A walk in the woods with Ian

Happy Monday <3

This week I am reminiscing about the warmer weather since it's been cold, windy and rainy this weekend. I will be sharing images with you taken on my first location art nude shoot with ianphotography.uk last month (September).

Ian first contacted me on PurplePort, and from the first few messages we exchanged, I knew we would work well together. We discussed our ideas in depth, as well as our expectations and opinions of how a shoot should be. It was refreshing to get to know someone in that way before you shoot together, as most people simply send a message saying "I'd like to book you" or something similarly nondescript. Messages like that make arranging working together quite difficult. I have a blog post with some tips about contacting a model that you can access by clicking here if you're interested in giving it a read.

Anyway, on to my shoot with Ian. Working with someone new can always feel a little awkward as you're figuring out how the other person works and what their style is. But on this occasion, because we had already laid a good foundation in our communication prior to the shoot, this process was massively sped up. I definitely recommend the longer messages before a shoot if you have the time, because it really does make such a difference. Especially since this shoot was arranged at fairly short notice as we both had a free day and the weather was on our side. We had a lovely 3 hours wandering around, chasing light through the woods and chattering away about lots of different things.

When I look back on the really good shoots I've had, the thing I remember most is the conversation and not the actual capturing of the images (until I see the results, which is often weeks later). To me, this just shows how important it is to have a good connection with the person you're working with: being able to collaborate fully and be on the same wavelength. This is where the magic happens, and we definitely had this magic on our shoot.

Abstract Nude

I'll start with my favourite image from the entire set. It's an abstract nude that I just completely adore, and you can't even see my face. I love this image because although it was captured with purpose as we were exploring the shadows of the ferns in the bright sunlight, the posing makes it seem almost incidental as if I'm just running past the camera. It tells more of a story without seeming overly posed, and I love that. Also, anyone who knows me, knows that I'm bloody obsessed with ferns, so obviously this one would be up there in my faves for that fact alone!

Implied Portraits

There are four images in this next section that I would like to talk about. Two black and white images, followed by two colour images. As a model who shoots a lot of nude, I'm not ashamed or embarrassed about being naked. But there's something I quite like about accidentally implied images. Those ones that you can post on Instagram without having to blur out nipples (like normal people do) or add ridiculous stickers over them (like I do), and without it being obvious that you're trying to keep them implied (like holding a prop in front of you, or clutching your arms across your chest, for example... nothing wrong with that, of course, I just mean that I like the subtlety of the implied aspect in the following images).

Using what's around you, like in the first image of both the monochrome and the colour images, is a little tricker to capture because the photographer will have to get the right angle and the model will have to try not to move too much (anyone who has worked with me will know this is a challenge for me as I'm quite fluid with my posing).

Using your arms to cover yourself, like in the second images, is easier to capture as a model as long as you maintain awareness about where the photographer is shooting from. Both methods (in these four images at least) look accidental in their impliedness, rather than purposeful, and that's what I like most about them. As well as the light on my face in the two monochrome images, of course, but more to come on that shortly.

Black and White:

Colour:

Implied Nude

Here are some more implied shots that I really liked from this shoot. Rather than portraits, these ones are full body images. I think that implied nude works best with poses that are more closed off, like these ones. In the first image, I'll be honest, I was balanced very precariously and it was difficult to remain implied while I was worried about falling into the nettles! The light was a lot more even where we captured this image, as it was a more open space. The following two images were captured by us using the pools of strong sunlight that was coming through some dense leaves above us, and it meant I had to get low to be in the light. It gave some truly lovely results though.

Nude

I find it quite fascinating that although I was completely nude for all of the images captured that day, there were only a handful of actual 'art nude' images. There were a lot of portraits and implied nude images. I do feel that nudity doesn't need to be explicit for it to make a difference to the images. Even the portraits that are tightly cropped, the fact that I look nude just really adds to the feel of nature, timelessness and vulnerability.

