Exquisite Curves: Composition and Posing for Photographing the Female Nude (second edition)

Exquisite Curves, 2nd Ed: Learn Composition and Posing for Photographing the Female Nude

The lines of the female form are a masterpiece of nature, as the title of this book implies. But, there are infinite ways to represent this beauty. Your job, as a photographer, is to create work that is appealing, fitting, and meaningful. This book takes a two-pronged approach: first by teaching the academic and second by encouraging hands-on creativity.

This guide presents the material through five main chapters: Composition, Technique, Posing, Self-Expression (Style), and Camera Assignments.

The instruction is intended to be accessible to any novice with a serious interest in the composition and posing of female nudes. You do not need to be an artist or a photographer to understand the material but a basic understanding of camera operation is assumed. It is written for the uninitiated and for those who have no more than a modest amount of experience with photography or composition.

The book begins with a discussion of visual literacy and its importance. Next are the abstract elements of composition, such as lines, colors, value, mass, depth, illusion, time, and motion. A section on design principles instructs in the assembly of these elements. Visual pathways, including cyclical, triangular, and others, are explained. Methods of design such as the rule of thirds, the golden mean, diagonal method, armatures, and forty-five degrees are all described and illustrated. The design instruction is rounded out with a discussion of commonalities and pitfalls in the design methods.

The various camera techniques range from controlling framing, focus, and lighting. There is information about high-key, low-key, and minor-key lighting, complete with histograms and diagrams that show where the lights are set up. The section on post-processing mentions the importance of vignettes, contrast, monochrome (black and white) images, color mapping, the zone system, isolating images, and making composites (montages). The book includes 100 examples of nude poses (in addition to the numerous other samples) grouped into sections, such as standing, furniture, and props.

The section on style addresses why we make a photograph and what constitutes an artistic body of work. There is a discussion of how your choice of genre, whether it is pinup, glamour, or fine art, figure study, or commercial design, influences your composition. The examination of style would not be complete without addressing how to analyze your work and sources of inspiration. The shooting assignments are real-world exercises that provide an opportunity to put what you have learned into practice. The book is rounded out with a glossary, index, and bibliography.

Author: A. K. Nicholas
Publisher: Bella Nuda Arts
Published: 01/02/2017
Pages: 124
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 11.00h x 8.50w x 0.32d
ISBN: 9780985026479

About the Author
Nicholas, A. K.: - A K Nicholas is an art photographer from the United States who specializes in figurative imagery. A diverse background and traditional art education prompted him to develop a unorthodox aesthetic that blends sensual imagery with a painterly style of manipulated colors. He was introduced to art through museum visits and other cultural experiences in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. Growing up the Middle East, He saw how women's bodies were hidden from public view. In stark contrast Europeans mostly lacked prudishness. Compare those to the US, where we have a bifurcated culture: half of us celebrate our beauty while the other half shuns it. He did not become interested in art until high school; taking a surrealism art history class, he realized he could explore art that interested him and began learning painting. His initial training with the nude was figure drawing while studying art in college. His first nude shoot was a complete surprise to him when a classmate in college assumed that his invitation to model meant for her to be nude. Although trained in drawing and painting, photography became his concentration by the conclusion of his art degree. Following art school, he put in his dues clerking and staffing the darkroom of a camera store. In the decades following his first shoot, he has photographed hundreds of nude models for pictorial books, limited edition prints, and his instructional books. In recent years he has dedicated himself full time to being an artist. He collaborates with models to create alternate realities, on what he calls a journey with no known destination. With his passion for sharing knowledge, he writes to help you learn from his experience, including how to avoid some common mistakes and to encourage your creativity.

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