thomasholmphoto

Dancer on top

I shot these in ’19 with Poppyseed on a rooftop terrace in Copenhagen.

We shot many different images, and I believe I had this on my old Instagram - for a day or two - before it was removed.

As you can see in the BTS movie, as always, we tried different ways of showcasing her unique flexibility until we arrived at an impactful image using the black structure to its full potential while having a calm background.

ƒ2.8 1/1000 sec

Also, if you want more images o...

Dancer on top - BTS movie

BTS from shooting todays image with Poppyseed Dancer

Rings of Venus

This is my first foray into shooting with a Ringflash.

If you go back to the post from Dec 31, 2024, you can read more about it, but for this set, I just received the flash a couple of days before my Shoot with Jitka V, and my fingers were itching to try it. I had planned to make this into B&W but ended up settling on a color, although the last image might be better in monochrome.

I like the extreme illumination and almost lack of shadows, but still with plenty of defin...

Virgins fertilizing La Geria

Since I first saw La Geria, I’ve been fascinated with its austere, barren, and graphic look.

I did do one other shoot there, but it didn’t encapsulate my sense of the environment, so I never edited it..

La Geria in Lanzarote uses a very clever grape-growing method.

But frankly - however enticing my fantasy of placing gorgeous nude women on the soil to increase the fertility of the barren landscape is - to the best of my knowledge - only happening in my ...

Lena Stretching

This is my favorite ambient light in the studio: Slightly diffused sunlight streams through my studio windows through an extra layer of Lee opal filter to soften a bit.

Easy does it, especially with an exceptional model who is an excellent poser.

ƒ6.3 1/320-1/400 sec

Fuck-up on location

OK, perhaps not a complete fuck up, but we essentially shot in the wrong location.

The environment was less kind on the day we shot these.

Heavy wind and occasional rain showers, which equal a nude model getting cooled down fast.

That, again, means minimizing the amount of exposure and choosing your locations carefully in a prioritized sequence, as when a model runs out of juice, like your phone, that’s the end of functionality.

So, when in a place you are unfamiliar...

Color or Black/White

On one of the truly last days of summer in the Nordics, I persuaded Loulou models to join me overnight on a mini trip to Kullaberg, a natural preserve two hours drive from Copenhagen.

I love this place.

It’s littered with rock faces and those of you who know Denmark will know that it’s the one thing that is scarce here.

The neighbor's grass is always greener.

This place is at the edge of a cave, meaning high rock faces are almost 270 degrees around the model.

Color or Black/White

Do you prefer this one in color or B&W?

Mynte on Pop Art

I found this while making space on some hard drives and love the mood.

ƒ7.1 1/40 (and yeah, that’s me screwing up the speed and aperture. Using 1/80 ƒ5.6 would have avoided the slight camera shake yet still have given me plenty of depth of field).

At the same time, I remembered I had a couple of BTS from the set, which reminded me of the difference between how we all dress up when we are “on” for New Year's Eve (or daily life) and how we look the day after when there is ...

January 2025 on ThomasHolmPhoto's Patreon

Gentlemen and ladies

Welcome to 2025

Hopefully, everyone still has all fingers intact and is not too hung over after Yesterday.

Nobody knows what this year will bring, but I can tell you what's in store for the next month on my Patreon.

And I can promise January to be a fantastic month!

We’ll kick off the Year with Mynte making us love Pop Art 🎨, Loulou goes c...

Rigmor’s Bodystocking

Since it’s NEW YEAR, I found it suitable to have the model dressed up - at least initially 😉

One day, scouring eBay, I found an Alien Bees ABR800 Ringflash (with different accessories, such as a broader reflector, softener, and even a honeycomb.)

One thing I have learned about specialty light is that you must understand how to use it to make something good.

So, I enlisted Rigmor's help to test this, as well as some other things I had lying around but never used.

...

Cassies Chaiselongue

A couple of extra shots from my first shoot with Cassie (CB.Modelling).

The light is a 57” Zeppeliner deep umbrella with a diffuser and a soft grid.
The soft grid eliminates much of the light coming out of the sides of the softbox, helping minimize the need to flag everything down, but I still do it to constrict the light a bit more, and keep the background darker.

On the shadow side, as ...

A derelict corner.

I love the walls of this building, and the light is not too shabby, either.

The only downside is that there is very little space to shoot, so it always has to be shot with wide-angle (around 24mm) , like these pictures of Georgia.

You can see I’m careful of always shooting from a lowish angle, but not too low so that the lines would converge more at the top.

