This is a softly erotic outdoor shot of a young model that illustrates some basic nude photography lighting techniques.
Even if the picture had nothing else going for it, her simple gesture of grasping her wet hair would provide visual interest to an otherwise fairly straightforward pose. However, what truly makes this shot special is the lighting. Fortunately, this type of light is not difficult to achieve. For the most part, all that’s required is to shoot at the correct time of day. However, this window of time doesn’t last long.
From the gold color of the light, you can be certain this image was either taken just after sunrise or just before sunset (when the sun was low in the sky). These times of day are often referred to as “The Magic Hours.” However, to get a picture with this alluring type of light, you definitely won’t have hours. In fact, you may have only a few minutes.
From the highlights on the model’s hair and the rim of light on her torso (most visible in the bottom right corner of the image), you can tell that she had her back to the setting (or rising) sun.
To fill in any shadows on her face and body, a gold reflector was used to bounce light from the sun back onto her (this further enhances the warm glow of the image).
This shot was also made more interesting by using a wide lens aperture. The wide setting serves to place even more emphasis on the model by causing the trees in the background to become blurred.
Do you have any tips regarding outdoor nude lighting? If so, leave a comment and let us know.