But anyway, we aren't talking about those just yet. Here are two of my favourite nudes from that shoot. We were on the way back to the car and Ian noticed the decaying leaves on a fallen branch that just happened to be in a lovely patch of light. We decided it would serve a nice contrast to the rest of the images we had shot that day around the more vibrant greens. I believe that my reaction was something like, "oooh dead things" and then I whipped my clothes off and jumped among the dying leaves. Both of these images have a completely different feel to them, purely because one is black and white, and one is colour. I love how much of a difference it makes to the story that each image tells.

Bathed in Sunlight

These two images I really like. They were taken close together, but again, the fact that one is monochrome and one is colour, they both have a completely different feel to them. I love my expression in both and I can't decide which one I prefer!

Portraits

Portraits are great. I love how a simple image of someone's face can say so much to the person looking at it, as well as so much about the person in the photograph. I used to be very much of the opinion that portraits were boring to shoot. I was never overly thrilled shooting them, because it's just my face and I know what my face looks like. I would have always much rather shot something more fun or creative. I completely disagree with my past self now after modelling for over a decade, because there's so much power in portraiture.

Even if it is just my face, the same face that I see every day in the mirror, and have countless images of on my phone and online... I realise now that each portrait is so different.

Different because it's a different photographer, using a different camera, who has a different lens, a different eye, and a different editing style.

On top of that, I'm different. I age, I have different moods and energy levels, I vary how I do my make up slightly, my weight changes, I change how I pose, or how I hold my face and carry myself.

On location shoots, the weather changes, the light changes, the temperature changes, the sights and sounds change as I look out past the camera...

Everything changes.

So yes, it's more pictures of my face, but the portraits taken this year compared to any that came before tell a story of a completely different person. Portraits taken a couple of years ago were of a new mother, and not a model. Portraits taken four years ago, captured someone who wasn't yet a mother but carried a child inside of her. Portraits taken 8 years ago captured a confident model, who loved her job but wasn't really a fan of portraiture. Portraits taken 10 years ago, captured someone just setting out in her modelling career and was only just discovering her passion. Portraits older than that captured someone who wasn't even a model yet.

It's crazy when you think about it, really. Those things probably won't mean anything to people who aren't me, but basically what I'm saying is that I'm so grateful for all the portraits I've done over the years for this reason. There is so much power in portraiture.

These portraits in particular I really really love. To me, they give that Hollywood portrait vibe. Which is wild when you consider they're shot on location rather than in a studio. But the brightness of the sunlight we found coming through the leaves, paired with Ian choosing to edit them in black and white, they really do echo back to that time. Also, from a vain perspective, my eyes look realllllly good in these portraits. Thank you to Ian for capturing me looking so glamorous!

Planets Aligned

Since I got the planet tattoos down the length of my forearms, a lot of photographers have wanted to make them a feature in pictures. This makes me happy because they're tattoos I had wanted for a very long time (shout out to my tattoo artist, Matt whose instagram can be found by clicking here). Along my right arm I have the planets, and along the left arm I have the symbols of the planets. Including Pluto of course, because scientists can't tell me that he's not a planet. Anyway, rant over. This image really displays these tattoos beautifully. We got a lot of lovely shots from this, but this one was my favourite. I enjoyed shooting this set as we explored different angles, perspectives and poses.

And that's all from me for today. Fingers crossed for another shoot with Ian coming up when the autumn colours are in full swing, and I'll have another blog post like this one for you.

Ian shoots on a Fuji X-T4 so all of the images in this post were captured on this camera for any camera nerds out there :) Here are some ways you can check out more of Ian's photography work if you're interested in seeing his results with other models. I definitely recommend giving him a follow on social media and visiting his website:

Instagram

PurplePort

Ian's website

I hope you loved these images as much as I loved shooting them. Feel free to leave a comment on this post and let me know which one was your favourite!

A big thank you to Ian for a wonderful shoot and for letting me use these images and ramble on about them for a while. Also, thank you to whoever is taking time out of their day to read this. Have a wonderful week, and I look forward to sharing more with you next Monday!

Misuzu <3