If you look around there are clear signs that the days of backing up our images on discs may be rather fewer than many of us had previously imagined. I’ve come to this conclusion after piecing together a few sparate bits of information and wondering what impact this could have on us as photographers in the long term. Regardless of whether you are shooting nudes or landscapes, digital asset management is of vital importance to professional photographers, so this is something we need to be aware of.

The motor company Ford has just announced that no new cars will be fitted with a CD player. Instead they will include a connection point for portable MP3 players and wi-fi connections to access music via the internet. You may be asking what that has to do with photography but I think it shows manufacturers are heading towards a world where information can be accessed from anywhere, so there is no need to maintain physical media like CDs. That can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.

In another example Apple has just released the latest Mac Mini with no optical drive, telling us we don’t need one nowadays because we can always download installers from the internet. Software like Aperture is now only available via download through the App Store with no physical disc like before.

To make all of this feasible on a practical level a massive leap will need to be made in supporting technologies that would allow everything to be stored online and above all reliably retrieved when required. At present most of us are not there in terms of broadband connections if we need to upload several gigs of files on a daily basis. A photographer based in the centre of London may not find it too difficult to obtain a fast cable connection and store all their files on Amazon, but what about those who are living somewhere remote and struggling with a slow 2mbps connection?

Personally I am not wild about the idea of storing everything online and I like the idea of keeping something on a separate medium rather than just relying on hard drives. Does anybody have any thoughts about where we are headed over the next few years and how best to adapt? I’d be interested to hear your opinions…

Update: If you are interested in digital asset management (and you should be) it’s worth checking out the excellent book by Peter Krogh called The DAM Book.

Camera Equipment

Very often I find photographers hankering after the latest and greatest camera equipment; frequently trading in their gear every 12 months or so as each new model is announced, even when there are only very small real differences.

At one time during the early days of digital, the image quality was only borderline acceptable in most cases and there was genuine progress between each new model, but for the last five years the real world differences have become far more subtle. The megapixel war is fairly pointless now, especially for shooting nudes or glamour that don’t require the kind of definition that might be desirable in a landscape for example.

A quick look at many web forums will quickly reveal that most of their members are far more interested in camera equipment than in taking pictures. In fact, discussions about light quality and composition etc. rarely get a mention. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call them “camera owners” rather than photographers. Next year they will probably own a new camera but their photography is unlikely to have improved much.

I have a simple rule of thumb with camera equipment. When I stop thinking about it, I know it’s right. When I use the Hasselblad for example it just feels right. That is partly down to years of use but also the knowledge that it is a well thought out piece of equipment, which has been tested in the field and proven to be right for the job. When a new Hasselblad is introduced I don’t automatically want to abandon the camera I already have.

Going back several years ago I remember struggling along with a Canon Eos 100 SLR and there were times when I was exasperated by the functional limitations of the camera. For example there was a dial on the back, which was far too easy to move in manual mode and had to be taped down to avoid accidentally moving to the wrong setting. The need for a PC adaptor to work with studio flash was also awkward and unreliable.

At the time I wasn’t earning much money as a photographer, so I persisted with that camera for longer than I would have liked, but one day I finished a shoot in utter frustration and walked down the road to a camera dealer where I immediately bought a used Eos 1. This wasn’t the latest model that Canon were making at the time but it was a solid well made camera and it was a complete revelation compared to what I had been using before.

Many photographers are convinced that more options is always better when it comes to cameras and yet as I started to look closely at that Eos 1 I was struck by the shear lack of features and modes compared to some of the less professional cameras. It was clearly a much better designed camera for picture taking because they had eliminated distractions so that I could concentrate on the actual photography rather than the flashing lights. Probably the best example of this approach is found with the Leica rangefinder cameras. With camera equipment less is more sometimes when taking pictures.

At the time of writing I am working with a 1DsII, which I have had since 2005 and it’s a very good camera. There are a few points in the design ergonomics which could be improved, however it’s a thoroughly professional camera that inspires confidence and does exactly what I need. The real point about a professional camera like this is that they are built for hard daily use in all kinds of conditions and you are less likely to make errors in a moment of distraction because of the way they operate.

