I always struggle with a black backdrop. In my mind, it’s the perfect thing for thick, goopy shadows and bodyscapes, but somehow it always ends up dark, blotchy and indistinct.
But after the success of our efforts last time, I invited Kat back to the studio to push a little farther into the shadows, and this time it didn’t go as well.
I normally start these experimental shoots with a mental list of three or four things I want to try, and usually if one or more (or all) of them fail to pay off, we’ll find something that does. This time, though, I was failing to produce any compelling imagery, and with a model like Kat you gotta believe I felt this failure hard. How can I fail so badly when I’m working with such great material?
So while I was freaking out internally, Kat was hunched over on the floor because the studio is very cold on most winter nights. To help her, I dragged out the halogen worklights, which are ~2000 watts of heat and light, and while she basked (not unlike a turtle might) I had an idea.
The work lights put out a very attractive orange light, which made my normal white lights look incredibly blue.
And lo. The shoot was underway again, and Kat was able to stay warm at the same time.
And then I remembered the coconut oil. It was solid, in the cold, so we used the lights to melt it, at first holding it against the light, and later just leaving it on top of the lights. Handy things, these lights.
And then, after a few slightly glossier shoots, I remembered the glitter.
Kat likes glitter. A lot. After I buried her chest in a whole vial of the stuff she couldn’t stop smiling.
Shoot saved. ^_^
There’s just no getting away from the fact that this shoot is very boob-y, and I have misgivings about that. I have some difficulty working out the intersection between my specific interests and the art I want to create. Is this a beautiful shot because it’s a beautiful shot, or because boobs?
That’s why you don’t see a lot of just nudes in my galleries. I’m not strong with the posing, and I’m not confident about the result.
But, fuck it, I like these ones, so here they are. ^_^
After the last shoot I found I really liked this shot, and I wanted to do more with hands.
But it was difficult. Natural hands are relaxed and surprisingly emotive, but posed hands… well, they’re just hands.
I mean, I really like this shot, it’s what I wanted more of. But I only got this one.
So we tried some more nudes, and once again, only one or two shots were really interesting. I don’t do well with nudes. I struggle to pose them, to suggest things, and when the model’s beautiful but not, you know, a nude model, I have a significant responsibility to suggest some poses that work. I do really like the two nude shots we got.
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