Curves And Shadows

No it's not related to a photoshop technique. This is a shoot I did where I decided to try to achieve a completely different feeling to what I normally have my photos when shooting a nude. Some silhouette, some bodyscape and different body positions. Personally I feel some shots are a lot more sensual, even sexual than what I normally do but with far less seen if that makes sense. all of this achieved just by using body language. The curve of the lower back, the submissive hand posture or even the angle of the head. The model was great to work with as she is an artist and very expressive so achieving the results took very little time.

Anyway I let you decide. Have a great week and I hope this makes your Monday slightly less Monday.

Chad

Botswana

I had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks traveling around Botswana and even though the objective wasn't to make it a photographic trip as always I had a couple of cameras with. I took the Fujifilm X-T1 with a couple of lenses and my Nikon FM2 film camera with a 50mm lens. Because I don't normally shoot wildlife, the longest lens I have is the 85mm equivalent so opportunities were a bit limited. Bear that in mind when you view the photos, it will give you an idea of how close the animals came to us. I admit that there were more than a few occasions that I experienced a bit of the old butt hole pucker, case in point was when I shot the hippo photos. It was literally a car length away from us.

Part of the reason I wanted to go on this trip was to remind myself how small and vulnerable I as a human actually am when taken in context of the awe that is nature. I think we tend to forget this very quickly when we live in cities but when you are in the middle of the bush with no one else around for kilometers and you hear a lion roar less than 50m away from you in the black of night as you sit around your fire you are reminded very quickly where you sit in the food chain.

It was also amazing to realize how we adapt to danger, case in point was one day we noticed a small hut literally made from straw with no door. When we met the locals we mentioned this and he causally said that they used to sit in the hut until one day a lion tried to eat them there so now they don't sit in that hut! There are a few other stories I have regarding danger but I'll save those for another time. Just remember, there are no fences keeping anything out so when you need to pee at night, you dangle it out the tent.

I will say that if you haven't been to Botswana then do yourself a favor and go, your life will not be the same. When you have returned and you are sitting at your desk at work months later, you will find yourself reminiscing about that trip and maybe even sometimes wondering why you haven't sold all your worldly possessions and made that your life. 

Again this is a photo blog not a travel blog but I feel obliged to give you a few helpful tips if you are planning a 4x4 trip there.

1. Buy as much of your provisions including water, beer and fire wood outside of the country. The prices get seem to get more and more expensive the further north you travel.

2. Don't forget your first aid kit, when you are hours away from anyone this could save your life.

3. If you have a sense of direction as bad as mine, a GPS with trail maps is a must or you find yourself driving around in circles for hours in a storm.

4. If you are planning on going in the wet season like us, be prepared for some adrenaline fueled driving! Having more than one vehicle gives great piece of mind but we did fine just 2 guys and a Pajero.

5. After eating wash and store all food stuffs inside your vehicle or trailer otherwise you tend to get visits from animals that may decide you are lunch. We made the mistake of leaving a bbq grid hanging on a gazebo and went for a drive. When we returned the gazebo was completely wrecked and could only be used for scrap.

6. When you pull into the camp on your first night in the bush and notice your Dutch neighbour has made his bbq and eaten and is already in his tent as the sun sets, don't be so quick to mock him (see comment above regarding lion roaring at night).

7. Oh and finally, a fellow traveller advised us to sleep with our shoes inside our rooftop tent because the hyena tend to eat them if you leave them outside (note that we didn't actually experience this but we kept them inside just in case).

That's it for tips, the rest you can read on any website when you do your research. Now enjoy the photos.

Cheers

Chad

This was our first destination and and a taste of what was to come. See the storm approaching in the distance? Yeah we didn't think it would reach us in 10 min either.

Baobab trees 

Happy elephant.

They don't call it the rainy season for nothing. We spent our late afternoons and nights being chased by storms.

Not so happy elephant.

Big boy is about a cars length away from me.

More afternoon storms.

One of the numerous flooded areas we crossed. Doesn't look too deep right? Water was up to our windshield. One of many pucker moments.

