaim to the bride that she had booked a complete idiot to take her wedding pictures, or whether to tell me not to be such a sarcastic bugger.

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How to photograph studio nudes

One Model – One Light

Glamour Photography, How to Photograph Nudes, Nude Portraits

Nude Photography with one light (and one model)

Keep it simple stupid is often pretty good advice. These photographs were taken in my studio with one light and one model. OK sometimes I used a reflector to lighten the shadows because the cameras dynamic range doesn’t match the human eye.

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Nude or naked portraits of women

Nude or Naked Portraits?

Nude Portraits, Portfolios, Thinking About Nude Photography, Twenty Nudes

These nude and naked portraits are created with the help of many talented women. The finished images are a result of a collaboration between the photographer and subject rather than an imposition of a style on them. Some of the subjects are models but here you are projecting elements of their character and personality; they are part of the creative process and not merely a blank canvas on which to project my viewpoint.

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But is it fine art nude photography?

But is it Fine Art Nude Photography?

Thinking About Nude Photography

It is very difficult to separate the artistic (fine art nude photography) of the nude from the erotic and the sexual.

 When is a nude an attempt to produce a meaningful picture
and when is it merely a body displayed for erotic titillation?

Even the word artistic carries certain connotations. Many of the paintings that are now considered works of art by old masters were created for his Lordship to hang in his personal salon. In a later era it conjures up an image of a 1950s bloke in a trilby accosting a gent with the words  ‘Oy mate – want to buy some artistic postcards?’

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Photo of ghostly nude woman in a deserted house

Photographing Nudes on Location – Deserted Buildings

How to Photograph Nudes

Location Nudes – Deserted Buildings

The walls seem to hold echoes of the past. It is easy to visualise the ghosts of previous occupants wandering through their empty rooms. Maybe it takes a creative leap to see them as attractive naked women but when photographing location nudes you can capture whatever you want. This is about interpreting an idea to create an interesting image

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How to shoot studio nude photos

Studio Nudes

Glamour Photography, How to Photograph Nudes, Nude Portraits

A Quick Guide to Shooting Studio Nudes

Producing studio nudes gives you a choice. Use a plain background, strip away the real world, and produce an image that depicts the human body only. Alternatively add props or build a setting to create an illusion. These tactics along with extensive make up are used to produce glamour images  but can also be used to produce pictures that depict the models personality.

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Nude women in their personal space

Personal Space -Black and white nude portraits of women at home

Nude Portraits, Personal Space Nudes, Portfolios

Personal space is a collection of nude portraits of women at home in their environment. They are surrounded by treasured possessions and sometimes the detritus of real life. Stripping away clothing means the viewer only has the surroundings from which to glean information about the subject.

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Nude or naked portrait photos of women

Nude (or Naked?) Portraits Folio One

Nude Portraits, Portfolios

It takes a lot of guts to stand naked in front of a camera, to let it record, to let it see – you. To produce nude or naked portraits. Some of these images have remained, fixed in tiny silver grains, for nearly thirty years. Then converted into electronic code they continue; their owners growing older, changing, dying, whilst they remain.
Others were created quite recently and are just beginning their journey to become a record of what was rather than what is.

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