Looking at the various 35mm digital cameras, I feel we are reaching a point where differences in print will be largely impossible to see and left only to the pixel peepers. In practice this means that if you buy a professional DSLR it will still be a perfectly valid tool for your photography in several years time from a quality perspective but you will have also gained in the meanwhile from the general handling compared to lower end alternatives. You will also suffer less financial loss in the long run as you stop trading in your cameras every 12 months, so choosing professional equipment makes sense on a financial level as well.

For anybody shooting nudes or glamour photography there is a happy medium in terms of resolution because excessive detail is not terribly flattering to the model and will generally just result in many more hours spent in retouching. In real terms it may also lead to deterioration in overall image quality, since most modern lenses are already at their limit with the higher end 35mm DSLRs available today. Significantly higher resolution may also come at the price of compromises in other areas, so try to remember that the total megapixel count is not the only way to measure the usefulness of a camera.

In practical terms any recently made professional camera will do it all for commercial work from internet right through to billboards. It’s better to buy one good professional camera (even used) with just a couple of excellent lenses than to spend all your time and money constantly upgrading consumer level cameras and lenses.

One last piece of advice. Something I recommend in my book is that you “stress test” all your equipment to see where problems can occur during a shoot and take steps to avoid it in advance. This doesn’t just mean your cameras but also your lenses, lighting, cables, camera bags and the rest. Everything. That way you really learn how your equipment works and avoid costly errors. Look for dials that can accidentally be moved or batteries that run down too quickly.

In summary, search in detail for any areas of weakness in your camera equipment or workflow and then take action to make sure it doesn’t become a problem during the shoot.

Medium Format v 35mm

Photographed above are a Mamiya 645 medium format camera withe a 31MP Leaf digital back and a Canon 1DsII with a 24-105L zoom. Both cameras have their pros and cons and I think it’s worth looking at what they both have to offer.

Back in the days of film this decision would have been a no brainer for me. Although 35mm film was capable of producing excellent quality results at smaller sizes, medium format had a clear advantage when big enlargements or heavy cropping was necessary.

On most commercial jobs clients expected medium format and I did nearly all my work with the Hasselblad, though I’ve also used Bronica and Mamiya. My Canon equipment was pulled out the bag just once or twice a year in special circumstances when the speed advantage of working with 35mm became essential. I remember once shooting a nude model running on a beach that would have been just about impossible with a medium format camera either then or now.

For commercial work, film is ancient history as far as I am concerned. That doesn’t mean film is no longer able to produce good quality images, merely that I have moved on to a 100% digital workflow. In practice there is no commercial assignment that I cannot handle using a professional quality digital camera nowadays and I am not a pixel peeping maniac so all I care about is the end result and whether or not it is aesthetically pleasing.

The difference in size and weight between the two formats is not as notable as it was in the past, so on that score I could be happy with either option and I actually like the feel of a fairly big camera, though I always thought the Mamiya RZ and RB were overkill. Build quality with all the professional cameras is also very good in general, so I don’t think that is an issue unless you plan on shooting in extreme conditions.

One area where I feel medium format wins hands down is with the actual shape of the image. The vast majority of commercial applications such as magazines and catalogues are a far better fit for the 4:3 ratio of cameras like the Mamiya rather than the 2:3 ratio of 35mm cameras. In practice you have to allow more space to crop a 35mm image, so you end up having to step back and crop the image later on. It’s just an awkward and unwanted diversion from your work.

There will of course be cases where the 35mm format offers a better fit for certain jobs but I still prefer medium format when photographing models because I believe it looks so much more flattering to the shape of a body, whether shooting fashion or nudes, because 35mm images just look too long and narrow.

Medium format digital cameras have always scored well on shadow transitions and dynamic range compared to 35mm systems, which are often hard pressed in situations with less than optimal lighting and exposure, so in that sense I still don’t believe a modern 35mm digital camera can yet match a medium format camera whether using digital or film.

For low noise levels at faster ISO speeds 35mm wins easily and is capable of far better results in situations where a photographer is forced to work in less than ideal conditions outdoors. I know some people would consider me old fashioned for always trying to work at the lowest possible ISO, but the basic laws of photography haven’t changed. Properly exposed low ISO equals better quality.

