Exhibit still on

My exhibit “To Find A Muse” is still on at The Kodiak Gallery in the Distillery District in Toronto – Thursday will be the closing day.

Prints will be available via http://www.michaelsmuse.com as well. If you have not yet stopped by – do it in the next days, or especially on Thursday, between noon and 6pm.

Every photographer has subjects they like to shoot for art. For me these include black and white as well as colour art nudes. These are timeless, a pure artform, and yet they still look new in every era.

If you want to shoot nudes, I advise that:

  1. First you learn camera technique thoroughly.
  2. Then you learn flash.
  3. Then you learn to use colour and black and white.
  4. You learn how to print reliably and well.
  5. Then you learn how to shoot normal portraits of models. You learn both to direct and to take advice in posing.
  6. Then you get more creative at that.
  7. Then look at what other artists you like do. Are there things you would emulate? But perhaps in your own way? Can you? Look at paintings in museums: what do they do? Which do you like?
  8. Then you try some nudes – hire a model and see how you do. Do not expect great results yet: you are trying to see what works for you.
  9. Then you reiterate – do it again and again, constantly trying to be your own worst critic.
  10. This eventually leads to expertise and to you developing your own style. But you never stop developing.

It takes time to learn all the required skills: for nudes you need to be a good photographer with a lot of energy (it’s hard work), and then you need to develop a rapport with your model or models. And then – only then – you will develop your own style.

And of course this list applies to pretty much every type of photography. The only way you develop a style is by doing, again and again. So rather than read more here: go shoot something!

And – tomorrow I shall be back home from the Netherlands, where I taught a Flash course, and I will continue writing longer posts to help you in that.

 

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