Forums > Photography Talk > Nude burn out!!!

Photographer

MC Grain

Posts: 1647

New York, New York, US

I almost stopped shooting nudes a year and a half ago. Then I shot the three models simultaneously and it was interesting again.

The problem comes from shooting the same story over and over again. Somes times that's the model and sometimes it's the photographer.

It's really about exterior vs interior or surface vs underneath.

There are some models who can't model clothed. It's because they don't get character. They express themselves in terms of shapes. There's nothing wrong with that and there are some models who are brilliant at it, but the story is the same - interesting shape.

Clothes can be, or maybe literally are, a costume. When you change the wardrobe, you change the character. That can be both in appearance and how the model feels. I had a shoot with a good model,  but she wasn't posing right. We looked at a few, and she switched from bare feet to heels and it was like night and day. I asked her why and she said she felt different in heels.

So some is that the difference in wardrobe keeps ever shoot different.


I think there's something more important to look at. When you describe a photo as a "nude" it means you're not looking at the story - the underlying feeling of the subject. "Nude" is a description of the surface, the model's exterior. If you think solely in terms of exterior it's the same thing over and over - nude body. Nude body sitting. Nude body standing.

It always cracks me up when models apologize for their differences from other models. The whole point in shooting new models is for their differences. If I wanted the same thing again, I shoot the same model.


You can shoot fine art, portraits, fashion, porn, erotic, satire, political - all as nude. The list is endless. If you think about the story and not the surface, you wouldn't think of the photos as "nudes" you'd think of them as portraits or satirical photos. They may always have nude models in them, but the nudity isn't the subject. Really nudity as a subject is boring. Sex isn't boring, but nudity isn't sex. Nudity isn't really anything, that's why it's boring.

Why and how you shoot doesn't matter. All that matters is what you shoot. In the simplest terms you can shoot a person's exterior - their nudity - or their feelings - their interior. It's who they are, their identity. Or their feelings in the moment. Make that the subject of your photo and the photos won't be boring.

Another way to phrase it is shoot them as a person, not an object.


One thing to remember is that the camera always shows the truth. If you have a model faking a feeling your photo will be of a model faking a feeling. If they're great at it you might not be able to see that it's fake, but you'll feel it. Or you won't feel the power of a real photo. It's why there's so much bad porn/erotic photography.

Porn is when you shoot the surface - the parts or the act art the subject of the photo. Erotica is when the person's feelings are the subject of the photo. Both can be intended to arouse the viewer, but it's with different subjects in the photo. Showing someone feeling turned on is far more powerful than showing a sex act. So the bad erotic photography is when you've got someone faking it. You can compose the photo to look real,  it the camera always shows the truth and if you take a photo of someone faking feeling aroused, you have a photo of someone faking being aroused.

This is not to say that nude photos need to have anything to do with feeling aroused, but the truth will always show. So make sure that you are focusing on how they are feeling - shoot that - and make sure that they are feeling something worth shooting in the first place. You may have to get to know them to be able to do that. You may not be able to shoot the feelings you want, you may have to find out what the options are and then choose, or you'll be shooting fake feelings.

Feb 14 13 09:58 am Link

Photographer

Looknsee Photography

Posts: 26342

Portland, Oregon, US

CityofTroy Photography wrote:
who knew?

That's the only question I saw; I think the answer is "No one knew".  tongue

Feb 14 13 10:16 am Link

Photographer

Art Silva

Posts: 10064

Santa Barbara, California, US

Looks like it's time to go shoot some flowers and puppies for a while... hey it happens.

Feb 14 13 10:20 am Link

Photographer

Randall Oelerich

Posts: 295

Ames, Iowa, US

CityofTroy Photography wrote:
Didnt think it was possible but Im burnt out on doing nudes!  Someone shoot me!!! What the fuck?  Its like the hassle that comes with shooting nude models is kicking my ass!  Never thought i would be looking forward to doing fashion style shoots over nudes...who knew?

I hear you. I have no interest in doing nudes really anymore. I started out with nudes as a natural evolution from years of drawing and painting life models at an artists gathering for weekly sketching of naked models (several who became my first nude photo models as a level of trust was already in place).  Done with nudes, I have seen plenty of the nakedness.  Done some fashion, am planning on expanding on that and swimsuit, but even that I have questioned-- I lost motivation to photograph models (yet here I am on MM, go figure) a few years ago while scouting locations and was down by the freight loading docks by the railroad tracks and saw a homeless man crouched on his heels with a newspaper over his head, it was 40 degrees-- I had to ask myself that with such problems of homelessness and suffering in the world why I am photographing the superficiality of beauty, fashion, and all? I took a break from model photography for several years, and here I am again.  I think model photography can be a good thing, like any profession or art form, because helping the homeless and poor is in a sense a separate issue, and one can use one's art to help/give to such causes if one wants, or even document such issues with documentary photography on the side. But I still struggle with this issue; who knows, i might go off for a week or month or year and photograph some 'flowers and puppies' as the previous posted mentioned. :-/

Feb 14 13 10:22 am Link

Photographer

Mark Harris Photography

Posts: 526

Metuchen, New Jersey, US

CityofTroy Photography wrote:
Didnt think it was possible but Im burnt out on doing nudes!  Someone shoot me!!! What the fuck?  Its like the hassle that comes with shooting nude models is kicking my ass!  Never thought i would be looking forward to doing fashion style shoots over nudes...who knew?

I have found that working with a variety of models has helped keep things fun. I have also started asking models to bring along some clothes and lingerie and shooting in that for part of the session. Although I tend to start with certain basic set-ups I always wind up with some material that is new each session.

Feb 14 13 06:59 pm Link

Photographer

Mask Photo

Posts: 1453

Fremont, California, US

Absolutely. So overdone. Sure it's nice to have a lovely model disrobed and making pleasing forms for your camera, but you're just re-inventing the wheel.

I was shooting boudoir of a friend a while ago, and we shot a bunch of frames, and I asked if there were any other poses she wanted to grab... She flopped her leg over to spread-eagle on the bed, with no panties on. I kind of sighed internally, thinking, "seen so much of this, i'd rather shoot something that hasn't been seen".

Feb 14 13 08:04 pm Link

Photographer

Mask Photo

Posts: 1453

Fremont, California, US

Absolutely. So overdone. Sure it's nice to have a lovely model disrobed and making pleasing forms for your camera, but you're just re-inventing the wheel.

I was shooting boudoir of a friend a while ago, and we shot a bunch of frames, and I asked if there were any other poses she wanted to grab... She flopped her leg over to spread-eagle on the bed, with no panties on. I kind of sighed internally, thinking, "seen so much of this, i'd rather shoot something that hasn't been seen".

Feb 14 13 08:14 pm Link