thomasholmphoto

Last days of summer

I persuaded Loulou models to come with me to Kullaberg on what turned out to be one of the last days of summer.

She brought these fancy sunglasses, and we obviously had to shoot a set with them on.
They gave her look a bad-ass feel.

Funny aside:

In the third image, you’ll see the text S-Grottan.

It’s painted on the rocks to lead the way to one of the tourist attractions at Kullaberg, Silver Grottan, or English “Silver Cave.”

Grotto is also slan...

Piano duet

This spring, I did a workshop at Basford Hurst Cottage in the UK with Wiana and Georgia Brown. Just before the workshop, I set up a duo shoot to ensure they would get to know each other. And other than a series of each of them I ended up with this duo shoot that I find super decadent. It feels both innocent and not at all innocent, and I love the duality.

What do you think?

Daylight from large windows around the studio.

The End of mrs Y

Lilith Etch is showing off her extraordinary posing ability.

We were in an old WW2 bunker off the coast of Denmark in a somewhat windy and cold environment. And this is where professionalism in models shows:
Can you put up and perform in the short timespan necessary to get the shot despite the environment?

Lilith can.

Lightwise, there is a large opening directly behind the camera, creating a large flat light source somewhat akin to a ring light.

2024-11-07 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

The end of mrs. Y - BTS movie

Lilith doing her magic one very cold and windy morning, and cold concrete.

Krisowitz and the round bales

Krisowitz dropped by the studio this summer on a warm but windy day, so we decided to hit the runway and shoot some things on location.

Here is a set from the round bales (bundled up hay, shrink-wrapped and stacked).

As an interesting aside, she brought a friend to the shoot who had no plans of posing.
I offered to shoot her but let the image remain private, and it took her about 20 minutes to agree.

First, she discovered how complex modeling is (uncomfortable posi...

Krisowitz and the round bales - BTS

Shooting Krisowitz against the ground bales

Isi’s corner

One of the last images with Isinka Luxova from a shoot this spring.

Here, I backed her into a corner next to the studio window so the light barely touched her from the side, creating this moody image.

1/60 sec ƒ3.5

Georgia Brown and the black container - BTS

A 17+ min BTS from the container shoot with Georgia.

Georgia Brown and the black container

I was shooting with Georgia this summer.

We had a stroll around the compound where my studio is, and came upon these gorgeous containers. And we had to shoot some sets around them (anything new, right?).

I love shooting against dark or black backgrounds.

I don’t mean pitch black without detail, but dark enough that you can see what it is, so it contains some ambiance but still makes the model stand out vividly.

Lightwise, it’s entirely direct sunlight.
No oil...

Erotic Duo Livestream shoot

During Spring I did a Livestream Workshop, with Wiana and The endless sinner:

Erotic Elegance Duo Workshop with The Endless Sinner and Wiana Model.

Here are three of the images we created during the livestream workshop.

I’ll skip the details on how they were made, but you can see from start to finish in the livestream.

Arsenic and Krissondra

This is a Patron's request for more content from my first Arsenic shoot, particularly of Krissondra.

Well, here you go, brother. I don't have much but I did dig up these.

If you are on the vault tier, you can see much more from this and another shoot at Arsenic; just search for Arsenic - or Krissondra.

Sweet November on Patreon

Gentlemen and ladies:

November is going to be fantastic on my Patreon.

Other than the incredible images, which I’ll be back to shortly, there is a ton of information about the shoots and all sorts of advice on photography.

In addition, almost 5 hours of Behind-the-scenes video, documenting exactly how the shoots were made, how I directed models, and how we got the light to work under all sorts of different scenarios. 2024-11-01 15:27:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Floor exercises

Gorgeous Celia Cassiel is doing floor exercises.

Light wise, this is one of the super easy light setups: Backlit from two windows diffused through a white curtain.

If you are a stickler for detail, you’ll notice that the last four images have an almost identical pose but are shot from different angles. The ability to do that attests to the light's versatility.

But there is another learning experience available here:

Make sure you walk around your subject as mu...

Sidesplit micro BTS

This is so short I'll leave it open for all paid tiers.

Walkaround BTS

Poppy airing her exhibitionistic streak.

Stairway to heaven

An older set with Poppyseed shot in a large studio apartment overlooking the sea.
All daylight from the windows on the left (and back for the last image.

Oh, by the way: When I do mixed shots like this (lingerie + nude) I always shoot the nude first.

That leaves out the "stripping" scenario, and since I shoot the nudes first, I don't have any marks on the body that the clothing might leave.

