Dating an Art Nude model (Madame Bink) I'm forever seeing her new work and I'm always in awe of several of the talented and amazing photographers she gets to work with. She has done some incredible shoots in the most beautiful locations and I find it totally inspirational. I've not really had much experience in shooting what most would call Art Nude, I've shot Glamour Nude, Nude and Erotic Nude but for me Art Nude is an area I've lacked experience in or to find the right models to work with minus the odd exception.
With my upcoming website launch in mind I needed to fill some of the gaps on my gallery, so I decided to book Madame Bink for a shoot and pay her for her art nude modelling talents. With the shoot being in London (at Technical Boys studio) I also got the chance to watch her work with one of her regular clients and to see how other people approach their ideas and lighting for nudes.
I wanted stripped back simple images, mainly grey background work shot with a few simple lighting setups and with minimal props; the only props we ended up using were boxes for her to prop herself onto. For me the shoot was all about getting the chance to experiment with the photography side of things without having to work with the model as well. Booking Madame Bink was the best way to do this, as her years of experience in studio work meant that my work was cut in half as after I setup my lighting she knew exactly where and how to pose with minimal guidance, this left me free to concentrate more on the lighting, composition and technical parts. 
Another big part of the shoot for me was shooting with black and white images in mind, I rarely process to black and white and certainly get irritated by the quantity of black and white imagery I see with poor tonal ranges and far from being an acceptable “black and white” image. With that in mind I shot most of the work with black and white processing in mind, and one set with a cold, grey/blue tone in mind.I’ve attached a few examples from the shoot, overall I was very happy with the booking, as Madame Bink did exactly what was required. The key thing I learnt from it was that I need to learn more about light spill onto paper and controlling shadows on the floor. If you book the best models you get the best images, who knows some of them can even help you with lighting hints and tips.
To find out more about Madame Bink check her Blog [ Click Me ]
To find out more about Madame Bink check her Blog [ Click Me ]
Adam Robertson // www.adamrobertson.co.uk
these are really lovely, its great seeing you not only step out of your normal nude comfort zone, but to do it so well makes me all *grr* and jealous haha. One of these days I'll actually get to go in a studio
ReplyDeleteKnowing fuck all about photography I'm afraid there's nothing I can add towards your discussion of lighting and such but I can say that I find the images very beautiful and sensual.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me I need to do more stuff in the studio as well to play around with lighting and shadows and all that jazz. Lovely to see you try out a new direction and get so lovely images from it :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the studio session Adam - working in an unfamiliar environment shooting a subject that was outside your comfort zone didn't seem to phase you at all!
ReplyDelete@Kitten: thank you very much, you should defo hire out a studio. There are some bargain studios around.
ReplyDelete@Moira: It doesn't matter if you know nothing or a little or a lot. It's great to hear people voice an opinion regardless of their knowledge.
@Cecilie: Thank you very much, you should defo find some free time to experiment.
@Technicalboy: I try not to let things phase me, it was nice being able to watch you work too.