thomasholmphoto

Fishnet Galore

This is one of those times where I break my own rules; one being never to post a black and white and a color image in the same post, so work out what works best yourself. But for this, I’m genuinely unsure. It’s not just the color difference; the images seem to take on a different meaning for me.

What do you think?

Nude Striped Dress

Kayla, an art model, and I were playing with stripes and shapes.

This shooting style in the studio is achieved by hanging a fringe curtain and shining a focusable spotlight through it, or, if possible, using the sun to do the same. The stripes seem to create a topographical map of the model's body, making you appreciate the shapes even more than usual, right?

Nude Striped Dress - Teaser

Artmodel Kayla in the studio.

Check out the full series in the Photographers and Vault Tiers.

Wonderwall

During the summer of 24, I want to visit Kullaberg and Hovs Haller with Zsan from Sweden and take many great photos, including these two that I recently edited.

Zsan is a miracle to work with, and he thrives best in challenging environments, so we always end up creating radical, amazing images, and I think these are a great example.

Phone conversation - Teaser

Phone conversation

In the studio compound near my studio, someone set up this mock phone booth for a file set, right next to all the sinks in the washing room, and it’s quite an interesting setup.

And in addition, the light from the windows works amazingly, especially in the afternoon.

A couple of months ago, I had Silas Ash over, who was totally enthralled with the set and wanted to shoot there, so we obviously did.

As you can see in the video, it’s not exactly an easy spot for a photographer, as the distance from the window side is extremely limited.

But honestly, when I take shots that are difficult to get but manage to get it, it’s so much more satisfying than when everything goes smoothly…

Badass with a good ass

I had rented an Airbnb in Los Feliz, LA, and Zulema dropped by for some hours, and we shot what we could in the house and a few outside (LA is not the easiest place to shoot nudes, though). The first image is natural light from the living room windows, and the second is from a Profoto B10 with a 2’ Octobox attached.

Deux Ex Machina

This set with Aria Rainbow was shot at an abandoned church, located inside a derelict hospital outside of Milan. The deep orange light streams through some tinted glass windows and looks absolutely divine. I’d love to return there someday.

Shelter Shibari Teaser

This is from an Awesome shibari set with Lilith Etch and Tom Of Sweden Shibari - the rest and the BTS movie is available in the Photographers and Vault Tiers.

Shelter Shibari BTS

Lilith Etch in futumomo tie in front of an old F-16 fighter jet shelter

Shelter Shibari

While working on my new book, Dopamine Driven Art, I managed to fit in a day and a half of shooting with Lilith Etch, who was visiting Copenhagen.

Throughout the day, we captured numerous art nudes in and around the studio. In the evening, we planned a collaboration with Tomofsweden Shibari.

We initially had a different idea, but during the day, I discovered that the Air Force shelters along the runway had hooks that you could easily attach ropes to.

I sent Tom some photos of the shelters and hooks, and we quickly decided that would be the primary focus of the shoot. I calculated the best times to shoot at various shelters based on their position relative to the setting sun, and the rest is history, as they say. You can see this in the behind-the-scenes video.

Epic afternoon. And then we did another set at a different location and wrapped up just as the sun was setting.

The Leaning Tree

This is one of the images I aimed to capture with Wiana on Kullaberg (see yesterday's post). It’s simply the low evening sun doing what it does best, with Wiana doing the same on the tree.

When I search for locations, I always look for features that are special or unique to that place or objects with a distinct graphic quality. I want to capture a sliver of the model's personality, while also incorporating the essence of the places I work at.

The Leaning Tree BTS

Wiana and the LEaning TRee BTS

Table Exposure BTS

BTS of Wiana somewhot tied up in Sweden.

Table Exposure

I brought Wiana model, to Kullaberg to shoot some art nudes and rented an Airbnb with a vintage feel in case the weather turned bad.

On the last day, it started raining and the wind picked up, so we did a few sets in the house, including this Shibari session on the table. T

he two windows and the door in the background provide nice backlighting, and I used the regular ceiling lamp to add some fill from above, softening the harsher shadows. It, of course, gave a warmer glow, which I thought worked well for this set.

