Black and White Fine Art Nude Project

I always liked black and white for fine art nude,  I like the simplicity of it,  no color distraction at all.
For this project I wanted simple beautiful arty images, minimalist style with a minimum of props focusing on the shape of my subject keeping her anonymous, no eyes contact no facial expression.

I find that eyes contact and facial expression are more suitable for glamour and for this project I really wanted fine art nude.

It was done with a minimum of equipment, Canon 5d Markiii, Canon  24-105 Lens, Lensbaby Pinehole and soft focus optics, 2 Canon Speedlites 600EX-RT on a tripod bouncing on a circular white reflector and Canon radio transmitter  ST-E3-RT for the flashes that were set manually.

We worked in a very small space in my bedroom, not more than 10x10 feet, using mostly only one white wall that had no distraction, it was far from the comfort of a studio, but nothing is impossible when working with a great subject!

We did the best with what we got, and the result of that cooperation and interaction between my subject and I was the most beautiful set of fine art black and white images.

I didn't want to put the images on my blog by respect for my subject as they can be copied, and put directly into google public gallery, but if you want to view them you can visit the gallery on my website just follow this link Fine Art Nude Project


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The Woman Of The Forest With Jessy Cortes

Storyteller done with images, the location San Martin Parque in Mendoza Argentina.
My friend Jessy plaid the role of the woman of the Forest "La Mujer del Bosquet" we did it with minimal prop, only pieces of material, using the beautiful trees for our background.
Jessy and me are planning different shooting ideas, to experiment with a minimum of prop creating stories from images.  I  do a lot of post processing experiment,  my goal is to get great photos for sure but in reality I am trying to get images that tell a story,  not necessary following photography  rules or getting sharp focus, more like in a  story book.
This story is about a woman that left an abusing husband to live in the forest and to become part of it.
All the photos were done using Canon 5D Markiii, I used 3 lenses Canon 24-105, Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic and Lensbaby Double Glass Optic.

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic, blur effect done in Camera,  arriving in the forest sitting and looking at her reflection,

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic, blur effect done in Camera, offering 

Canon 24-105 at f4, lost in her new environment,

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/200, Alien Skin Exposure 7 filter, she is transformed into the woman of the Forest

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/200, Alien Skin Exposure 7 filter, superposition of  2 images using layer in PS,she is transformed into the woman of the Forest

 Canon 24-105, f4, 1/125, Alien Skin Exposure 7 filter, she is in peace with her decision,

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic, blur effect done in Camera, her first night,

Lensbaby Double Glass Optic in camera, blur and star effect, she is reborn, a new beginning,

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/250, her new role, her new identity, 

She embrace her new life,

I did this process to add the story book effect, I wanted her to be one with the forest to melt in it.

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/200, Being part of the elements, I used Corel Painter 2015 and Topaz for the post process.

She is now the queen of the forest, freedom in her heart, I did this photo by stitching 9 images together to expand the frame, this is the only way of keeping my personage in high resolution, I used PS and it worked perfectly.

She is now the queen of the forest, freedom in her heart, I did a painting over the image to create a story book effect,

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My Friend Jessica

Canon 24-105 at 100mm, f4, 1/250sec, ISO 640, Natural Light

Since I arrived in  Mendoza  I have been searching for a model, I wanted someone I can direct easily,  someone that will will work with me during my creation process someone to be part of my team.

My friend Jessica was the perfect match, she is beautiful, smart, easy to direct and as crazy as I am.

We had the first session this past Thursday, an informal session just to get to know how to work with each other, Jessica only speak Spanish, not a problem at all.

This is some of the shots I took, next step will be to do some conceptual and fine art image.

 The gears I used for that session were, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 24-105mm, Lensbaby soft focus, Canon flash.

Lensbaby Soft Focus, 1/400sec, ISO320, Natural Light

Flash Manual in a Beauty Dish, Canon 24-105 at 105mm,  f4.5, 1/160sec, ISO 200

Canon 24-105 at 80mm F4, 1/100 sec, ISO 160, Natural Light

Canon 24-105 at 105mm F4, 1/100 sec, ISO 160, Natural Light

Canon 24-105 at 105mm F4, 1/250 sec, ISO 160, Natural Light

Canon 24-105 at 60mm F4, 1/250 sec, ISO 640, Natural Light

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Family Matter, From Montreal to Vancouver

Leaving Montreal was very difficult, not sure when we will be back!

Every time we are passing by Montreal Airport we stop at Moe Deli and Bar for a smoked meat sandwich, a long-standing Montréal tradition,  but Moe location Gate 2 was way too far from our departure door at Gate 52, and this time we didn’t get any help for my handicap husband, the rule change, to get help, you have to pass security at the last minute, and Moe and other great resto are the other side, no choice we had to pass security and get to the resto without help, took us about 40 min to get to our gate, lucky enough, close by was the “U Bar at Gate 53” great place and the food amazing, for now on we will try to stop to U Bar more often depending on our departure door.

