Anyone doing nudes with an 8x10 camera?

My buddy at work asked me to take some potraits of him and his new bride with

my old Kodak 8x10 camera. I have always done landscape.

 

What an eye opener! Landscapes are patient and do not move. People are a

totally different story. I was able to take two frames and they had had enough.

My inexperience mostly, and their lack of patience.

 

I got to thinking later after the session; how do you do it when your subject

is nude? The model would have to be very comfortable with themself, the

photographer, and the situation. That must be quite a time management juggle.

Kim Weston... www.kimweston.com

Jock Sturges

I have done some work. One key is to let the model get to know you beforehand -- tell her what you are planning to do, and what kind of images you will be working on. Related to this, plan out the shoot -- not shot by shot, but make sure you think a little bit before hand about the poses you want, and how they will look on the ground glass. Large format by its very nature impedes spontaneity, so don't worry too much -- thinking carefully about what you are doing can compensate for the lack of spontaneity. Finally, when you finally do the shoot, make sure you have all the technical details -- exposure, focus, lighting, etc -- all set before you start the shoot -- so that all you have to do is to concentrate on what you are seeing on the ground glass. The four or five sessions I have done usually last about two hours, and by the end of that, I can no longer create images effectively. Anyway, that's just my own experience, I am sure others have had different experience.

BTW -- I too use an old Kodak Masterview 8X10. Love the beast.

I shoot nudes almost weekly with large format. Either 11x14, 8x10 or 5x7. Previously with up to 16x20. Sometimes in the studio--a tiny space, sometimes on the roof in midtown Manhattan. Professional models are comfortable with it. And I use the same model a lot for photography and painting, so it is just another day at work for both of us.

As I recall, up to very recently all Playboy centerfolds were made on 8x10.

Strobes.

"up to very recently all Playboy centerfolds were made on 8x10."

 

They stopped years ago. all those images used soft-focus filters and were meticulously airbrushed, which was costly and time-consuming. Digital provided a better way. Now most time is spent on lighting and full-body makeup. And photoshop.

Jock Sturges is a photo.net member and has posted here from time to time. Look up his previous posts, I'm pretty sure he talks about doing portraits on 8x10 in one of them.

 

JJ

Yes some of us do work with the nude with 8x10 and larger cameras. Working with a nude is not that hard. If you remember it's just a big box, with a big sheet of film at one end. Most of the movements that people use in landscape work will distort the figure, so be careful with camera movements.

 

And if you are indoors, strobes are a wonderful invention.

 

Other suggestions work fast, don't second guess yourself, and practice.

 

George Losse

www.georgelosse.com

The Playboy centerfolds were done with an 8x10 camera and a 12 inch Commercial Ektar lens. No soft filter.

George is right about practicing. You need to shoot a lot of these to get a handle on them. Don't work too fast though. You have to be VERY careful with every detail. I limit the shoot to 2 hours and usually expose about 8 sheets of film.

For those of you concerned with the model being uncomfortable, don't worry. Keep it professional, don't stare at her body parts, let her know what is going on, and she should be comfortable with it in a few minutes, even if inexperienced. Where to get models? Art schools are the best place because they are pros and will usually show up on time. I also use a classified ad in one of the local give-away papers. It gets numerous responses, but many of them are unreliable.

-not models. The images will have an intensity and presence that pro models rarely have.

 

I totally agree with the advice re: pre-production set up. I always begin by shooting the model alot with my digital slr. I often give the model the camera and have them take a few shots of me or who ever else is around.

 

By the time you get to LF, everyones loose and ready to go. This is just like 20sec warm up sketches when you draw or paint from life.

Artist's models are real people.

8x10 will capture every crease of recently removed clothing, so if you want smooth skin, have the model change into a loose-fitting bathrobe a half hour or so before any shooting begins.

I've worked with the Nude using formats from 35mm to 12x20, with 8x10 being my main camera from 2001 to 2005. There was little difference in speed between working with a 4x5 and the 8x10 camera, when it came down to it. The models I worked with knew the speed of the process from day one, and felt it was worth the results. As long as you are comfortable with the tools, the speed of the process is often more influenced by the setting, models and other elements...

 

Eric Boutilier-Brown

http://www.evolvingbeauty.com

Nudes with 8x10 and bigger are no big deal if you plan ahead, practice the positions you plan to use and prefocus on the area before placing the model, you may visit my site www.jorgegasteazoro.com to see nudes both in studio and location.

<p>Before the 1980s all the Playboy centerfolds were done with an 8X10 Deardorff that now belongs to the Smithsonian Museum. The color and B&W negatives were retouched by hand.</p>