thomasholmphoto

Girls on a Swing

Showing at the Kiln Studio with Georgia Brown and Wiana Model, Georgia was sitting on the swing, gently rocking about. I did a quick lightest on my phone but wasn't impressed.

It appears to be a hard place to shoot with a very busy background—if in doubt, look at the BTS video (Photographers and Vault tiers only).

Until I thought about doing everything high-key, with a shallow d...

Girls On a Swing - BTS

The Endless Sinner & Wiana Model

These were two "oddball" images in that I noticed the light being unusually good or interesting in a somewhat unexpected place, so I shot a few frames.

The endless sinner is standing under a large fig tree that shades most of the light on the top so that it becomes soft sidelight from the right.

Wiana is standing just outside a large shadow, and both have some direct sunlight from above and a large light rock face swerving as a natural reflector (you can see that the light is most...

Valentina Art BTS 2

Another BTS of me photographing Valentina at The Kiln

Glazed and confused Valentina Art

Lenza model, aka Valentina, shot at the Kiln studio in Stoke-upon-Trent the day after my creativity workshop in March.

The studio owners own the kiln for burning/glancing cups (I hope that’s the correct name).

One section of their business adjacent to the studio had this whiteish work area, and having seen it, I wanted to create some high-key images there. The backlight works magically in this set.

Valentina Art BTS 1

A short BTS with me shooting Valentina

May on Thomasholmphoto's Patreon

Gentlemen and Ladies,

Greetings from high above; I'm writing this from 11.500mabove Earth on my way to the USA!
What would we do without Wi-Fi on planes, right? I’m Vegas-bound for more than a single date under the sun with some amazing models and my camera.

Why do I do it, you ask?

Because I can! 
Though the truth is, I probably couldn’t stop snapping those shots even if I wanted to. 🤣

Yep, I’m hopelessly addic...

On initiations and cults

At the beginning of April, one magic Sunday, I rented a large studio as I had set up a large nude group shoot.

For this purpose, I needed more space and the ability to make several sets to maximize what I could produce that day.

One of my ideas was to create a make-believe image of a cult or an initiation ceremony.

I found a lady on FB marketplace who rented out 40 brass candleholde...

The large group shoot

Two images I shot mid April with a bunch of amazing models - you can find many of them via the tags of below on Instagram

@cb.modelling @abtonnesenfreelance @zsanofsweden @simoneejlifmodel @dianaolsenpoledance @belzen_model @dixie_model3 @ylva_maia @the_endless_sinner @sabrina_stenbaek @rigmor_aa @wianamodel @reikierosemodeling

Sofa worship

Modeling by Godthåb worshipping my studio sofa. And who am I to complain :D

Natural light from the window behind her.

By the way, she is not worshipping anything;
rather it's me worshipping her beautiful rear end, which she is putting on display…

Clara's blouse

I found a few more worthwhile images of Clara Sinclair from the set with the blouse.
I was looking for things that could be used without censoring, and quite like these.

I do not like that Instagram guidelines affect what we create. I keep thinking "I should also create a few pictures for Instagram.”

I’m painfully aware that this quickly leads to populism, the enemy of uniqueness and art.

La Lunetta BTS

a very short clip with La Lunetta

La Lunetta Lost in the Woods.

She’s not lost, but she is shielded from the massive parking lot behind these trees… The right side tree functions like an enormous flag when she is placed slightly within the trees, ensuring the light has directions and thus shadows.

Integration

Case in point about integrating in the landscape as in yesterday’s post:
This is Venus De Sierra with a range of images shot in the eastern Sierras.

First, she takes up an organic shape and can be inside the rock.
Second, she adopts a dramatic, shamanistic pose to play off on the dramatic sky.

https://vimeo.com/928514905

Third, she is interacting with the rock (pushing it - ok, ok - attempting to pus...

Joshua on my mind

Which is your favorite - one or two - and why?

Shasta Wonder

I think the last half of Shasta’s model name is spot on; her body is truly wondrous.

They were shot during a short trip to one of my favorite hangouts in Sweden. The first is late evening during sunset.

The third is an hour before sunset but with light cloud coverage, where the clouds work as a massive softbox.

The second was shot after sunset, the blue hour, and my old 50, ƒ0.95, is the star of the show again, but with a twist:
The set is from back when I used a Son...