The fact remains though that if you try to shoot outdoors with a medium format digital camera at 800 ISO you are likely to be disappointed with the results and the likes of Canon appear to have made greater progress in this area. Do the same thing with a 5DII and you’ll be surprised at how good it still looks with some careful noise reduction in post production. On days where you have to produce a lot of images in less than ideal weather conditions 35mm may well be the only logical choice.

It would be naive to write a blog post comparing 35mm to medium format without considering the question of cost, because the difference is considerable, though I am glad to see that the eye watering expense of medium format is creeping closer to the realms of 35mm and in a couple of years time I expect many more professionals to start using medium format cameras again after being forced to abandon ship for a few years because of clear cut problems of affordability. For most people reading this blog the prices of medium format are still too high and in that case you just have to work with the best 35mm camera and lenses you can afford.

In terms of absolute quality I find that images from my 1DsII or a 5DII are broadly comparable when printed in a magazine or poster with what I could do with film or for that matter a medium format camera with a digital back. That may seem strange to some but the actual medium of commercial print is a great leveller and strips out nearly all the perceived quality advantages that might have been seen on a screen at high magnification.

As I write this, I am reminded of the very first time I saw some digital images printed in a magazine as part of a fashion editorial shot by a friend. There was a double page spread and the images had a lovely smoothness about them but not quite as much gritty definition as I was used to with my Hasselblad’s drum scanned images. At the time I thought it was shot on a Mamiya 645 film camera, so my jaw nearly hit the floor when he told me the image was cropped and had been done with the original Fuji S1, which was actually a 3.4MP camera.

Another point worth considering is that while medium format cameras generally have more megapixels that will translate to greater image detail, especially given the lack of anti-moire filter, that doesn’t necessarily make the final image more flattering or aesthetically pleasing, so I think it’s a case of choosing the right tool for the job. I have seen some beauty images done with 38MP that were anything but flattering and no model will thank you for making her face look some Roman ruins. Remember that my interest extends to photographing models and not architecture.

To finish this post with some kind of summary conclusion, I can only say that in an ideal world a professional photographer would really want both systems at their disposal, just like in the past. The smaller format is still more versatile in tricky conditions but the traditional virtues of medium format still apply and I personally prefer the process of working with medium format. The top end medium format cameras are now able to produce the kind of quality for large exhibition prints that was once reserved for large format 5×4 or even 10×8 cameras. In other words nothing short of stunning.

For photographing nudes or glamour etc. and assuming you are able to work in ideal conditions, I think the sweet spot is probably a medium format camera with a full frame sensor around no more than 30MP. If you only produce images for the internet or make small prints though it’s complete overkill.

Mamiya – Medium Format

Nude Photography by Ben Heys – Artofimagery.com

Last week I found myself in touch with another photographer by the name of Ben Heys who is based in Australia and shoots quite a lot of nude photography. We starting talking about the business and during that conversation Ben told me about a site he has recently launched at artofimagery.com which includes a selection of his beautiful images.

The site is the basis of a new business he is starting aimed at showcasing some stunning nudes that will be of particular interest to photographers who are interested in shooting nudes and also includes some tutorials as well as additional information targeted at photographers who want to shoot nudes and improve their photography.

I found the work that Ben is doing as well as his approach to shooting nudes as a business very interesting, so I was happy when he agreed to answer a few questions for my blog:

Q) What is your background and how did you get started in photography as a professional?

A) Basically I was fed up with working jobs that I hated, I found myself changing jobs every couple of months until it got to a point where I decided I had to find a way to make money doing something I enjoy – it was then (about 6 years ago) that I decided to teach myself photography.

Q) Have you always photographed nudes?

A) Pretty much from the get go, yes. I also like to dabble in other genres but nudes have always held the biggest fascination for me.

Q) What made you decide to start your site artofimagery.com and where do you see it going in the future?

I used to submit work to some other sites: met-art, body in mind, bluenudes etc. But a few shoot most of their own stuff now and have a tight budget, while one editor in particular was about the least respectful or polite person I have ever met and I didn’t see why I should have to deal with that kind of attitude. Art of Imagery is a site I’ve had in my mind for many years now – I sat down and thought “As a photographer, what would be my ideal site to submit to”  and the answer to that became Art of Imagery.

Q) Where do you find your models?

A) 99% of them I source online for more information see: http://artofimagery.com/2011/03/09/10-rules-to-finding-models-online/

Q) Are you working with any other photographers?