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Read this guide.

Free Solo BTS Movie

Carillon Doll doing her thing and Aria Rainbow in the background.

Free Solo - Teaser

Casrillon Doll on a cliff side overlooking Lake Como

Free Solo

A couple of years ago, I went to Lake Como in Italy to shoot some models.

For a few of the shoots, I needed to find locations.

One of the ones I found was a tunnel, presumably built for a road to pass through a mountain. It had been blocked at both ends with bars, but you could easily slip through. It turned out that one of the side tunnels leading to the lake had a small ledge and some security eyelets for climbers. When I came back a few days later, we did some mock climbing there with Carillon Doll. As always, areas with a tall wall or structure on one side will cast directional light, since the wall acts as a negative fill. Locations can be almost anything for me; I’ll adapt. But I do need the light to work, so I always prefer places with elevation, as they offer more options.

Phallic Symbol

A couple of years ago, I went to Majorca with The Endless Sinner, Loulou models, and Wiana Model to do a workshop.
The day before the workshop, we all hit a nude beach in the Alcudia bay early morning and shot for a few hours before the place got too crowded.

I’ve always had a knack for strong graphics, and I love these giant towers, which I suppose were used for navigation at some point.
I had Wiana and Loulou scale the sandhill, and we shot 8-10 frames before moving on to other things. There wasn’t many other options as it was hard for them to move around in the shrubbery, but I’m quite happy with this one.

Paakeboo - teaser

One from the bigger set with Rebecca Perry

Peekaboo

From one of my many shoots with the excellent Rebecca Perry. Most of these were lit with my 59” Zeppelin except for the first which is daylight from a window.

Movember Shenanigans

I once interpreted Salvador Dali & Philip Halsman, “In Voluptas Mors,” An image of a skull comprised by seven models - you can see this in the Vault if you search for the phrase.

However, having gathered several models, we also took other shots like this. From memory, I shot two strobes with a grid into the ceiling to create an overhead light.

I learned a valuable lesson about group shoots and model releases:
The entire day we had a couple of GoPro cameras set to shoot time lapse, and I handled the model releases at the end of the shoot.
And by then, one of the models had changed her mind and refused to sign the release because she didn’t want to be on video.

So my choice was either not to be able to release anything we had shot all day (no release, no publishing) or not to be able to use the BTS video.

Lesson learned: for consecutive group shoots, I always inform the models that we’ll be doing  Behind The Scenes video, and I always obtain signed model releases before taking a single image. One model changing her mind can mean a full day wasted for all participants and that is just not fair.

Emma Helenas Predicament

Emma Helena, aka Riel Life, in the studio as one of the first subjects using my new studio corner. I used a Lightmotiv 80x180cm soft box without the diffuser, so essentially a rectangular silver umbrella.

One more from Factory Butte - BTS

Willa and Sekaa

Alien Lake BTS

Sekaa shooting Willa

Factory Butte - BTS

Willa and sekaa Warming up just before the shoot (temperature wise it's around freezing).

FActory Butte warmup - BTS

Venus On Mars

Here are a couple of images from my previous book, Venus On Mars, with Willa Prescott and Sekaa Chavez.

All are from various places around Utah from an Epic 2-week drive around a lot of the American Southwest.

• The first is called Factory Butte, near Hanksville (and it only looks like this for 4-6 minutes around dawn.

• The second is Long Dong Silver (yeah, named after a Porn Star).

• Half and Half rock in Zion National Park, and

• Alien Lake near Factory Butte.

I do love all those places.

Factory Butte BTS

HEre is a slightly longer version, just waiting for the light ton hit the top of the butte.

Would you like me to seduce you?

If so, Belzen, aka Isabella Chris, certainly knows a couple of good places to start (going for 0-100 in a few seconds).

The first time I shot with he, she wasn’t too keen on publishing images with genitals, and I completely support any woman's personal boundaries.

On this, our second shoot, all those reservations had evaporated. We didn’t really talk about doing something erotic; she just naturally slipped into that role, and we both went with it.

Natural light in my studio.

Shot with my Canon Dreamlens 50mm ƒ0.95