I hate the way Fuji renders foliage but in this case I have to say the colors were nearly spot on compared to what I saw. Shot with Fuji standard film simulation if I remember correct.

I havde a series of these shots. I think these are going to make some great prints.

After waiting patiently for 5 hours to shoot the sunset we were hit by gale force winds accompanied by a mother of a storm.

Goodbye Bostwana, see you soon.

Shadows and Light

It's been a while since my last blog post. In the meantime I've been shooting lots, trying out new ideas that have been floating around in my mind and hoping that I find it as interesting in real life. It has been a time of miserable weather and a bit of a creative slump on my side of the world. To try and get over this slump Have been shooting a bit of street photography when I can. Going back to basics and just looking out for certain colors on certain days. For me it's a lot harder than it sounds because I'm not sure my brain thinks that way but I think that is the point of the exercise.

As far as shooting bodies, I continue to try to focus on tighter shots. Focusing on a certain part of the body and not just as a whole. Using shadows as my own personal wardrobe stylist to hide what I don't want to focus on and the light to draw my eye to what I do want to focus on.

As far as new ideas, I want to shoot different body types but I am struggling to find "normal" people who are confident to pose for me. By this I mean all different body types that don't necessarily fit the typical stereotypical magazine cover profile. This includes curvaceous, obese, "too thin" etc. Do you have a physical disability and are not embarrassed of it? If you are interested and then feel free to reach out and send me an email. I am looking to create interesting and thought provoking photos with you.

Have a great one.

Chad

Getting In Close With Nudes (NSFW)

A friend of mine who is also a photographer was recently looking at my work and made an interesting observation about my nudes portfolio. He noted that I tend to shoot the entire body and never come in close for tight shots. After listening to this I had another look at my work and he is correct in this. I never gave it much thought before but after thinking about it I realized my reasons for doing this. I always felt that when shooting nudes, the entire body is necessary to tell a story or show or evoke an emotion. However after doing a quick crop of one of my photos he showed this to be untrue. In fact the cropped version was much more powerful to me.

So, as a result of this I have been scouring my archives of all my nude shoots looking for any close  or tight shots that I might have taken before but just decided weren't any good. I have discovered a few photos which I will post below.

After looking at these photos I came to another realization as to how much more control I have over my lighting than before and in my opinion how this has greatly improved my photography. 

Shooting close or tight shots will also force me to think of the body in a completely direct way to what I am used to and this will hopefully make for some interesting photos. Maybe less emotion and more sculpture like is an approach I should try. The soft curve of the lower back, the strained neck as the head is twisted, a knee, an elbow? I am not sure at this point but look forward to trying.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Chad

Shanghai Street Photography B/W

Just a quick post before I head off to do other things. Here are a few shots that have been marinading for a while. Shot around Shanghai they show 1 side of life here. Never a dull moment on the streets, all you have to do is look out for them. 

Have a great week, and for those here who worked yesterday, congratulations, Monday is over and you only have 4 more days until the weekend.

I will start to post more of my street photography on my Flickr account so you can find these and more shots there. Same username, Chadwickimages.

Krabi Thailand

Beautiful and friendly Thailand. Every time I go to Thailand I enjoy it more and more. The people are always super friendly and respectful, always willing to help in anyway they can. Now trying to find something interesting and authentic to shoot becomes a little tricky when you find yourself in a tourist spot like Krabi but with the help of a great tour guide I managed to get away from the usual more well known places.

