Day 28 - Naughty November
A 30 day spicy posing series to find yourself in the nood!
It’s never “just a photo”…
Moments that are encapsulated in film, digital format or video are like living breathing time capsules. They are a sliver of time that can be re-lived. Sometimes so powerful that it transports you back to a place, a smell, a memory, a sound. They are the little bread crumbs we leave behind that tell our story, and they are fucking important.
When I started shooting photography I used to dabble in a little of everything and one of my main streams of income was shooting listing photos for real estate agents. Fucking terrible job, often in houses without power, sometimes with tenants that just didn’t give a shit and the expectations were so high. Not a bright light in my journey…but there is one memory I will cherish and carry for a lifetime.
I was working in a town home of an older woman and she ended up staying during the shoot, not something I usually allowed or encouraged, but I am so thankful she did. Super spunky lady with purple hair, drank her OJ out of a martini glass “because it made her feel important” with the coolest style I have ever seen. On one of her walls she had the most beautiful set of black and white images. There were three of them, hung vertically, one of top of the other on a sliver of her living room wall. The images were old, printed on paper that was starting to curl and weathered around the edges.
The woman in the images was nude, standing in a floor to ceiling gridded window looking out onto a city. Her hair was down and pulled over her shoulder, highlighting her small frame, beautiful back and long neck. The images told a story that literally sucked me in. I could FEEL the passion the photographer had when they took the photo. When I asked her what they were, she told me this….
The woman in those images is me. They were shot in Paris when I was nineteen and in love with the human behind the lens. I keep them because they remind me that I was once young, alive and wild.
I was floored. It shook me down to my core and is a story I tell so many of my clients because an image is never just an image. It is a moment in time that you will never get back. Those black and white nude photos are something she cherished and looked upon with incredible love and sincerity. To me, that is priceless. You never know when a moment is going to be a last, a first, a celebration, a time you will want to revisit, a love story, a fleeting heartbeat. They all matter. Memory fades, but an image can last a lifetime.
So I tell this story to ask you what are you waiting for? Why are you hesitant about capturing your story and getting in the image? Stop playing it safe and start telling the story you want to leave behind.
Journal Prompts:
Journal Entry #1: Imagine you’re creating art for yourself only. No audience, no likes, no filters. What does that freedom feel like? What would you capture differently?
Journal Entry #2: Pick one photo from this past month that surprised you. What emotion does it hold? How did it make you feel when you first saw it? Write about the story behind it, not how it looks, but what it feels like.
Journal Entry #3: How has your relationship with your body shifted over the last 28 days? Have you noticed any change in your relationship with your body? Or how you navigate your day to day life? What does “feeling at home” mean to you right now?
Pose 28: Wet and Ready
The Setup:
Step 1: I’ll preface this pose with there is no right answer here. You can’t mess this one up. This pose looks hot no matter where your phone is, no matter where your light is, pretty much no matter what. The important things for this one, a stretchy white shirt, lots of water and hand placement. You can utilize side or full front light for this one and your phone can be placed in front or to the side of you.
Step 2: Get yourself and your shirt soaked. The wetter the better to be honest. I doubled up the white shirt for the purpose of this guide, but in my studio, my clients are using just one shirt.
Step 3: After you and the shirt are soaked, you are going to take the bottom edge of the shirt and bite it into your mouth. It’s going to create a beautiful triangle, exposing your chest in a super unique way.
Step 4: Take your hands and cup your chest, pushing together, grabbing or pulling. The water should be dripping over your hands creating even more interest.
Step 5: As you bite your shirt, drop your head back, hinge forward at the hips and arch your back.
Step 6: Play around with hand and shirt placement as well as light and phone location. As you can see in the examples below, move through your setup to get lots of variations.
Step 7: Stop the video, pause and take screenshots!
The Breakdown:
The Final Results:
I love you friend!
Katelyn
We ride naked at dawn!
PS, if you want more, snag my editing guide here!