Art Nude area of interest

[kennethcooke]

I shoot 35mm B&W film with a rangefinder camera and I have great interest in Fine Art Nude Photography. I appreciate that this type of subject, the human form can be very challenging but also extremely rewarding and requires a great deal of sensitivity on the part of the photographer. Any guidelines and advise on this topic would be graciously appreciated. I live in West Yorkshire and I would be most interested to converse with any photographers/ models in this part of the world

 

[viridari]

I've been shooting nudes for almost a year. I do find it handy to have a digital around to use like a polaroid to prove the exposures out. Normally with portraiture you can focus on light and exposure on the face but with nudes you've got to worry about everything from head to toe, how it all comes together. Definitely more of a challenge. But more rewarding when you find success in it!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I've been shooting nudes for almost a year. I do find it handy to have a digital around to use like a polaroid to prove the exposures out. Normally with portraiture you can focus on light and exposure on the face but with nudes you've got to worry about everything from head to toe, how it all comes together. Definitely more of a challenge. But more rewarding when you find success in it!

<rant> I'd like to be able to do so, but I've found that my digital camera's idea of 100 ISO is different than my flash meter's version. My digital camera is at least 1/3 if not 2/3 stop faster than my meter. While I could recalibrate my meter to match the digital camera, it would then NOT match my film, which would mean keeping two different meters, and re-setting my power levels on my power pack every time I did a "digiroid". This is something I've noticed about digital cameras, actually... my previous "high end" digital SLR was a bit slower than my meter, now my new one is faster, and in my portrait lighting seminar this fall, everyone in class who was shooting digital was getting slightly different results - some faster, some slower. It was very frustrating. I thought the whole point of ISO was that it was a STANDARD. </rant>

 

[Ian Leake]

Like Scott says. I've been trying to make a film/digital hybrid process work for much of this year. I've finally come to the conclusion that it's better to stick with either digital or film for the duration of a session rather than chopping and changing between them. I keep telling myself that EW didn't use Polaroids so how hard can it be? ;-) But I've recently resorted to using MF Fujiroids...

But back on topic... Kenneth, if you're starting from the very beginning (as everyone has to), then here are some simple things that will help you get up to speed quickly:

1. Stick to a camera system that you know - because the last thing you want to be doing in front of a model is trying to work out how your kit works
2. Don't worry when you make mistakes in front of the model. Everyone does it (a few weeks ago I managed to get one of my feet in two shots!), so when you make a mistake just laugh about it, correct it, but then don't do it again
3. Hire a really good, experienced model (I can recommend a few in the UK). Tell her (or him) that you're starting and would like to experiment. A good model will work with you to make the session a success
4. Concentrate on the model - it's all about her. Talk to her, be interested in what she has to say, be nice (it's amazing how many people forget to be nice to the model!)
5. Enjoy yourself