Pascal Baetens. Nude Photography. The Art and The Craft. 2007

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90 exploring techniques

lighting the pose

pose, expression, and light are the three key elements

in nude photography, in fact in any “people” photography.

When these elements support each other the images gain

strength. You can either adapt your light to the pose you

want to shoot, or adapt the pose and expression to the light

that you have available: soft light for romantic poses, hard

light for drama, and so on. look at the intensity of the light, its

direction and color temperature, and experiment. sometimes

simply asking the model to turn toward, or deliberately away

from, the light source will improve your image.

Romantic poses

here i have used the light from a large “softbox,” in this case a window with

northern light (light entering the shadow side of a building, with no sunbeams).

i used only one light source; using a second would not only have killed the nice

dark shadows, but also the natural, authentic feel.

1 the model’s face is turned away from the light, strengthening the

dreamy, introspective nature of her pose.

2 the soft light, falling at 90 degrees, creates a discreet play of muted

light and shadows on the body.