Jackie Oh!

From a fairly recent shoot with Jackie... the nude part of which was briefer than I'd have liked, but for external forces...

"Naked models wearing clothes..."

Since it's so damn cold out, I figured I'd post a few shots of models actually wearing clothes. Granted, not a LOT of clothes in most cases, but something. From top to bottom, we have Jackie lounging, Kristina in fun fur, Foxy Tigress, Karla Fire, Redemption in vintage, Mandy beaming, AngelD mobster-style, and the charming Mara.

Funny thing is, all these shoots were either partially or primarily nude shoots. But oddly enough, models like to model clothing from time to time, too. Some just for a change of pace, others are primarily fashion/glamour models who are open to doing nude work as well. I've had a model tell me she wanted some shots she could send her mother, and others ask for shots that are "MySpace safe" more and more frequently.

I've seen models work to move away from nudes -- I recently lost two OMP showcases because the model (whose portfolio they appeared upon) removed them. She explained to me: "those timeless & awesome images are death for getting work out here - it's a bummer...economica over erotica." And the images were far from erotic or explicit. The part that puzzles me a bit is that she still has SOME nude images on her portfolio, but they're more glamour nude than art nude, so that must make them OK. I know a model or two who actively quash the nudes in their past, even to the point of claiming they've not done them and being insulted if you ask them about it. I guess it's still a stigma with some agencies and clients, even though Kate Moss, arguably the most famous fashion model in the world, frequently appears topless and nude. Oh well, not everyone can be Kate Moss. Or wants to be.

It works the other way, too. A model will start with a firm "no nudity, no implied, no sheer" stance seeking only mainstream fashion or glamour work, but eventually moves away from that. They might post a covered topless shot on their portfolio, and start getting offers to do more covered work, then they try something sheer, and those offers start coming in, then the right photographer will ask them to do covered art nudes, and so on... Some draw the line, others blur it, some cross it and find an entire new market for their modeling services doing nude figure work. On OMP for instance, these models might have nude images in their porfolio and discuss doing nude work in their text, but will NOT have any of the "nude" checkboxes marked so they will not show up in a search for "nude models," which can be a pretty smart policy. If you find them via their work, they'll consider nudity for the right project, but if you're just searching for nude models, maybe someone else is better for that job.

Then there are the models who start out doing art nude work and prefer it, some to the point of even shunning doing fashion or glamour work. I've worked with a fair number of them, and it's always very refreshing to find someone who greets the shoot as an opportunity to participate in making something beautiful without the nagging feeling that they'd rather be doing something else. As previously addressed, some photographers will only work with this kind of model, and while I prefer it for nude work, I'm not quite ready to rule anybody out, within reason.

By the way, the title of this post refers to the time I was yelled at by the building manager of my studio for having "naked models wearing clothes" outside the confines of my studio space. I knew what he meant, but it's always struck me as a funny way to put it...

Can't we all just get along?

Seems to be a lot of bad vibes floating around the past couple months... not sure what it is, but by all rights, shouldn't we be about the happiest people around? Maybe we can try to be more like Jackie and Mara here and express the love and celebrate the beauty...

Peace.

Touching...

Jackie and her friend Mara share a moment during what was, essentially, the first photo shoot either of them had done. This one just caught my eye, so I thought I'd share it here. That was a while ago... I need to get these two together again soon.
POSTSCRIPT: When I posted this blog entry, I also added this image to my OMP portfolio, and within a few hours, was contacted that it had been removed for "inappropriate content" -- wonder what part is the problem... the tongue? The hand on the nipple? The big smiles? Oh well... enjoy.

Jackie Showcase

When there's not much to say, I figure I can't go wrong with a batch of photos of the beautiful Jackie. The first one in the bottom row got an OMP Showcase on her portfolio... thanks for being such an outstanding model Jackie. :)

Fashionably late...

In an entry from the other day, Don over at Hotel Room Nudes makes a good point that I'd been considering blogging about myself. (Sorry to crib your topic, Don...you just beat me to it, again.) He discusses how properly photographing models in clothing raises a fair number of problems and questions for the photographer. I left a comment there that sort of sums up my feelings on the topic, so I thought I'd just expand upon it here. ("Never write what you can cut and paste.")

Besides the problem of presenting the clothing exactly right, if a model wears an outfit in a shoot with me, then wears it in a shoot with another photographer, it can be awkward. Like two women wearing the same dress to a party. (Seen here is Rose and our attempt at 80s retro... you tell me if we succeeded or not.)

But with nudes, everyone wins. And you don't have to worry about the model wearing "last year's fashions" or I've even seen shoots where the model wears the clothing wrong. (I even did one... the model mistook a high-waisted skirt for a dress cut insanely high on the legs. It actually sort of worked though...) And if you're selling prints, unless there's something else spectacular going on in the shot, a person isn't likely to buy a shot of a non-celebrity model wearing some outfit. A good nude is timeless and universal... and that's what makes it art rather than commerce, while paradoxically giving the image greater potential to sell. (This is one of my favorite works of art, Jackie... more from that shoot coming soon.)

Now this isn't to say that I will be shooting strictly nudes... but when nudes are not an option, I tend towards glamour over fashion. Personally, I define the difference as being that fashion shots are about the wardrobe, while glamour is about the model. Also, I realize that fashion photography requires a real dedication to knowing the latest trends and almost requires a team of wardrobe, hair and make-up people, and that's just not practical for me at this point in Dayton, OH. So when models ask me about outfits to bring, I always tend towards classics, like jeans and t-shirts, little black dresses, lingerie, or even formal wear. To illustrate, the angsty Rose returns wearing a classic lace top... it could have been shot in 1920, 1960 or 2006, at least as far as wardrobe is concerned. But it would have been even better without the Victoria's Secret bra. ;)

The one-armed paperhanger lives...

Here we see the fabulous Jackie, from what was her first "official" photo shoot. I was immensely impressed with her look, her poise, and her ideas. She's been a singer with bands for a while, so she didn't convey any stage fright when it came to posing. I predict many more shoots with her...

I know I promised further updates soon, but I've been wrecklessly busy with shoots, actual day job obligations, and lots of good stuff, so it'll just have to be a quick one today. I'm actually intending to keep shooting to a minimum in September so I can catch up on getting things done and making progress on some other fronts, such as selling prints, and maybe a little publishing.

This is Jael, who contacted me to do a shoot of her with her boyfriend in some sexy situations, along the lines of some of my other more popular images. I enjoy those types of shoots, and have been very pleased with the results most of the time, so maybe that's a direction I'll be expanding into further. It's amusing how much prodding it takes to get some of these boyfriends to touch their beautiful model girlfriends, and it's a challenge to make the interaction appear genuine. Of course, I've never been on the other side of the camera in that situation, so I guess I can't really appreciate the intimidation factor that might be involved, especially for a non-model (although some of the "real models" haven't fared much better). So, any of you models reading the blog, let me know if you'd like to give this type of shoot a try sometime. If you're not currently seeing anyone, I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding volunteers.