Nudity is Evil but Sex Isn’t

Samantha and I made a website using Photocrati (a WordPress plug-in) quite awhile ago where we showcased our nudes in the landscape fine-art photography. Photocrati  is specifically designed for photographers and is a great plug-in to produce a good-looking, functional website. It’s user-friendly and great for photographers who know little about HTML or coding (like us). We built the website in a day and loved the results. Photocrati highly recommends  Bluehost (based in Utah) as the hosting company to use for photographers and we went with that option. The interface between the Photocrati and Bluehost was seamless and we could not believe how easy it was to make a website!

All went while until about 2 weeks ago when Bluehost sent us a note that they were going to close our site down because of  ‘adult content’ (specifically nudity) which is not allowed in their terms and conditions (we admit to not having read these terms closely and missed the part about zero tolerance for nudity). We just assumed that a host of photography sites would have no problem with things like fine art nudes, or boudoir photography because these types of photography are common.

In discussions with Bluehost they told us that a women in a bikini is OK (no matter how sexually provocative), but nudity is forbidden. So we could post a shot of a buxom woman, in lingerie with a gun and stilettos stepping on another woman in a back alley but we can’t post an image like the one below. Hmmmm….

So we have had to move our Gaia Nudes Gallery over to this gallery page on my website… check it out and see if you think any of the work is offensive.

If you are planning a photo website with fine art nudes then don’t sign up with Bluehost — of course if you want to post your dominatrix lingerie photos, then Bluehost is happy with that! I guess sex is good, nudity is bad.

©Darwin Wiggett - Nude in Utah

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Inspirations – Porcelain Beauty by Ellie Ericson

© Ellie Ericson

Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200mm EF-L F2.8 IS Lens @ 70.0 mm, F2.8 1/125sec, ISO 100

I had been envisioning the look of this image for quite some time before I actually photographed it.  The vision I held was to create an image that had a very soft, almost angelic and rim lit feel to it – in B&W.  I wanted it to be an elegant figure study that wasn’t a blatant nude. I went to great lengths in making sure I had the right model chosen that was in line with my vision and that my lighting concept was sound – and tested it with stand-in models before bringing Kaitlin into the studio to work with me.

Three lights were used in total: two 3‘ long, slim softboxes at lowest power on either side of the model and one small 2’ x 3’ softbox as far back in the studio as possible also on low power to give the slightest fill. There had to be separation, however slight, between the unlit background and the model by having her softly rim lit all over.

I learned a great deal from the creative play, experimentation of possibilities, and the vision driven process I went through in creating this image.  The finished product expresses everything and more of what I wanted it to say. ~ Ellie Ericson

Some new interview links

Sam and I were lucky enough to be invited to a cool photography podcast based out of Calgary called I am Aduro. This podcast is run by Al Del Degan of Aduro Phorography and Andrew Bolton of Zombie Darkroom. We had a great time chatting and laughing with Al and Andrew. Check it out (click on the Listen Now button on the bottom of the link page) and learn what Sam really thinks of Peter Lik’s photography and why I have little respect for most Leica photographers! As well you’ll learn what it really takes to make a living at photography and the underlying theme for the show is fine art nude photography plus there are lots of cool and interesting links.

Speaking of Fine Art Nude work, check out an interview just posted where Sam and I talk about our upcoming Gaia Nudes, Nudes in the Landscape photo workshop. Click here for more.

©Darwin Wiggett

The Weekly Photo – Oct 3

©Darwin Wiggett - Canon EOS-1ds Mark III

This week I am featuring one of the photos in the series nudes in the landscape that Sam and I worked on over the summer. I shot this one just like I shoot regular landscapes except instead of a rock or a flower in the foreground there is the human figure. I used my 24mm tilt-shift lens to get maximum depth-of-field from the model in the foreground to the distant hills in the background. As well, I used the shift feature to stitch two vertical 35mm images into a long thin vertical panorama. And finally I used a Singh-Ray 2-stop hard-edge grad over the sky to hold back the brightness of this section of the image. To learn more about photographing the nude in the landscape be sure to drop by the Digital Photo Expo today (Sunday Oct. 3, 2010) to hear our seminar.

How to Photograph Nudes Like a Professional

One of the classic genres of photography is the figure study. It seems you simply can not go through your career in photography without dabbling in the art of photographing the nude. My first attempt at nude work was stressful and daunting! I did not know how to find models (I used a friend the first time). I knew very little about appropriate techniques both in-camera and in the chemical darkroom. But worst of all I had to overcome the tunnel vision that your subject is a nude person – yikes!

The first couple of tries produced results that were less than satisfactory. I was not confident of my photographic capabilities, I had no idea how to direct the model, I had no concept of what I was shooting and why. I had no props, no great location, and none of the civilized niceties needed to make a shoot go well (you know blankets, bathroom, water etc). I simply had a camera and a naked person in front of me – now what?

There is so much to consider to do a nude shoot well and to come across professionally. You just don’t jump into it like I did. Over the years, I refined my working method and have done numerous nude shoots both in the studio and outdoors. I think I have learned a lot and am much better at it than I was initially. Part of the learning process was trail and error and part was by studying books on the subject. I have seen some decent books on nude photography over the years but only recently did I discover the BEST book on the subject I have ever seen. Ashley Karyl’s e-book “How to Photograph Nudes Like a Professional” is a winner. It is a 328 page compendium of everything you need to know to photograph the human form.

I can not believe the detail and thought that went into Ashley’s book. Ashley covers everything you need to know from finding models, working with models, lighting (indoors and outdoors), props, locations, hair, make-up, camera and lenses, marketing, releases, digital workflow, retouching, printing and on and on and on. Not only is this a great book on how to photograph the nude, it is a fine book on the art of photography in general. Highly recommended!

To order Ashley’s book click here.

How to Photograph Nudes Like a Professional

By the way, Samantha and I are putting into practice many of the lessons that we learned from Ashley’s e-Book by doing location nude shoots of male and female models here in Alberta. We will present our results at the Digital Photo Expo on October 2 in Calgary. Hope to see you there! In the meantime, happy shooting and watch out for mosquitos!

©Darwin Wiggett

The Daily Snap – July 6

©Darwin Wiggett - composite of two Canon G9 photos

I thought I would post this little composite to announce three new workshops and seminars that Samantha and I will be giving this year:

Scott Kelby’s WorldWide PhotoWalk with Samantha and Darwin at the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site – Longview, Alberta – July 24, 2010. Only a few spots left!

2010 Digital Photo Expo – Samantha and I will talk on Photographing the Nude in the Landscape on Oct 2 and Oct 3, 2010 in Calgary, Alberta

2010 Snap Photography Harvest Moon Photo Workshop – Join Samantha, Darwin and John Marriott October 21-24, 2010 for an instructional workshop and photo outing at Baker Creek Chalets in Banff National Park, Alberta.