Greetings!

This week’s art collection is more artistic or abstract, as usual.

I’ve always been a fan of body part shots, which are close-up images of curves and angles not usually seen in a particular area of the body. In this type of art, the lighting, or lack of light, emphasizes the shape of the subject.

When I have a chance to instruct a class I always love the more edgy lighting I get to demonstrate. Often, the students have not tried anything that wasn’t for portraits.

I usually sense a student’s focus change when I start putting the lights behind the model and pointing them toward the photographer. It’s as if I was about to reveal some magical secret, and they don’t want to miss it. It could also be my imagination.

The first time the student points the camera at a lighting setup for body scapes and sees the lines created typically invokes an ‘ah ha’ or ‘wow’. It is certainly the extreme of seeing something in the finished image that isn’t like what is seen in the room's light.

Even when I’m shooting with a model with whom I’ve not done a bodyscape previously, I’ll take the first shot and then show them what they will look like, and I often get a shocked response at the beautiful lines.

Not all body scapes are the same. Some have more light than others. That is all based on how low the light is to the subject’s body. If it is almost directly across from my camera, the line will be thin and sharp. That is when a particular curve is the art to be captured.

By moving the light a few more degrees from the subject, but still behind them, we’ll start to see the lines start to fill in with more skin area and we’ll see texture start to show up. Even the texture can be interesting in that it will have shadows on every tiny bump or hair.

The video has a good example of how body scapes are created. The lighting isn’t as important as posing the model to get the curves to light up like you want.

Take some time to sit and enjoy art. It’s good for your soul.

I support an organization called Model Society. So many wonderful artists to inspire me. Check out their magazine!

To be a great conversationalist, ask questions and listen. Repeat.

“Be curious, not judgemental” - Walt Whittman

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