A) As the owner/editor of Art of Imagery yes, I’m actually actively seeking new submissions. But as a photographer, not really.  I’m not one for “group” shoots at all, even if the “group” of photographers is only two.

Q) What other types of work do you?

A) Stock is my bread and butter, although the last year or so has seen a real downturn in ROI, there’s definitely still money to be made  but the boom period is over and honestly if the trends we’ve seen the last couple years continue then in a couple years it wont be worth it at all. I’ve always avoided commissioned shoots, private shoots, magazine shoots etc. as I really don’t like shooting what others want me to shoot, I like the freedom of being able to shoot exactly what I want to when I want to.

Q) Do you have an favourite pieces of equipment?

In all honestly probably the single most time saving piece of “photographic” gear I’ve bought is my Wacom Cintiq tablet. I got the 12″ one so that I can travel with it and I absolutely love it. In terms of cameras & lenses not so much, whatever does the job. I think too many people get WAY too caught up on gear.

Back when I started photography I was getting published and making money with nothing more than a Canon 10D and 50m prime lens.  These days the quality of most DSLR bodies is amazing and it’s not that hard to get a couple quality lenses that cover 90% of what you need to shoot very easily.

Q) Any special advice for other photographers wishing to work as professionals?

The advice I have is more for getting GOOD at photography than being a “professional” as I personally value skill and ability much more than titles and income ranges. I’ve seen some “pros” that do very average work and also some “amateurs” that do amazing work. But back on track: my advice for getting good is this: look at lots and lots and lots of photos, and THINK about them.

Think about what you like, what you don’t, think about how the shooter achieved the effect he did, learn to reverse engineer lighting setups by looking for shadows catchlights etc. then give it a go! Intelligent trial and error in my opinion is one of the best ways to get good at photography fast and it doesn’t cost anything!

Glamour Photography

Sometimes I like to let people know about a piece of equipment or software I use and show how it fits in with my workflow. Very occasionally I’ll also mention a book or resource like a website that has good information and today I thought I’d tell you about an ebook on glamour photography called Guerrilla Glamour by a photographer I know called Jimmy D, who rides a Harley and believes that glamour photography should be no more difficult than is necessary to achieve the desired result.

What I have written above shouldn’t be misinterpreted to make you think Jimmy is lazy or disinterested in quality because that wouldn’t be true. Instead he simply lays out the way to get many jobs done in a practical straight forward fashion with as little fuss as possible and in many ways it’s a philosophy I share. When you are on a shoot and there are a million things that can go wrong, sticking to tried and tested methods built up over years of working experience is how a professional photographer ensures the job gets done and nobody is wasting their time.

When you read the book, you soon discover that Jimmy isn’t obsessed with trying a hundred different lenses or using every available light in Los Angeles for the sake of it. He prefers to break everything down to simple steps that work and he explains that clearly in his appropriately named Guerrilla Glamour ebook, which outlines how to get in, complete the job done and get out while obtaining the results you want in a fast reliable manner that will keep the client happy.

Including information on numerous practical areas of glamour photography such as working with the model, lighting, choosing equipment and much more. For those who are interested in shooting glamour photography and moving to the next level it’s well worth a look.

Kata R-103 shown with camera equipment

Put together a group of professional photographers and assuming they don’t all work exclusively in the studio, I can pretty much guarantee they will all have fairly strong opinions about their choice of camera bags.

Every photographer looks for something different in a camera bag, depending on their individual requirements, so perhaps that’s why most can only agree that there is no one single perfect bag. Different jobs require differing amounts of equipment, so from that perspective, the easiest time of my life was during my last couple of years in Milan, when I worked almost exclusively with my Hasselblad kit.

At the time I always rented studios that had lighting in place, so I was able to fit all of my equipment in a sturdy Tenba shoulder bag and weave my way through the busy traffic on a motorcycle.

In those days I tended to take the same basic kit on location shoots as well, so that one bag was all I needed 95% of the time and I was able to work quite happily, whether on a beach in South Africa shooting nudes or at a studio in Milan doing a beauty editorial. I still have that Tenba today with no signs of any wear and tear at all. They are extremely well made and well worth checking out.