Floor exercise - BTS movie

18 min of BTS movie with the flexible Celia in the studio.

Seductive and playful

I shot this set with Wiana during our first shoot some two years ago.

After doing them, I was unsure whether it was “taking it too far,” so I sat on them for a long time. And now, somehow, the time feels right to share.

It’s all-natural light in a massive studio, most of which comes directly behind the camera, and some large black V-flats are used on either side to create a bit of definition.

The entire series was shot with my trusty Canon Dreamlens Shot at ƒ0.95 1/50...

Cornered

A couple of “leftovers” from an anonymous model I shot with a couple of years ago.

Natural light shot in almost the same spot, only a few minutes apart. The only difference is that in the first image, the model is in the shade, so much less light is reaching her.

That means exposing the camera more openly, thus creating a high-key image.

The second image is full-on in the sun, and because the model has dark skin and has applied a bit of oil, I can underexpose; I need...

Smack

We can all appreciate the situation and imagine the sound, right?.

I wish I could say it was planned, but it just happened, and I’m happy I caught it.

Lilith Etch (looking at fish) and Poppyseed taking advantage.

ƒ8 - 1/640 sec.

Edmayers Goddess

Goblin Goddesss posing near Edmayers Secret in Arizona.

This was a less-than-ideal situation:

I shot In the cold shade, the sun on its way down, light reflecting off the red rock onto the model just enough to create a little definition and shadows.

Not to mention the grueling winds the models had to endure and the time pressure, as we needed to get off the mountain taking a different and unknown route than the way we came up before darkness set in.

I’ve been circling...

Trio dynamic

This is an offshoot from the group shot I did in April with 14 models.

Three of them had to leave earlier (as they had a 4-5h drive home), so I shot a quick series with them just before they left.

cb.modelling (Cassie), AB tønnesen and Belzen model.

Two large umbrellas (7’ Westcott White reflective umbrellas) provide lighting.
The main light is from the left, and another is almost directly over the camera to add a bit of fill and avoid too deep shadows.
Bec...

Sysiphus Garden

Or perhaps I should call this Kaela’s Garden.
Kaela is @V.Wild.Art on Instagram.

We shot the last two images in a place called “Not So Many Pools” in Zion National Park and the first three in a small sister canyon, which I don’t think has a name.

In the BTS movie, you can see why Kaela is so sought after as an art model:
Her ability to engage with her environment is second to none, and we create absolutely stunning images every time we shoot.

One of th...

Sysiphus Rock-BTS

12.52 min BTS with Kaela working the rock (ok not THAT rock, but A rock 😅).

Varvara's booty

I can’t vry well let a month on Patreon go by without using the booty chair, so here is this month's installment of Varvara’s posterior.

Window light from my two studio windows.

First image 24mm ƒ4.5 - 1/100

Second and third 50 mm ƒ0.95 "around" ƒ1.4 - 1/160-1/200

(When I say "around", it’s because this is an old manual lens, and no aperture EXIF information is transferred, so it’s purely by memory.)

Varvara's booty - Multicam BTS

19.08 min of a beautiful woman. What more do you want?

Yakusa / Reverend mother

I shot with Stelladiplastica some months ago.

She’s a heavily tattooed Italian ballerina, and she brought this weird—I don’t even want to call it clothing—look.

It reminded me of the reverent Mother from Frank Herbert's Dune novel (and great motion picture), so that association influenced the look we chose here.

It’s shot with my 50mm 0.95 Canon Dream lens around ƒ 1.4, using only daylight from a few windows and large styrofoam boards to provide negative fill an...

Facing Dawn

Loulou models in Sweden exploring a cave.

By now, Loulou should be in Bali and will stay until spring, so if you find yourself in that part of the world and need a model, reach out to her on Instagram @loulou_models.

Shooting something like this requires either artificial light or excellent control over exposure. It also requires amazing abilities to draw out darker details, which means good retouching skills.

I’ve shot in this cave before, but I have better abiliti...

Facing Dawn BTS

Loulou doing her thing in a cave

Abstractions on a circle

Lilith and I were poking around some old WW2 bunker the Germans Wehrmacht built on the beaches of occupied Denmark to prevent an Allied invasion.

I suspect the circular part at the bottom is an old Canon tower or some such thing.

And I find it poetic that old instruments of war are now used as a framework to create art.

Few models are as good at creating abstract shapes in a confined framework as Lilith.

One reason this works so well is that it's beautifully backl...