thomasholmphoto

Sigrid in Arx

This was my first visit to Lars Vilks’ artwork Nimis - and to Arx, the sculptural structure featured in these photos. Both are located within the Kullaberg Nature Reserve and are part of the self-declared micronation of Ladonia.

I was lucky to have the model Sigrid with me for this trip.

It was the first time I shot with her, and it also happened to be my first time shooting with the Lomo Petzval 85mm lens, which gives...

Sissor Box

The incomparable Laetitia exhibits her dance skills and flexibility while posing on a box.

I’m not super thrilled about these, though:
I like the poses, light, and composition, but the loose hair doesn't work well with the rest of the image's style.

The light is my 57” Zeppelin without a diffuser, but used as a regular silver umbrella with a flashhead with a medium-sized deep reflector shooting into the umbrella.
Because of the larger reflector, the light source becom...

Lovers Rock

Georgia Brown and CB Modelling in an emotive situation in one of my favorite locations in Lanzarote, The Striated City.

But as you can see from Georgia below, it’s not just serious and emotive, it’s an equal part acting, and having fun while doing it. 

But then the real pictures look like an authentic situation, right?

This one, perhaps not so much 🤪

Superheroes

You MUST take group shots when you have four models to work with.

This one is from a secluded water cave about to be flooded by the incoming tide. We were there to check out the location prior to last year's workshops in Lanzarote (still available spaces for 2025-05-27 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Naomi and the castle

These are “scraps” that I, for some reason, never published. But frankly, almost every image I have ever shot with Naomi deserves to be published, so here goes.

All these are from the day I “Accidentally rented a castle”.

You can search for that phrase to see many other images and hear the tale from that day with Naomi, Dorka, and Barbara.

Getting dressed, or undressed

A sweet anonymous model shot as an in-between while she was fixing the straps of her shoes.

She hated it because of the stomach rolls.
I love it partly because of those - and the naturalness in the situation.

You would think it’s easy to find and use a natural situation when photographing models to make the situation appear more real, but thinking of one when put on the spot and making it work is more complex than you’d think. 

At least it is for me.

Regina in the wild

I’ve shot so many images with Regina over time, and these are from my first book, “The Graces”.
In short order:

The first is from a Swedish forest. 

The second, third, and seventh are from a small island called Fur, located in Limfjorden, Denmark, and shot at sunset. 

The fourth is from Bulbjerg in Jylland, featuring a sunrise shot. 

Number five is taken from Mols Bjerge National Park, specifically Jernhatten. The background is the exposed tree...

Reinventing the Wheel - Multicam BTS

Zoi’s studio apartment

This is a really old set from one of the first location workshops I ever taught.

I rented a massive studio apartment, in a place called Stay Copenhagen, overlooking the harbour of Copenhagen with massive windows from floor to ceiling. 

In the first image, the sun comes through the “gridded” drapes, creating interesting light patterns. You can see the drapes in the second image, which I shot on the shadow side.

Sadly, several apartment complexes have been built betw...

Just Dance

As I’ve said repeatedly, I love working with dancers, and Lena Dancer (a former Latin show dancer) is no exception. You smply ask for some dance pose and you get this. I mean what more can you ask for.

It’s shot on up against the F16 fighter jet shelters no longer in military service. I ended up taking some of the green color out in post production, of what is regular green army color, to get a nuance that doesn’t distract as much. 

Sometimes I don’t mind, but sometim...

Reinventing the wheel

Multicam BTS from shooting reinventing the wheel.

Reinventing the wheel

This is a classic "I don’t know what to do, so let’s try to misuse some furniture-type shot."

It turned out quite well, though.

The key here is the light coming from the side of the body, accentuating the pelvic area, ribs, etc. And I love the abstractness of her left arm.
I purposely let the legs go a little darker, as they seemed to lead the eye down toward the edge of the frame and then out of the picture.

The model is Dovile.

Spreader Bar

CB originally saw some images I shot of Wiana with a similar spreader bar (this is a Honey Birdette in Rose gold).

And she fell in love with both the model and the concept of fixation.

Last year in Lanzarote, she asked if I would make a private set of spicy pics for her boyfriend with this, and I did.

And I have to disappoint you, I’m not publishing that; private means private.

However, when she visited my Studio a couple of months ago, she was very much up for maki...

Spreader Bar - Multicam BTS

A very illuminating 23-minute Multicam BTS movie. Audio is in Danish, but I've found a way of subtitling in English - or other languages. Are there any other languages interesting?

Afternoon fantasy

I shot this mini series with Clara Sinclair at a small summer cabin, where the late afternoon sun streams through the curtains, creating a shattered light.

Which of these two do you prefer and why?

I’m partial to the second:
I enjoy a good bum and love the stripes and light coming in from below, creating an unusual shadow pattern. 

And I must admit that the slight apparent wetness is dotting the I and crossing the T for me.

Staring contest with Ms. Whitehill

You lost; you looked away.

😜

Simple daylight through two windows, some black satin, and a 50mm ƒ0.95 to create the extreme shallow depth of field. 

This was shot on my old Sony NEX-7, an APS-C crop-censor camera, so the focal length is closer to 75mm.

Tall Magic

Georgia is a posing machine!.

For this set, I placed her on top of several round bales on the airfield next to my studio, and more or less left her to do her magic.

Each of these weighs at least 1000 Kg/2200 lbs, so they are not easy to move around or lift.

Light is simply straight sun, softened by reflections from the green bales opening the shadows.

Tall Magic - BTS

Pottery worker - BTS 2

Pottery worker

Having them nude is the easiest way to ensure the staff doesn’t smuggle the hardware out of the shop unnoticed.

Although trade labour might take offense had that been the case…😝

The back story is I was shooting at the Kiln in Stoke-upon-Trent and was shown around. This area was super dusty and covered in a fine layer of white clay, and staying there for extended periods would likely not be healthy.
But I liked the unique environment, so we shot a few sets there with Val...

Pottery worker - BTS 1

Skully’s tabouret

Another set with Skully Inkson (the dominatrix I first featured last month). 

These were shot with a 57” Zeppelin with a diffuser in front and a lamp cover, so the light is restricted in the middle of the lamp and, therefore, more powerful along its edges. 

I’ve done cases where it’s even more pronounced an effect than here.
It makes a lot of difference to light whether it’s a large surface or a large surface covered in the middle. 

I suppose I sho...