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It's no secret:
I like working with experienced models. They are beautiful,
confident, and skilled at posing & moving.
When
I was just starting out photographing the nude, there were
plenty of more experienced people (models, photographers,
teachers) who were happy to give me guidance & encouragement.
I owe them a karmic debt, and I pay that debt off by occasionally
working with a beginner model.
Ashley
is one such beginner.
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Ashley contacted
me through my web site. She has never posed nude before,
but she wanted to try that out with a photographer who "knew
what he was doing". She asked if I would be interested.
Most
often these requests don't go anywhere. Indeed, most
often, the potential model lives nowhere close to me.
In any case, I directed Ashley to my "Would
you photograph me" question in my FAQs.
Ashley
read the FAQs carefully, and she sent me a charming photograph
of herself -- it was a snapshot of her during an evening
out with her friends, and she had this wonderful smile on
her face. I agreed to photograph her, and we set up
a sitting right away.
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At first, Ashley
was nervous & excited. She didn't know what to
do with her hands. Making eye contact with the camera
was unnatural for her. Working with experienced models,
I've taken it for granted that they instinctively knew these
things.
But one
thing I love about working with inexperienced models is
that they can get very excited & enthusiastic.
Ashley,
in particular, was always laughing. She was energetic,
sweet, and smiling all the time. In short order, she
lost her nervousness, and her true nature shined through.
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I should point
out that "nervous" is not the same as "shy".
Ashley is quite comfortable with her body and is happy to
show it to me.
But I
can sympathize with a beginner model being nervous.
I'm not sure what is best to do in such circumstances, but
I have a few ideas:
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Keep a conversation going, on any topic.
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Give the model something to do with her hands.
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Provide only a few instructions at a time.
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Give continuous feedback & encouragement.
At least,
that's what I do. I think that by the end of the sitting,
Ashley wasn't nervous at all.
I just
want models to be themselves and not "act" in
any way. Below, you'll see Ashley's signature move
-- a great big smile covered by a hand.
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While this is Ashley's first nude modeling
session, she is definitely interested in picking up some
modeling jobs here & there. She is setting up
a profile on some online modeling sites, and she needs a
variety of images to post there.
So, we try to create a few different kinds of images.
Here, we ditch the chair & clear the floor for some
standing images.
Below:
- You can't stop Ashley from laughing. I
didn't know I was so funny!
- I find the color for this set distracting; that's
why nearly all of these images on this page are sepia
toned.
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In the interest
of creating a variety of images for Ashley's online portfolio,
she slips into some lingerie, and I change up the lights.
To be honest, I don't like the job I did -- the lighting
is pretty uninteresting. I'm going to have to refine
this setup -- it always looks interesting when I'm making
the exposures, but they seem to fall short when I get around
to editing them.
More
of these images are on the next page.
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