Texture Contrasts
THINKING:
Stairs can be great places to shoot because they give the model so many posing opportunities. They can sit, lie, stand, lean and give you a good variety of positions.
For the photographer they are difficult! You need to put lights somewhere to get a good illumination, but placed so they are not in shot. You need to get your camera somewhere so you are not looking straight up their nose.
I was fortunate here that there was sunlight both at the top of the stairs and behind me. Combined with the glossy, white marble it meant I could get a nice, soft, even lighting all the way down this stairwell.
SEEING:
A contrast of lines and planes against the round curves of the female form.
A contrast of textures and tones. The polished, cool texture of the marble compared against the soft, warm texture of Tillie's skin.
Indeed the fingers on the wall encourage the viewer to think exactly about how cool and smooth marble is to touch and then make the comparison with touching skin. This adds an extra level of sensing to the image.
DOING:
Ideally a ladder or foot stool at least would let me gain some extra height for shooting here. I'm a tall lad and this image is just on the bounds of acceptability for camera position.
As ever safety first, don't put your ladder on the stairs. If you grab a chair then put the chair back in front of you, not behind (you don't want to fall backwards over a chair back).
If you have a camera with a flip out electronic viewfinder that can be really useful in these situations as you can hold the camera well above your head and still see what you are doing.
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This is an excerpt from "Art Nude Photography Explained" which shows you how to create nude images and how to read and evaluate art nude photographs
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