Bills Imagination Photo wrote:
You shoot fast and run. No joke, I am serious.

Bill

Ditto

Nicholas Myers wrote:
Occasionally I come across urban nude shots and I'm wondering, how you do this. Is it post editing, do you get a special nude in public pass. I don't mean for this to sound like a joke but I'm really curious.

Lots of ways:

1.  Shoot fast.  Sometimes with an elaborate setup (lookouts) sometime quick and dirty (as in:  show up, look around, models loses trench coat, shoot 3 poses in 10 seconds, coat goes on and you stroll away)

2.  Shoot at the right time.  Go to office parks or sports venues when they aren't busy (sports venue in the morning or off-season, office parks on a Sunday morning).  Go to a university when it's on spring break.  One model I have shot a lot with worked with another photographer and posed nude on the Capital Mall (i.e.: US Capital building in the background).

3.  Angle.  You can pose a model and shoot her so it appears to be public but she's at an angle where almost no-one sees.  I did a series of shoots with a model spread-eagled or posing in a large window next to a major road.  But all the drivers had their eyes on the road (not on the window 3 stories above the road).  I got a number of shots with the nude model and a series of headlights streaming behind her or a line of cars...apparently very public.  But no-one called us in.

4.  Appropriate venue.  You could go to a major adult park in a city in spring (when you'll see people laying out sunning themselves with walkers off in the distance) and if the model is on the ground, you can probably get away with some nudity for a limited amount of time.

5.  Be brazen.  Don't care if people see you.  Heck, maybe the model is an exhibitionist (one of my favorite models likes to boast about how she caused a traffic accident at one shoot...no-one was hurt but headlights and bumpers were left  at the intersection by two cars).  The idea here is strip down, shoot and then get out of dodge before the cops show up.

BTW, I'm an absolute stickler about:
--nothing that exposes someone in front of young kids.  A ticket is one thing, ending up on a sex criminal's list is another.
--the model needs to be completely informed, aware and on-board.

Ed

Jhono Bashian wrote:
It may help to have an assistant as a look out for people, cops or park rangers.

^  +1

afplcc wrote:
BTW, a quick story about a shoot in public space (a national park).  I was shooting nudes with a model.  She was not visible from the road.  Suddenly a park ranger vehicle pulls up and two uniformed rangers get out and start strolling over to me.  I yell out "quick, Noelle--we've got company!" and they immediately break out into a sprint towards me (Noelle just barely got her sundress thrown on before they arrived).  They spent 30 minutes checking her ID, checking my ID, confirming our stories (apart from each other).  They let us off with a warning (no, I didn't have a permit to shoot in the park) about being careful not to be seen and the words I've always remembered:  "we came running over b/c it sounded like you had something to hide.  We thought it might have been a drug deal going down or a rape or some kind of crime.  We get a lot of that kind of stuff."

So at the start of any outdoor shoot in public space, I tell my model that the code word is "Time."  If anyone sees company approaching, we say "time" and that means "get clothes on and act normal."

Ed

Rofl! " it's the fuzz, break!!!"

Peter Dean wrote:
Get up early on a Sunday in Montreal

Yep, early sunday morning in any cities, the streets are you to use.

Leggy Mountbatten wrote:
Yep. Shoot fast. Having a sixth sense about when to stop really helps, too.

Some examples of mine:
http://13photo.tumblr.com/tagged/public-nudity

18+, needless to say.

FlirtynFun Photography wrote:
It really depends on what you're shooting and who you are
Spencer Tunic

Wow!

His images are pretty much never my taste, but the scope and organization is always pretty impressive.

MC Grain wrote:
I've shot for 20 minutes in the same location in NYC. I prefer to shoot at night even with clothed shoots. While I think that there's nothing wrong with public nudity, I think don't think people who are bothered by it should be forced to see it. So the simple solution is to shoot in a way that's considerate to the people around you or who may be around you and that will lead to to shooting in a way that's not problematic.

Nice to shoot in NYC is that the people are so used to seeing crazy stuff, nothing will shock them.  Most of them are just minding their own business and walk fast and away from you.  Only tourists will stick their heads out and look. 

Peter Dean wrote:
Get up early on a Sunday in Montreal

except for Ste-Catherine east of St-Hubert...

FlirtynFun Photography wrote:
one thing I'd recommend...besides all of the above:
I'd NEVER put a model at risk of being arrested. If she came to ME and asked me to shoot something similar to above (run and gun shoot) I'd consider it...however, I'll not put a model at risk of arrest just to get a TF shoot in.

Chuck Purnell wrote:
Many of you have mentioned some very public places but weren't you worried with security cameras catching in you in the act? I guess by doing a site survey a day before the shoot that should be something to consider.

Leggy Mountbatten wrote:
Yep. Shoot fast. Having a sixth sense about when to stop really helps, too.

Some examples of mine:
http://13photo.tumblr.com/tagged/public-nudity

18+, needless to say.

Wonderful work!

hartcons wrote:
but aren't you taking some risk shooting a model nude in public? and a lot of nude shoots do seem to happen in public, sometimes on private property. that's part of the appeal i suppose. the risk inherent in the shot. but i have seen model profiles where they state "no public nudes"

we did an elevator shoot the other day for zivity and didn't have any problems but if someone had complained who knows.

i've heard about more arrests for railroad tracks than nudes. the guys who do nudes on railroad tracks are definitely risk-takers.

Many urban elevators for commercial establishments (i.e.: not a condo) will have security cameras.

As for the risk of security cameras in public, that's increasingly becoming an issue.  I think there are two things to think of in that situation:  (1) don't shoot for a long time in one location.  Unless you're in the plaza in front of a major hotel, response time is usually slow.  So shoot and then boogie.  (2) get a feel for the jurisdiction.  I'm near Washington DC.  Shooting near a Federal building (even during weird hours) is likely to get a response.  Fairfax City (which is inside Fairfax County) is far more conservative about this sort of thing (passer-by noticed a nude Sie ist Idaho in a third story window and called it in to the police in Fairfax City).  Fairfax City had a recent court case where a man was sued for indecent exposure for being nude in his own house (but the drapes weren't closed).  OTOH, though I'm careful I've had numerous interactions with the Fairfax County police and (knock on wood) no tickets or even a harsh conversation. So you get a feel for the jurisdiction...are they sticklers for writing tickets or not, is public nudity a big issue or just kind of a nuisance thing? 

Ed

Forty Photography wrote:
Great photos in your gallery!

Nice images you have in your tumblr feed!! Were these some models you had worked with before and were comfortable with shedding off their clothes for the shoot or were these some models that knew from the get go they wanted to do public nudity shots?