A personal challenge for all photographers who shoot nudes

[toastydeath]

While I'm personally offended at this project being called wierd I appreciate and understand where you're coming from.

I have not been shooting nudes for very long at all, truth be told. I'm certainly not going to whip out nudes of myself every time a model comes into my studio...yes, that would be creepy. I'm doing this for my own personal growth. Like I said, I will never ask someone to do something that I myself am not willing to do. I'm just putting my money where my mouth is.

In all honesty, I have shot a grand total of 4 models (not counting myself). One is a significant other, one is the wife of a good friend, the other two are fellow students of photography. One of the fellow students has a good bit of experience in modeling, the other was the one who was eager to shoot, but was nervous about doing so...she was also the most recent, and what made me want to understand that nervousness.


Speaking of putting my money where my mouth is....

Since site rules require links for nudes rather than images...here is the link. Put on your rose colored glasses before you view these, if you would.

http://www.actshooters.com/tn.html

Hahah, I give you major props for the execution.

Putting yourself on display for the first (and second, and third) time is definitely a nerve-wracking experience for most people. You have pretty good nerves to come up with and stand by an idea like this.

I wish you luck in your future nude expeditions. =)

 

[craig]

Well thought out. The images are excellent, but I missed the post to the ladies.

All joking aside... Self portraits are mandatory if we are going to understand our photographic process. If I was in that genre I would take the same approach.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Long thread, my attention span made me give up 2/3s down.

In short: I can see posing nude if it will make you a better photographer - if it will help you understand some of the inhibitions faced by models, and how to make the model feel more comfortable.

But if this is an emotional issue for you - a compensation for guilt, or some kind of moral conundrum, then shoot animals for a while. God made those, too - and they're already naked! And you can always put little hats on them!

 

[Iron Flatline]

Hey, I just read the rest of the thread. Good pics of you. I think you look normal, not overweight - normal is not the Abercrombie catalog. On a purely aesthetical basis you might want to consider waxing your chest, or shaving the hair really short. A beard trimmer is best for that. You've got enough muscle tone, may as well bring it out.

Oh, and I disagree with what some others wrote. Experiences CAN be shared, they're not all totally unique all the time. You may not be able to replicate someone else's set of reference points, but if you're 8/10th there that's better than not having been through it at all.

 

[terri]

:salute: This has to have been a satisfying project for you, congrats on seeing it through. Well done.

 

[brighteyesphotos]

oh damn, you didn't include the corner shot. :greenpbl:

*note to self* take the UV filter off when inside.

And it took him nearly 2 years to sit still for me and get a decent portrait of him. And to quote him... nah... I won't unless he says I can. :mrgreen:

 

[Efergoh]

oh damn, you didn't include the corner shot. :greenpbl:

No, that one was a little too, in your face.

And to quote him... nah... I won't unless he says I can. :mrgreen:

Don't you dare.

 

[Efergoh]

:salute: This has to have been a satisfying project for you, congrats on seeing it through. Well done.

It was actually, thank you....

And it has given me a lot more ideas about how I want to shoot nudes in the future....with a little more mystery and a little less T&A.

 

[df3photo]

haha, i still say well done. and I guess the areas of your body you may have been concerned with can be thought about when shooting others... so I can see how it would help a bit.
good work.

 

[mysteryscribe]

I can speak from only personal feelings here.... I am sixty plus years old, you DONT want to see any of the people I know nude... Me included...

 

[bryanwhite]

I see where you are coming from, and I think you stated it best when you said

...what made me want to understand that nervousness.

I never looked at your posts and thought you might feel guilty about what you're shooting. I can certainly understand if you are having new models undressing for you and your camera, seeing them being nervous and wanting to understand the nervousness. I don't think there's any value in telling the models you have done it yourself, it's a personal thing for you and now you've done it. I congratulate you on taking a step I would not take, as I am pretty sure my being in that position of being photographed nude would cause irreparable damage to my camera's lens...not to mention the mental damage to any photographer behind the camera.

 

[newrmdmike]

bravo man . . . now for me. haha, crap i'm feeling that nervousness now, and i'm not even going to take the pictures today.

 

[Nurd]

ha ha, nudes. I wouldn't take a picture of myself nude..I also don't know if I could take one of someone else nude. Unless of course it was for my significant other. *shrugs* Bring on the nudes!!

 

[RMThompson]

OK I finally looked at the pictures... and I have to say that while the first bunch were tasteful, (albeit not art), you ruined it by having a picture where you are holding yourself in the manner you are.

When shooting a nude model, with the exception of porn, the nudity is "there" and while the shots sometimes do focus in on body parts, they are usually done to enhance the lines and shapes of the image.

The female equivalent to what you were doing in that shot would be something I won't mention, but quite pornographic. I have a small part of me that wonders if you didn't take the entire series to "show off" this part of your body, and possible show it to others... maybe even the models you photograph.

HOWEVER from your posts, I don't get that personality from you, so giving you the benefit of the doubt, I will say that you are extremely brave to take the pictures in the first place, and with the exception of the photo I mention above, you did a great job in posing.

I think you've accomplished what you set out to do, experience something models experience, and maybe share some of that with them in a shoot... while I still doubt that they can relate, your pics were used exclusively for your own use and I doubt they will be published elsewhere, I am sure they can appreciate hearing that you've been through something similar.

I would not show them to them however, as the artistic differences between what I assume you are trying to do with them, and what you did with this shot.

 

[Efergoh]

Well....I guess it is a good thing that art is subjective...huh?

No, showing off was the last thing on my agenda. If that were the case, I probably would have had some sort of "enhancing" surgical procedure before hand.

Before I shot these, I studied male nudes from several different photographers, and emulated their styles and poses to the best of my ability. I apologize if you were offended by my fluglehorn.

No, I won't be sharing these photos with anyone else nor will they be published. I actually took that page down a few days ago. You must have had a look before and the images were cashed on yoru computer...