Although this trip wasn't purely for photography I did manage to get a few great shots as well as trying my hand at shooting 35mm film which I have been wanting to do for a long time. Shooting film alongside digital proved to be a challenge for me because the way you go about shooting each format is completely different. I found with digital I am used to shooting a lot more photos per scene but with film I really had to slow down and think about my shots. The other benefit of shooting digital is that I got instant feedback how the photo looked and obviously the same is not possible when using film. This can be frustrating but at the same time exciting. The one thing I will change for the next trip is that I will have to choose beforehand which medium to shoot, digital or film as both at the same time had me feeling like I was doing half a job for each. Next time I would like to focus on just one. Like that I will work with both the advantages and limitations and I think this will help me improve. One the the really frustrating things I found shooting with film is that I am so used to changing the ISO on the fly to achieve the look I want that I didn't give much thought to what happens when I shoot film until I have to shoot in the daytime as well as night. Digital has really made it so easy and convenient that we are spoilt for choice. With film I had to make a decision beforehand about what film speed I would use and live with whatever restrictions came with that decision. For example I was shooting Ilford HP5 Plus 400 which was great for the days but I had to make sure that before the night I had finished the roll of film and had a new one ready pushed to 1600 so that I could get that bit extra shutter speed that I needed in dark night scenes. I'm not sure how old film shooters got around this, the only thing I can think of is that they carried 2 cameras around with them with different speed films in each. Anyway, I have a long way to go on my film adventure but the bug has already bitten me.

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Dancers Project

Just in time for your commute home. Well done you did it, Monday is finished!!! I hope this post makes your day just a little bit more interesting.

It's been a while since I posted so I thought I would update you on what I've been up to. I've been shooting lots for my ongoing Dancers Project. This is a long term project dedicated amongst other things, grace, beauty and energy of dancers. The project is evolving in some ways and thus I feel it could go on for a while until I am satisfied that it is complete. I think this is normal because the more time I spend with dancers the better I understand what being a dancer is all about, the more I want to show the pain, dedication and very personal need for self excellence that each dancer seems to bring to each movement and pose. Also the longer I work on this project, the more ideas and different angles I discover that I feel add to it in some way. Finally it's also important to me to bring a little of each dancers stage personality into the photo. The project has also changed in that what started off as a purely black and white idea now will be a mix of color and black and white photos. This came about after just talking to the dancers about what they do and how they see themselves.

There are so many different styles of dancing that I have not yet discovered or explored. For the moment the idea is to show as many as possible. If you are a dancer and would like to collaborate with me then feel free to contact me.

3 Summit, Lin'An

Another great place in China. The mountains are beautiful and peaceful, a far cry from the masses that inhabit the cities and towns in China. The only sounds you hear in the mist at the top of the mountain are the bells around the necks of cows.

Down in the village the locals are friendly and welcoming. Children stare with curiosity and intrigue at any foreign face and a few badly pronounced words of Chinese gets you an explosion of laughter.

Street Photography Using Flash

AAAARRRGGGHH, This is the 3rd time I am writing this post because my blog keeps on crashing. So, as I was saying twice before, currently I am using a Fuji EF-X20 flash to shoot street. I really enjoy the compact size and solid build of it but the downside is that it doesn't last very long before I need to change batteries. I am looking for another option if anyone has good experiences with a small flash suitable for street photography then send me a message.

The Long Road To Consistency

Once again it's been far too long between posts. Life has been crazy for the past 5 months and I have had to learn to manage my time differently. Having said that, as you can see from the lack of posts I haven't been entirely successful but I'm getting better.

So, what have I been up to? Lot's of shoots, building up some great work on my personal projects, also I've been shooting some beautiful clients, always a pleasure, explored a bit of China and I still need to post those landscapes from a while ago. Also, I'm rekindling my love affair with street photography and hopefully I'll start shooting film a bit soon. My friend has been bugging me to do it and I have always loved the feel of film, in fact most of my favourite photographs where shot with film. It's gritty, raw and honest in a way that digital just struggles to be. Of course this is just my opinion and it still doesn't stop me from trying to simulate the film feel when I shoot digital.

Speaking of Street Photography and legends of film photographers, if you are in Shanghai be sure to check out the exhibition by Fan Ho at the M97 gallery. It is on until around the 31st of this month. 

Below are some street shots of the daily life in Shanghai, I've been playing around shooting with flash a la Bruce Gilden style and I have to say I like the effect. For the moment I am moving away from this obsession of needing my photos to be tack sharp, in fact I really like a bit of intentional blur in some of my shots.