 

U Bar, Urban Style, great place and amazing food, got a pizza

We got to Vancouver late on June 19, our son and his wife Sandra picked us up at the airport, to bring us to their new place in North Vancouver.

Great view from our kids balcony in North Van

 I love their new apart, stunning view from the balcony and great location, North Vancouver is becoming my favorite place in Canada, if we come back from Argentina it may become home!

Passing time with our kids, it’s always the best, it was way too short, next time we hope to meet in Mendoza.

I took many photos of my son and Sandra, in the post processing I decided to add a bit of drama and old style, using Nick Analog FX Pro… all the photos were done using Canon 5D Markiii, and Canon 24-105

 Sebastien our son, using Nick Analog FX processing

Sandra and Sebastien

Sandra and Sebastien relaxing on their balcony

Sandra is my favorite model, she is beautiful inside out,

Beautiful Sandra

We enjoy every minute in North Van, we found a beautiful patio, a great place to relax, The Sailor Hagar's Brew Pub, great service too, we meet great guys, that gave us their seat, that doesn't happen often, but how nice it is when it does, because of them we got the best seat on the patio and the most comfortable chair for my husband.

Sandra and I, enjoying our time together

My husband Marc sitting on a comfortable chair, thanks to the guys in the background.

Marc was very happy to be behind the bar

Marc was an happy guy, thanks to the staff at the The Sailor Hagar's Brew Pub

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The Calgary Zoo

Montage "The 3 Amigos Bank Job" Canon 5D Markii, Canon 100-400 at 280mm, f5.6, 1/250sec, ISO200,

The Calgary Zoo, is an amazing zoo, it’s the second largest in Canada after Toronto.

The 3 Amigos, Canon 5D Markii, Canon 100-400 at 280mm, f5.6, 1/250sec, ISO200,BW using Onone software

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Located on St. George’s Island in downtown Calgary, a great location till June 2013 flood, the zoo suffered extensive damage costing over $50 million, the zoo fully reopened in November 2013.

For me like many Albertans and tourists the zoo is an oasis, a place to learn and relax.

The pictures on this post are some of my favorite, as you will see, I used some of them to create images that have nothing to do with the reality, but are part of my vision.

Canon 5D Markii, Canon 70-200 at 70mm, f2.8, 1/50 sec. ISO1250, using Corel Painter software,

The Other Side of the Glass, I like the interaction between the little monkey that in fact is outside, and the people the other side of the glass that are inside the building, it last just a fraction of second, just the time to capture it. Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 at 400 f5.6, 1/200sec. ISO 400

The Thinker, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 70-200 at 160mm, f5, 1/1250sec, ISO 200

Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 24-105 at 100mm, f4.5, 1/640sec, ISO200

I love pink flamingo, I had that vision when I saw them, I started by the BW image above, but that wasn't what I was looking for, I wanted to keep the pink, and add a surreal mood, using liquify filter in Photoshop and Corel Painter I was able to recreate my vision, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 24-105 at 100mm, f4.5, 1/640sec, ISO200

The zebras are probably one of my favorite subject, love the lines, especially great for BW, Canon 5DMarkiii, Canon 100-400 at 340mm, f5.6, 1/320sec, ISO200, Software onOne

The zebras such an amazing animal, I really like the way they are position in the frame, when I am out at the zoo, I can wait for hours to get a shot, and sometimes is doesn't happen, but this time it did, took me many days working with Photoshop and Corel to get the image exactly how I wanted, some of my pre-visualisation are very difficult and sometimes impossible to create even with Photoshop and all the other digital darkroom tools. For this shot I use my Canon 5DMarkiii, Canon 100-400 at 260mm, f5.6, 1/400sec, ISO200

The Lioness, so beautiful and ferocious, she is the queen, I passed many hours shooting her and her friends, the other lioness and the lions, to do so I needed to put my big lens on a tripod in a safe location, the African Lions are very popular and with all the kids rooming around it takes time to find the perfect spot, when I found it, I kept it for a while, shooting for few hours, wasn't even affected by the army of mosquitoes!!!  So I did like always when it's possible I used my sturdy tripod, Canon 5DMarkiii, Canon 100-400 at 308mm. f7.1, 1/160, ISO 400,

The angry girls, gorgeous and ferocious, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 with a Kenco 1.4 extender to get 560mm, f8, 1/400sec, ISO400

The King, how handsome, young and perky, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 with a Kenco 1.4 extender to get 434mm, f8, 1/250 ISO400

The Look of a king, Canon 5D Markiii, Canon 100-400 with a Kenco 1.4 extender to get 560mm, f9, 1/200 ISO400

To be successful when going for a safary at your local zoo, bring your tripod, I normally rent a cart to transport all my gears, be patient and take the time to find the perfect view point, set your gears be ready to shoot, and wait for the perfect moment, patience is the essence, that's why I always go alone, that way I can take as long as I want and focus on what I am doing, with no distraction.

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