My current bag of choice for most purposes is a Kata R-103, which is very well made just like the Tenba, but I prefer some of the features, such as the bright yellow interior that makes it so much easier to view black equipment in dark conditions compared to other makers who choose to make their interiors dark grey or black like the image below.

For me it’s very important that the bag falls within the right measurements to be allowed as carry on luggage when flying and that is no problem with this Kata, whereas I always had to plead with the Tenba, which is technically too big and should be stored in the main baggage area. Believe me, you really don’t want to risk that when you have a paid assignment…

The only negative I find with rucksack designs is that they are not quite so easy to work from when on location because you have to put them down on the ground and open them fully to access any equipment. This can not only slow you down but obviously it’s more likely to become dirty.

N.B if you do decide to opt for a rucksack type camera bag it’s important to make sure that the design is suitable for carrying over long distances particularly if you’re carrying a heavy load. Look for well padded properly adjustable shoulder straps and these should feel very comfortable. Also look for a good chest strap, which holds the shoulder straps in place; greatly improving comfort and safety.

Finally with the bigger rucksack bags it’s definitely an advantage if you also have a comfortable belt included that goes around your waist to help support the weight properly. On the Kata bag I have shown at the top this also comes with an optional attachment for added space that clips onto the bottom of the main rucksack and then adds the belt part. I rarely need this but I’m glad I have it. See picture below:

Kata W-92

Regardless of which bag you choose, there are a few key points that you need to consider:

1) Any bag should be waterproof enough to withstand a heavy downpour for several hours and still keep the equipment perfectly dry. The weak point in most bags will be along the edges where you have stitching or zips. Since most cameras don’t appreciate being left wet for a couple of hours this is a primary consideration for me.

2) While it’s good to have a bag that is light, ultimately it’s main requirement is to protect your equipment, so I always look for bags with serious padding and tough, resistant materials that will really protect my gear properly.

The vibrations caused while travelling or worse still, seeing a bag slip off a rock or even a baggage shelf in a train can easily damage equipment unless you have some strong protective padding and I don’t see the sense in spending thousands on equipment, but relying on a thinly protected bag. That is why I have personally never liked Lowepro.

3) Personally I prefer it if a bag doesn’t immediately look like a camera bag, so you can walk through busy areas without attracting too much attention. Those bags from Billingham with the brass and leather just seem to scream “steal me!”. Crumpler are very good in this respect because they make bags that look much more generic and not necessarily carrying an expensive array of equipment.

4) It should go without saying but any camera bag should be comfortable to carry. When you are choosing a bag, it’s a good idea to take your equipment to the shop and see how it feels with the full weight and then think very carefully how you would manage if you were carrying it for a few miles whether over rough ground or even in a crowded city. That is why is now tend to favour rucksack designs most of the time.

N.B If it’s too heavy with all your equipment ask yourself if you really need all that equipment. For most shoots these days photographing nudes or glamour I can get by with very little equipment and one good zoom like the 24-105L can substitute several prime lenses.

5) Think carefully about the size and exactly what you need the bag for. Also consider whether you are likely to buy other equipment at some point in the future and whether that bag will still be big enough. On the flip side though, having a bag that is huge and unwieldy is a pain in the neck as I found with a CCS bag I have that sits nicely round my side, but becomes very wide when packed with equipment, making movement through crowds just about impossible despite its tag a bag for photojournalists.

6) These days with digital cameras we tend to have lots of accessories, such as flash cards, readers and batteries, so look for a solution that has appropriate areas for these items. It’s easy to spot older bags that were conceived before digital became standard because they generally lack these kinds of tailor made spaces.

Ultimately no bag is perfect for every situation and that is why most professional photographers own at least a few, but bear these key points in mind when choosing a bag and you should make a good choice.

Finally make a point of always packing your equipment carefully and never race away from a location without fully checking that you have everything in place. For this reason I like to store equipment in the same spaces and find it quicker that way to count everything in at the end of the shoot. You definitely don’t want to arrive at a shoot with a nude model, make up artist and assistants only to find you are missing equipment or something has broken in transit.

Nude Photography For Advertising

The above nude image was part of a beauty assignment I did in South Africa for an Italian cosmetics client. The team which flew out there must have been about ten people but not everybody was there to work directly on the photography.