Joshua Tree

I shot these two images of Roarie Yum in Joshua Tree while teaching a workshop for the Palm Springs Photo Festival in ’19. I was illustrating ways to integrate a model into a landscape by making them part of the scene:

In the first, I used posing with many angles of the limbs to mimic the branches while having shadows intersect her limbs, breaking them up.

In the second, I used the shadows from one of the trees to cover part of her face and body, but in a way where it became app...

The white complex

Yesterday, I mentioned Art Nude on Location, which is my video course on all aspects of creating art nude images outside a studio.

Today’s installment is some of the images I created for the actual course of Wiana on Lanzarote. There are shots in a very public place, but if you think carefully about solving a problem, it can be solved. ...

Artnude on location - The Outpost

Here is one of the many full multicam location shots from Artnude On Location - my online course available here. 25 minutes of Wiana and myself in public.

Walled Garden

I discovered this image of Rebecca Perry that somehow got away. It was part of a shoot during my first (unsuccessful) attempt to create my Art Nude on Location course.

Natural light up against a stone wall in Mallorca.

Self-examination

One thing I love and adore about some nude models is they have managed to shed their inhibitions and the sense of shame that inhabits so many other people. Anneli is one of those people.

Over some time, they have come to terms with that.

Yes, they like to be looked at and get attention; they want to be desired, and they like to show off their erotic side, which is a natural thing for most young men and women.

They have weighed the options and decided that the benefit...

Unboxing Gracie

Gracie Sweet is very long-limbed and moves great despite only modeling for a few months.
I suspect she has some gymnastics in her background in Ukraine.

Anyway, we have all seen plenty of images on a box, so the key is to create something that is subliminally interesting.

I used light (a 57” Zeppelin with a grid and some flags).

My favorite is the second one; the anonymity and ribs work for me.

Do you have a favorite, and why?

Letting it all out

Dixie slithers on the lounger.
I wanted to create a darker environment for this set so I set up a lamp on a boom, with a 2’ Profoto octobox with a grid.
This keep the light focused on the model, and I further darken the sides in post production to provide “an island of light.”

That creates absolute focus on the model, and you hardly notice the background.

For Photographers and Vault Tiers, go check out the Discord Bonus material.

Queen of the Rocks

Belzen asserting dominance over some rocks last summer. There was direct sunlight just before we packed it for the day and had dinner. In summer, the sun sets around 10 PM/22.00 in the Nordics, and it rises around 4 AM.

This, by the way, dictates some of my bookings with models:

I prefer a full day but split it up from afternoon to morning. Then, I can shoot both in the evening and morning when the light is optimal. Then I provide accommodation and food, which most models like. Th...

Magic carpet.

I think this set with D Genevievre works well. It was lit with a lamp shooting into a white reflective umbrella, a 52” Westcott Apollo from memory placed on a boom. The light from the windows didn’t work, so I had to go artificial. I pulled the light away from the window to create the darker wall, as I needed the white body to stand out from the background.

I also loved the contrast and light of the carpet to improve separation and focus on her.

I will have to try doing this w...

Upside down Daniella

6.30 min of gravity defying Behind the scenes video - in heels

Derelict Daniella

The gorgeous Daniella Carter in the old control tower.

I’ll admit it was her idea to do the handstand with heels. It seems weird at first, but it also adds an undertone of kink, in my opinion. Do you have any thoughts on that?

This is natural light from all around (literally), as windows are on three sides.

Kinky kit

I had a full day with The Endless Sinner, where we explored kinky avenues.

This set is with a cool harness and was shot with natural light from two windows and my trusty old 50mm ƒ0.95 - around ƒ1.2-1.4.

Like the post I did some days ago with Krisowich, the fact that you can have a sharp focus on some parts and very out of focus on others works well for me on images like these.

I feel I can get away with making more “raunchy” images and thus explore more angles when I ...

Doggie pose

As stated earlier, I love booties.

CB modeling loves hers, too, and is not shy about showing it off.

One of the things that fascinates me is the difference in the shape of the buttocks, and it’s impossible to say precisely which angle will look best in advance.

Slightly censored to avoid risking infuriating the community compliance team.😅

Please check out the Discord bonus material; there is some cool stuff there.

A leaf from Eden

Last summer, while hiking a long canyon during a Mallorca workshop, we came upon this fig tree standing high on one of the sides.
If you were brought up in the Christian faith, as I was, a Fig tree covered the private parts of Adam and Eve—a motif also seen in much Renaissance art.

Whenever I get an association, I know others will likely do the same, adding another layer to the images, so it would be silly not to shoot something.

So, the association was straightforwar...