In January of this year I had chance to work with a new (to me)  model Rosa Brighid. She is based in Plymouth but was in my area and so we arranged to work together. As it was  January a studio location was the best option, so I booked Hallum Mill in Stockport. It turned out to be a very wet day (glad I had chosen to work in the studio) so having collected Rosa Brighid from where she was staying, we headed over the hills to Hallum Mills.

I got to know Rose a bit on the way across and she certainly looked to be going to be a popular model as she outlined the various shoots she had planned during the year.

As I mentioned earlier this was a very wet day so there was not a lot of natural light available to shoot with.  I chose to work with a couple of different lighting setups. The first image (below) was from my first lighting setup were the main lights  were placed behind the model (fitted with a small reflector and a grid). They were setup high and aimed at separate bounce boards which were positioned to the right and left of the camera in front of the model. These bounce boards bounce the light back towards the model and produce an incredibly soft and flattering light.  As can be seen from the image the lights picks up the edges of the body and hair and create a rim light on the body contours and hair. It then hits the bounce boards and scatters and produces a soft front light.

The second image was lit using a continuous tungsten light source “daylight balanced” which means that you can see exactly were the light is falling and for this set the light was positioned to the right hand side of the camera.

It is interesting to see the two different lighting set outputs.

Boudoir photographer- Boduoir Photography monochrome image of the rosa wearing a white textures blouse and textured knicker looking down away from the camera
Richard Spurdens Photography – boudoir with Rosa Brighid textured blouse
Boudoir photographer- Boduoir Photography monochrome image of the model wearing matching bar and knickers looking toward the viewerRosa Brighid lingerie
Richard Spurdens Photography – Boudoir with Rosa Brighid
Fine Art Nude Photography - Fine Art Nude Photographer - monochrome image of rose standing on small set of library type circular steps she is reaching her nearest to the camera hand to the top of her head, the other is holding the step post.
Richard Spurdens Photography – Rosa Brighid single light to the rhs- Canon 5D MkIII – 1/125 @ f /4.5 EF70-200mm F2.8
Fine Art Nude Photography - Fine Art Nude Photographer - toned monochrome image of rosa stand side on the light so it is highlighting her figure shape on the rhs she has one hand on her head the other hand is across her stomach as arches up on one foot
Richard Spurdens Photography – Rosa Brighid single light to the rhs I – Canon 5D MkIII – 1/125 @ f / 9.0 EF70-200mm F2.8

The darker more moody images were lit using a lighting setup which consisting a one main light fitted with a strip soft box which also had an egg crate grid attached to control the light spill and make it very directional. Which keeps the light from falling onto the back ground. The result is that  you get dark backgrounds and good light and shadow areas on the contours of the body.

Fine Art Nude Photography - Fine Art Nude Photographer - a toned monochrome image of rose stood in profile with her arms behind her head she is on the lhs of the image and the lighting is coming in from the rhs and producing light and shadow across her figure.
Richard Spurdens Photography – Rosa Brighid with textures added – Canon 5D MkIII – 1/125 @ f / 9.0 EF70-200mm F2.8 L
Fine Art Nude Photography - Fine Art Nude Photographer - Fine art nudes - toned monochrome image of rosa with her hands behind her head looking down towards the rhs of the image the lighting is highlighting her face and left breast the rest of her figure is in shadow
Richard Spurdens Photography – Rosa Brighid facing the light – Canon 5D MkIII – 1/125 @ f / 8.0 EF70-200mm F2.8
Fine Art Nude Photography - Fine Art Nude Photographer - toned monochrome image of rosa standing with her arms behind her head and she is holding her hair behind her and looking down to the lhs of the image. the light is playing across her chest and stomach and producing nice shadows and light areas across her body
Richard Spurdens Photography – Rosa Brighid turning away from the light – Canon 5D MkIII – 1/125 @ f / 9.0 EF70-200mm F2.8 L
Fine Art Nude Photography - Fine Art Nude Photographer - toned monochrome iamge of rosa she is sitting on a table to at the rhs of the image her feet are on a chair and her hands a resting on its back. the light is coming in from the lhs and is highlighting her arms arms and shoulder and hair the rest of her figure is in shadows
Richard Spurdens Photography – Rosa Brighid seated on the table with a chair – Canon 5D MkIII – 1/125 @ f / 8.0 EF70-200mm F2.8

It turns out the Rosa is a bit of a climber so here is one to finish with, were we worked with a rope ladder suspended from the ceiling. Again using the strip lighting set up to light the scene.

Fine Art Nude Photography - Fine Art Nude Photographer - toned monochrome image of rosa hanging away for a set of rope ladders her figure is arching away to the left hand side of the lighting which is coming in from the rhs
Richard Spurdens Photography – Rosa Brighid rope ladder series

So thanks to Rosa for producing some good poses to go with the lighting.

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