Hope at the interview

Hope responded to a classified ad I placed on a popular free classified website. I had posted ads once or twice a week for the previous few weeks. The ads stay up for a couple of months, so there were about ten ads up. Hope responded to all ten, so I assumed she was probably hitting all of the ads she could find, what I call shot gunning. A model appearing uncommitted can be a yellow flag, so I needed to determine how deep her interest was. I responded quickly to Hope, knowing she was eager to get started and might soon be busy with other photographers. Here is the e-mail she sent me:
“Hi, I am interested in being the nude model for your photography. I am an artist myself and have painted some nude portraits so I understand. I would like to meet beforehand and maybe know a little about you before. I will attach one or two photographs of myself in semi nude to see if I might be what you are looking for. I will check my email often for a reply. Thanks, Hope”

As it occasionally happens, Hope’s photos were not large or clear enough for me to determine her suitability for my projects. It was obvious that she had some attractive features, and the photos she sent me were unusually creative in their lighting and poses. This was substantially encouraging. Nevertheless, I still had some questions about her appearance that were difficult to answer via an e-mail exchange. From the small, dim shots, I could not see if her skin was smooth or if her muscles were toned. I was also concerned about her apparent shotgun approach. I decided an in-person interview would solve these uncertainties, as well as verify her interest and commitment. My reply to her first e-mail read, “Hello, Hope. I like what I see. I’m pretty flexible with time this weekend. If you send me your number and tell me when you’re available, we should be able to do something.”

I called her, and we agreed to meet at a coffee shop that was convenient for both of us. Hope was on time to the meeting and lively when she got there. She was, in fact, easily identifiable as the most attractive woman in the shop. On that note, I typically do not worry about how I am going to spot a model at our first meeting; if I cannot find her in a crowd, she’s probably not what I’m looking for. I introduced myself to her while she was standing in line. I bought coffee for both of us, and we sat. Hope reiterated that she was an artist, and concerning nudes, she said, “I get it.” She was emphatic, and I could sense she had zero qualms about creating images with me. After a few minutes, I suggested we step outside to see how well things worked with her, my camera, and me. We walked into the parking lot, and I retrieved my camera from my car and snapped a few quick shots, one of which appears on this page.

I did two shoots with Hope before she unfortunately had to move four hours away. For months, we did not do any shoots. I kept in touch with her through Facebook and we have continued to work together. I have travelled up to work with her over a weekend and she has come to me on occasion. When visiting her, we traveled to some of her mountain haunts, including some amazing waterfalls. She has posed with classic cars and at an abandoned Buddhist monastery. Hope is good at making a single prop work, whether it is a rope, chain, scarf, or bottle filled with water. I have photographed Hope at least eight times, each with spectacular results.

More about Hope, and additional recruiting diaries appear in my book Up to My Eyeballs in Nude Women.

Here are a few tips I have on nude model booking etiquette that I’ve compiled. They apply pretty equally well to models and photographers. There are tons more, but this is what comes to mind right now.

1. Treat others as you’d want to be treated
2. Be upfront about your expectations
3. Be realistic about your expectations — don’t think you’re going to get everything you want out of every shoot
4. Don’t apply for a job if you don’t meet the published qualifications
5. Don’t take any flack; if someone is a jerk, politely retreat.
6. If you have to cancel, call ASAP and be honest.
7. Show up on time.
8. Don’t get upset if things aren’t going well. Either take it in stride or end the shoot if you can’t talk it out.

If you’ve read Internet forums about composition, you’ve undoubtedly seen advice “not to cut off the model’s arms or legs,” or “if you crop a limb, do it between the joints.” You’ve probably also seen in major magazines stunning examples of photos that blatantly violate these so-called rules. And you probably have stumbled upon at least one discussion that asks why these rules exist if so many successful photos obviously disobey them. If you look to works of master artists such as Michaelangelo or Degas you will see they sometimes framed their figures with limbs, hands, or feet cut off. Did the master artists goof? No, they just knew how to break the rules and make a successful composition. When done properly, it can make the composition more distinct and interesting.

The reason these rules exist is that they provide a structured framework for creating well balanced images. If you’ve read my other posts pertaining to “rules of composition,” you know I’m not a fan of static, safe images. Read more

I’m often asked how I convince so many women to pose nude. The answer is: “I don’t.” There is no need to. The women I photograph are willing to pose nude before they even know I exist. The first nude shoot I did was a total surprise to me. The model just took her clothes off and stepped in front of my camera, ready to model. She just assumed I wanted to photograph her nude.

The fact is, plenty of women want to pose nude for photographers, so you don’t have to convince them to. Not only have a photographed plenty of nude models, but they’ve shared with me their reasons for choosing who they pose for.

Nudes by the numbers

Let’s take the following for example… Read more

Model: Lauren

Background paper: thunder grey

Light 1: striplight (17×58”) 300 WS; camera right, slightly behind model

Light 2: 24×24 softbox with grid, camera left, 300 WS

Light 3: 7” reflector, sock, grid; 150 WS, camera left; 9 feet high, behind pointed back and down at model

Light 4: 7” reflector, sock, grid; 150 WS, 3 feet high, behind model, pointed at leg

In the second shot I think the camera angle works better. I also like the angle of her head better. I wanted thing all leading you towards the iron (hard to do when there is a beautiful nude to look at.) I think I need to find a larger and more colorful iron to make this shot sufficiently quirky. I also would have liked to have wrapped the cord around the leg a few times to make it a design element where it crosses the leg.

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Info on this photo:

Set
Model is in approx. 8 inches of water, in a 5×10 foot inflatable pool, lined with 3.5 mil black plastic. A running hose is suspended 12 inches above the water to create ripples, and it was lightly raining.

2 Light Heads
#1, 300WS Novatron with white umbrella opposite camera (pointing towards camera) at 45 degree angle. 10 feet from model, 8 feet high; flagged by French door frame.
#2 300 WS Novatron to right of model, sock diffuser, pointing down and slightly towards camera. 6 feet from model, 6 feet high.

Exposure
1/125s @ f7.1, focal length 52mm
Distance to model, approx 8 feet

Post Processing
Vignette added, contrast (levels) adjustment, selective color correction to water, cloning out of some debris. Rounding corner of flag.

Comments & Critiques
Comments and critiques accepted from all. (If you are also shooting similar work, a link to your photos is helpful when digesting comments.)

I’ve identified an interesting trend, amongst the many nude models and potential nude models that I’ve talked to about doing a shoot. Quite often, an inexperienced model will request much higher pay than an experienced model. This seems ironic, but there are logical explanations. Part of this phenomenon is economic, and part is psychological.

The Economic Aspect

In a recent conversation, an inexperienced model requested between three to four times what I and other area photographers normally pay models. Although she was attractive, she was nowhere close to the level of physical beauty of nude models that were working for far less. So why would a less attractive model, with almost no experience ask for over three times what more attractive, experienced nude models are willing to work for? Some may think she’s simply doesn’t know the market and is just guessing at what nude models earn, but this is not the case. In her mind the sum was not outlandish. I established that she had indeed worked for this pay rate, although on a very short shoot. So the market will bear this kind of pay, even for a model that is not in the upper half of physical attractiveness. Read more

A few nudes of Dede on red background in the studio

A few nude shots of model Lauren in the studio, low key lighting. Lights used were a strip softbox, beauty dish, small gridded softbox, and gridded backlight.

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