Continuing thoughts about photographing nudes:
I was a little unclear in my own thinking last post about the setting for the photos. The setting is important, whether it is a bare room, a desolate area, an abandoned building or a bed, railroad tracks, a shower stall or a truck stop. The setting is the stage on which action happens, it contributes to the mood of the photographs, but it doesn't limit or restrict the photographs. A theme, on the other hand, is the plot line of a story: the photos must adhere to it, for better or worse. That is why themes on SG regularly, IMNSHO, fail. I won't suggest any names here, I'm sure we all have in mind those sets that make us grind our teeth or make our eyes glaze over.
But themes do work: witness Benten's "Resurrection" set, a wonderful idea perpetrated with a minimum of props; a bath tub, water, and shooting flash after setting tungsten lighting balance in the camera. Another set that works for me is Tamari's "Otaku," as well as Atlea's "Skyper Sex" and Arisu's "Pink Bunny."
My point is this: the setting will establish the mood; the theme, however tight or loosely interpreted, will either let you help or hinder the model in her presentation.
Next: if you think that a hi-tech digital camera is a substitute for having a functioning brain, think again.
I was a little unclear in my own thinking last post about the setting for the photos. The setting is important, whether it is a bare room, a desolate area, an abandoned building or a bed, railroad tracks, a shower stall or a truck stop. The setting is the stage on which action happens, it contributes to the mood of the photographs, but it doesn't limit or restrict the photographs. A theme, on the other hand, is the plot line of a story: the photos must adhere to it, for better or worse. That is why themes on SG regularly, IMNSHO, fail. I won't suggest any names here, I'm sure we all have in mind those sets that make us grind our teeth or make our eyes glaze over.
But themes do work: witness Benten's "Resurrection" set, a wonderful idea perpetrated with a minimum of props; a bath tub, water, and shooting flash after setting tungsten lighting balance in the camera. Another set that works for me is Tamari's "Otaku," as well as Atlea's "Skyper Sex" and Arisu's "Pink Bunny."
My point is this: the setting will establish the mood; the theme, however tight or loosely interpreted, will either let you help or hinder the model in her presentation.
Next: if you think that a hi-tech digital camera is a substitute for having a functioning brain, think again.