The lighting is from a single window facing east, which is so perfectly placed that you’d think a photographer pl...

Beckys Olive branch

We were driving over a mountain (instead of taking the tunnel) near Soller, Majorca.
We were trying to find exciting locations with few people, and we did indeed.

Coming around a hairpin bend, I gleaned this gorgeous old Olive tree.

It was in the shade, so the main challenge was finding a place where the light's direction would complement Rebecca's body without having too much contra...

Zulema and the little Gold dress

I know I have uncommonly many non-nude images this month, but don’t expect it to be a trend. 😅

This is Zulema in a tiny metal dress in Nevada, on Crazy Hill, named after the crazy colors.

Direct sunlight, and a lot of it: 1/2000 sec ƒ5.0

All hung up - BTS movie

A super fun BTS movie from a public Shibari shoot at Kullaberg.

All hung up

This is more of a funny story and a learning experience.

I was shooting with Zsan Of Sweden at Nimis in Kullaberg, and we wanted to finish the shoot by making a Shibari shoot.

My rule of thumb in this place is that we must be done by 10 am as people will start to appear by then.

Well, my prediction held, but we were a bit on the late side that day:

We started the shoot, started the ...

Derelict Elegance - BTS movie

9.5min bts with Nat

Derelict elegance

Nat is showing off in the old control tower about an hour before sunset.
The light is magically soft, and a slight cloud cover diffuses the sun.

In the BTS movie, you can see the enormous difference between direct sun and whenever there is a cloud.

Shooting in daylight also means you need to have some exposure strategy.

I can’t stand using shutter or aperture-based programs; I always shoot manually and tweak the shutter speed with my right index finger on the dial unde...

In a frisky mood

I’ve worked with Mynte several times, and I hope to get the chance again.

She is a self-declared exhibitionist, and while chatting before our first shoot, she told me and explained that she got excited by showing off.

I’m sure the sentiment fades over time, but she does radiate a significant degree of teasing and a love of showing off, and as a photographer, I love that trait in a woman.

As a biological male, I certainly have no problem with it either.

Lighting for...

Triple cherries, erm, I mean sets of glutes

This is V Wild Art (Venus De Sierra), Goblin Goddess, and Clara René in Arizona, showcasing the body’s largest muscle, the Gluteous Maximus.

Frankly, it’s a bit of a weird image, but I also find it fascinating and can’t figure out why, which means it’s a keeper.

Whenever I wonder about an image, I spend time on it, and time means brain engagement.

Wink and a smile

I have a weakness for models with a natural smile, and Minka has that in spades. 

Nude women with a great smile could conquer the world.

The light here is simply daylight from two windows in my studio and a large flag on the opposite side to ensure some shadow definition.

Why she’s under the sofa?

Well, why not?

I’d never photographed a model under a sofa before, which is the best possible reason for doing it.
You should not try any...

Dragons Lair - BTS movie

Short BTS from shooting Dragons Lair.

Dragons Lair

Dragons Lair I stumbled upon this cool place once I was hiking in Majorca, and as a photographer with a Knack for photographing in nature, my location-finding gene never turned off.

So last summer, I brought Wiana and The Endless Sinner here, along with three workshop participants, and I got to shoot these beauties.

As they say in Real estate: Location, Location, Location.

1/200 ƒ2...

Varvara's ladder - BTS

The BTS from shooting Varvara

Stairway to Heaven

This is an obscure corner in the old boiler room at the former airfield compound where my studio is.
I love having access to all the fantastic locations.

Anyway, this is Varvara climbing a ladder. Varvara does not have the longest legs in the world, so shooting from a low angle of view will make the legs seem longer because of the perspective.

This should be required knowledge for all photographers before photographing a model for the first time.

It’s natural light (an...

The wispering winds - BTS I

First half of the shoot

The Wispering Winds - BTS II

The second half of the shoot

The whispering winds

The sweet Loulou models were photographed on location at Kullaberg in the low sun a couple of hours before sunset. Of course, putting her on a background of black rock doesn't hurt her overall look.

And in case you didn’t know, midsummer sunsets are very long in the Nordics.

This place is only 1100 km/750 miles from the polar circle. Near the polar circle, there will be a midnight sun in summer, meaning the sun never dips under the horizon. In our parts, the trajectory is far fr...

The new black - BTS III

Here's a proper 10 min BTS of Regina. I had bought two small action cams (kind of like Go-Pro) to test if they were usable as BTS cameras. The conclusion is they were not, but hey, until you try... 🤷‍♂️

Anyway here it's pretty clear how the setup was done: A fringe curtain with the sun shining through.