Your First Ever Nude Photos

This is from my perspective as a photographer.  The majority of nudes that you see on my website were already friends or acquaintances.  Not all but definitely a majority.  So the ‘First things first’ point (below) was pretty much covered.  Other models were generally referred to me by those already photographed in my studio. 

First things first.

You want to make sure that you are going to feel comfortable during the shoot.  Check out the work of the photographer of your choice.  You will likely have done this already. 

Once you have found a photographer whose work you like, arrange to meet before the shoot.  Make sure that you are comfortable with him or her.  You can read testimonials and ask for references if it makes you feel safer.  Feel free to talk to models who have worked with the photographer previously.

Share some ideas of what you want.  What do you want to achieve from the session?  There are lots of ideas on places like Pinterest, Flickr and other websites.  Make it clear what you will be comfortable with and what not.  This being very new, you may not be certain what you are going to be OK with.  Communicate.

As a photographer, I often set up a place on Pinterest or something similar to share ideas.

Goals

Get some ideas together to use as a starting point.  That way you have some idea of what you want to achieve.  You can get creative from there.

Practice. This goes for any type of modeling, even just for headshots.  Get in front of a mirror and get an idea of what different expressions and angles of the body will do.  Amongst other things, see what different expressions do to your face.  Does an expression that feels sultry actually look sultry?  And you likely don’t want smiles for every photo.

I’ve put a couple of links at the end, one of which is designed to help make your smile more natural.

Clothing and props.  You may feel more comfortable starting with some lingerie, a man’s large white shirt, a hat or some such.  Work into the nude poses as you get more comfortable.

Make-up and hair and general appearance. Decide what level of make-up you want.  Simple or glamour or something in between.  Having at least some basic make-up done before you arrive will help.  Bring it with you for touch-ups and for accents through the time of the photoshoot.  The same goes for hair.  Are you going to have it done before the shoot?  Do you have ways to change it up throughout the process?  Do your nails, fingers and feet.  Shave as necessary. 

Before you arrive. Stay hydrated.  Eat well.  This is important.  It will keep your skin looking clean and healthy.  No drinking and junk food for a few days at least before your appointment. Alcohol is not kind to your skin.  Arrive rested, on time and not stressed.

Put your phone away.  Silence it.  Give all of your attention to what you are doing.

The colour red.  Fingernails, toenails, lingerie.  The colour red always punches up any kind of photo.

Agreements.  As a model, establish with the photographer ahead of time what you are willing  to have shown online.  Are you OK with your face being shown in photos online or not?  Under your name? A stage name?  These things need to be stated ahead of time.

If need be, on this point, write some basic things down beforehand.  Your photographer will more than likely want to display photos from the shoot online somewhere.  He or she will not want you to have full veto, so make sure you both know what is what.  Again, communicate. 

Take a friend. If you have checked references and are comfortable with the photographer’s portfolio this is very likely not necessary.  If you do want to bring a friend, make sure that is communicated to the photographer.  Ideally, there is an adjacent room where your friend can sit and read a book. 

Relax. Find a way to relax and have fun with it.  Have some music playing in the background that you like.