Read Lights, Camera... Nude!: A Guide to Lighting the Female Nude for Photography for Free Online Page A

fast movement, as is seen in the water here.
     

One Light in Studio
    Lighting Setup# 1 5 Category: Skill: Moderate Light Kit: Heads: Model Zone:
     

     
    Photo 60: One light in studio
     
    Model: Hope S.
     

     
    Lighting Diagram 15: One light, studio
     
     
     
    In this photograph, only one strobe ( L ight # 1) is used, fitted with a 17”x54” strip softbox. Fill light is provided by a 48-inch collapsible gold reflector (Reflector # 2) . The lit model zone allows for moderate movement, as long as the model doesn’t step too close to either light or out of its path. Advantages include portability and dramatic contrast. Disadvantages include limited coverage and lack of versatility.
     
     
     

Outdoor Lighting
     

 
     
     
     

About Outdoor Lighting
    You can use daylight as it is (available light), or add fill light with a flash or reflector.

Fill flash should be off-camera for best results.
     
    There is nothing wrong with using available light – but it requires the ability to recognize the lighting situations that are conducive to good photography, a far different task than creating your own lighting situation.
     
    Outdoor shoots can happen anywhere you can combine suitable lighting with enough privacy to avoid interruption. For the preceding photo, the setting was a nook of the model’s back yard, nestled between trees.
     
    Despite the challenges, shooting nudes outdoors offers spontaneous options for poses, backgrounds, composition, mood, light and color.
     
     
     
    Model: Sarah H.
     

 
     

Overcast Day with Strobe Fill Light
    Lighting Setup# 16 Category: Outdoor Skill: Easy Light Kit:1 Heads:1 Model Zone: Large
     
    Photo 62: Overcast day with strobe fill light
     
    Model: Kaitlyn P.
     
     
     

     

 
     
    Photo 63: Outdoor with water and car
     
    Model: Kaitlyn P.
     

 
     

Light #1 : The sun, with the sky as a mega diffuser, is the most abundant, powerful, and the lowest price light source you will ever find. But sunlight is also fickle and unreliable; but with some practice, outdoor light can become your ally.
     
     
     
    Model: Kaitlyn P.
     
When shooting this photo, it was so overcast that the studio strobe that I brought outdoors provided about half the light on the model.
    L ight # 2 : A softbox to the right of the camera, at about a 30-degree angle to the axis of the camera, provides fill light. Notice the fence, top of the car, and back of the car are dark and flat. These areas were lit with natural light, too far from the strobe to receive much light from it.
     
    The 1/60 second shutter speed allows some blur to dramatize the falling water, but is fast enough to freeze any movement from the model.
     
    Be mindful that fill light from a strobe can create an artificial look outdoors. For example, notice the hot spot created by the strobe on the front fender of the car.
     
    Practical Tip: Weigh down your light stands or the wind can blow them over.
     
     
     
     
     
    Lighting Diagram 16: Overcast day, strobe fill
     

Swimming Pool, Reflector
     
     
    Photo 63: Shooting nudes outdoors offers many spontaneous options
     
     
     
    Model: Sarah S.
     
    Lighting Setup# 17 Category: Outdoor Skill: Moderate Light Kit:1 Heads:1 Model Zone: la rge
     
     
     
    Lighting Diagram 17: Swimming pool
     
    A collapsible reflector is an easy outdoor fill light. Position the reflector on the shaded side or in front of the model where it catches direct sunlight and reflects it back toward the model. Bring a couple of assistants to hold reflectors, and to act as lookouts if you’re concerned about interruptions from onlookers.
     
    Light #1 creates some sparkle in the water and helps boost the diminutive sun lighting.
     
    The more elaborate your outdoor lighting setup, the more assistance you’ll need and the more time you’ll spend setting up and moving your equipment.
     
    With natural light, there are multiple light sources. The sun is the main light, and fill light is reflected by the sky