Nude Series
1. Introduction
2. Finding a nude model
3. Posing your model
4. Artistic nudes
5. Implied nudesNude photography has been around since the dawn of photography, the world is full of photographers who have turned the human body into a study of form and light.

You may not know this but Leonard Nimoy yes (Spock) is more known around the world as a famous nude photographer than he is as an actor. You can see the works of Leonard here

Some of the pioneers of nude photography include Felix Jacques Moulin, who opened his own photography shop in France 1849. Moulin, sold many pictures and many being of teenage girls in the daguerreotype technique.  When the National Gendarmerie found out the nature of the daguerreotype images he was arrested and sentenced to one month in prison. On release he returned to his shop and nude photography.

Ruth Bernard; Ansel Adams made claims that Ruth Bernhard was "the greatest photographer of the nude." Bernhard began photographing nudes in the late 1920s. By 1934, she was shooting them exclusively. Most of her work is performed in the studio, and the prints are in black and white. Some of the best examples of her work can be found in her book, The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes.

Although not a new concept the photographing of large nude gatherings has become somewhat of a world wide phenomenon, with photographers such as Spencer Tunick who beat the Melbourne nude photography record with his 7,000 Spaniards that posed nude for the epic event. Some 15,000 people registered over the internet to take part.



Apart from the mass shooting of naked people we are also seeing an increase in nude events to raise awareness for causes, the overall increase in public displays of nudity in some ways shows our growing tolerance to nudity and the embracing of the human form. A world wide event now is the World Naked Bike ride, this ride is to raise awareness of the frailty of the cyclist and our dependence on non renewable resources. Covering 70 cities and 20 countries the Naked Bike Ride, is an amazing event and only goes to strengthen the view of all people are beautiful no matter what their body type.

No matter your interest level of nude photography simply for your private family album, or a sexy gift for your partner or if you are looking at a career in nude photography; our guide will help you understand the process and techniques behind nude photography for photographers of all skill levels.

In this new series we are going to take you through the whole subject of shooting nudes. There is no need to be nervous with the thought of shooting nudes, in many cases your model does not need to remove every stitch of clothing to achieve the desired effect or the implied nude. Nude photography has many categories but we will be working around the three most common forms of nude photography, implied nudes, male nudes and artistic nudes. Below we have an introduction to the three styles.

Many nude shots you see the model was not actually nude, this is called the implied nude where the subject appears nude but in reality is not. The rules or definition of the implied nude is that nothing intimate can be shown it is suitable for general public view, nothing that could cause offence can be showing. This style of nude is easy to get into and in a home or general studio,

Artistic nudes
This style of course requires the model to remove all their clothing, nude photography covers many styles including the seedy world of adult photography but for most photographers it is about artistic nudes. A whole world of lighting can be used and props to carefully show off the lines and curves to the human body. Credit

Male nudes
The male form takes on a whole different style to the female nude, often the male form is best shot showing specific parts to the body, muscular arms and six packs the male nude is about shape and form unlike the soft curves of the female body. Male nudes can be easy to get into and often a professional model is not needed. Credit

Over the next few articles in our series we will take you on a journey into the world of shooting nudes, from finding a model, lighting techniques, posing and in-depth look at the three main categories. I look forward to showing you an artistic look at the human body.