This particular day had been extremely hectic, since we were unable to start as early as I would have liked and there had already been a shoot on the beach that morning with the same model followed by another shoot at a rented house nearby. It then took an hour or so in the mini van to reach the final location before we started the hard walk up to the waterfall.

Time was running short since the light was starting to go and to make matters worse the waterfall was hidden in an area which would soon be cast in total shadow. It was clear that some of the team would arrive more slowly, but we couldn’t afford to miss the shot, so myself, the model and the assistant pushed forward with both the assistant and I carrying fairly heavy loads. I’ve mentioned it in my book where I discuss several examples in greater detail that it helps to be fit as a photographer if you want to get certain images and this was a shoot good example.

When we arrived, there were just minutes left to grab the image before the area became shrouded in darkness, so we found a suitable rock for the model to stand on, but I couldn’t quite find the angle I needed from the side of the bank, so I had no option but to go in the water up to my chest with the Hasseblad on a tripod. Remember that Africa is Africa, so standing in water like that for very long is never a good idea. You don’t know what what else might be in the water…

I wanted just a little blur in the water for good effect but at the same time I had to ensure that the tripod and camera didn’t shake too much with the moving water or the image would be ruined. I also wanted to avoid using flash or other artificial light so that we could preserve a natural look.

A couple weights were added to the tripod to maintain stability, but it was important not to add too much or it could have collapsed and I was in no hurry to see my beloved Hasselblad fall into the water. Light readings were taken quickly with the ever reliable Gossen Sixtomat lightmeter and I managed to race through about 30 images working at a fast pace before the last useful light disappeared. It was quite an adventure and I loved it!

Situations like this where a professional photographer is working outdoors in tricky situations with a nude model but has to come back with the images that a client needs for the advertising campaign are truly the best moments in photography from my experience.

It’s the times like these when you are under pressure but you know the possibility exists to get a beautiful nude image that makes it all so worthwhile. There is more information about this shoot and many others in the book.

Internet Models

While writing my book recently on nude photography, it became clear that I should really search out some internet models as part of the process. This is something I had never done before, but I wanted to pass on some qualified first hand experience about how it works and what is involved.

Having spoken to a few other photographers first, it seemed clear they had mixed experiences, so I faced this challenge of looking for some internet models with an equal measure of curiosity and trepidation…

In a nutshell, it’s a free for all where each girl makes up her own rules as she goes along, either based on a whim or what she has seen somebody else do. Models found through the internet (especially for nudes and glamour) generally have no clue about how the industry works or standard business practices at established model agencies. The result can prove extremely time consuming and frustrating for many photographers who are used to working in a professional environment.

N.B In defence of the “models” it should be added that the majority of “photographers” who frequently source their models through the internet are equally unaware of how shoots should be organised and how to deal with models etc.

Here I have outlined a list of ten points which sum up what I found.

1) Very often internet models don’t turn up on the day, even if they have been pushing to have pictures taken for weeks

2) They can’t understand the difference between advertising and editorial photography, which is reflected in the rates they try to charge

3) Some of them want to bring along strange characters to act as chaperones on the day of the shoot

4) Quite often they look nothing like their pictures online. Be prepared to see a girl who has gained 30 pounds in weight

5) They seem to think that photographers only exist for the purpose of providing them with a free portfolio

6) Their online profile will invariably include a list of tattoos and piercings, which they strangely believe is normal and acceptable for a professional model

7) When they say they will shoot nudes, they generally mean “implied” nudes i.e. covered up, so not really nude…

8) Be wary of any model where half her portfolio involves self shot images using a mobile phone

9) Most internet models seem to have a strange fascination with gothic style imagery

10) Let’s face it, they aren’t really models…

Perhaps I was unlucky in my experience, so if any photographers have had better luck or want to add something feel free to comment below. At some time in the future I’ll discuss this subject in greater depth and try to offer some advice. No doubt it is possible to locate reasonable models through the internet for shooting glamour shots and nudes, but you may need some patience and persistence…

Personally I shall be sticking to established model agencies unless there is no other option. In the long run I think it saves time, money and a great deal of stress most of the time.

Working with professionals is generally a better solution than internet models.

PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release

United Kingdom, 17th September 2010.

A new eBook in PDF format titled “How To photograph Nudes Like A Professional” has been released; aimed at helping aspiring amateur and professional photographers who want to improve their nude photography.