Fine Art Nude Shape Study
The above fine art nude image was shot with a 50mm lens on a 35mm SLR. It was simply intended as a bit of fun following a rather mundane commercial shoot. The model had a lovely personality and was happy to do more images, just for the enjoyment and as a chance to experiment.
Working out of my rather cramped studio in Milan, where I was based at the time, I rolled down a piece of black unlit Colorama paper to create the background. I then simply placed a fairly standard rectangular softbox to the side of the model, from not too far away. We then applied oil and water to her skin for a more sensual look.
Normally, this light would render everything in quite a hard way, so I started by attaching various pieces of black board; masking down the area of light, until it became just a small slither of light, which produced more pronounced shadows and greater mood, while ensuring the light did not spill over to a wider area that might have ruined the feel.
The model was from Venezuela and had a naturally dark olive skin, but to accentuate this, I fixed a piece of orange coloured gel to the font of the softbox, creating a much warmer look and measured the light levels with a Gossen flash meter.
I like the way that the black pants blend into the background on this image, helping the composition. A straight cut off with skin, at the bottom of her waist, would have had less visual impact. Overall I wanted to combine the feeling of a fine art nude but with an added sensual warmth and sultry mood.
I like the simplicity of this image and the glowing warm skin. Thanks for describing how it was done.
This picture is simple but it’s really sexy as well.
I try to do something similar once but no work like it should. I think maybe I need to try again.
Do you use a handheld meter in the studio now? I can’t see the point anymore with histograms on digital cameras now.
Love the simplicity of the single light source, which sculpts her form beautifully.