Playing with Light: In the Studio with Kym

 

I do a lot of location work and lean toward natural light, but Kym invited me to come and shoot her in a studio context. We decided on a few themes ranging from elegant dresses through to art and implied nude. Being mindful of blanket statements but on a very technical level, photography is concerned with control of light.

Kym is of Chinese ethnicity, and we wanted to play with her skin tones. High-key images have their place, especially in the context of product photography but leave little to the imagination and we sought to bring some erotic mystery, including the portraits. I took these using my A7body set to F11 and 1/125 and 35mm third-party prime lens.

Jess in the Studio

I had worked with Jess back in August 2022. It was a Blade Runner-inspired shoot, which proved very successful. This time round, we’d decided upon a studio-based implied nude theme. I’ve shot nudes outside but this has been through the height and heat of summer. November calls for a temperate studio setting.  Jess knew a studio she was comfortable with and relatively close to both of us.  Our initial shoot was postponed due to Storm Ciaran and the related chaos caused by flooding.

 

What Are You Implying

 

Implied, as with other genres is open to interpretation and means different things to different people. Glamour is a case in point. The genre in Poland is closest to 1940s film noir and worlds apart from the Page3 it's synonymous with, here in the UK. 

Implied is best thought of as the suggestion of nudity but with concealment at key areas-breasts, genitals etc. At the more extreme end, there’s some blurring of the lines between implied and glamour.  Another key reason why models and photographers need to have a proper, open discussion-before shooting and not on the day. On the day, it's also best to recap and check both are still comfortable with the detail and themes.

 

I prefer to let a model lead, setting the pace, especially where these and higher levels are involved.  Following this principle, I was delighted to leave Jess to start with her selection of clothing for the first hour and then gradually moving to more revealing themes, first with my corduroy jacket and later, my distressed leather waistcoat. Photographer and model typically warm up. Just like a welder’s first bead of the day isn’t comparable with that 90 minutes into a shift and this was no exception. 

Communication, confidence, and rapport are paramount, flanked by trust and professionalism. We chatted about a wealth of things but the theme of some photographers almost viewing shoots as dates held sway for a while. 

 She wasn’t the first model to say photographers had suggested, during pre-shoot communications that they should go for a meal, then shoot. The last thing I’d want to do is model, or shoot on a full stomach and besides, a shoot is a professional setting- both parties come together to achieve a set, agreed aim. 

I can also understand how strong professional bonds can strike but there are some photographers who seem seduced by the slightly outdated concept of a muse and with darker motivations. I must feel comfortable and enjoy the company of someone during a shoot, and hopefully that’s reciprocal but that’s where the line is drawn.

 

Ultimately, we were happy with the results and will doubtless work together later down the line.