Back Home with Crystal
My first trip back to the US since I started this newsletter allowed me to work with some fellow countrywomen, finally.
It’s my summer vacation, so naturally I’m spending most of it working. I make an annual pilgrimage back to my home town to see family and friends, but this time I’ve also managed to cram in five model shoots while I’m here. I rented an apartment to accommodate all of that shooting; there’s not all that much to pick from in my little town, but I combed through photos in the listings to find some good light.
Nor did it disappoint when I arrived – there’s a sizable living room and two bedrooms to work with, all generously lit by tall windows with clerestory hoppers at the roofline. (Yes, I had to look that up. You’re welcome, architects.) At the base of each window in all three rooms was a window seat, perfect for flattering portrait lighting or dramatic poses.
The first model I had the chance to work with in this space was Crystal, the lovely long-haired lass you see here. When I was looking for models in the area to try to work with, she caught my eye very early on. It’s everything about her, really – her long, dark hair, those deep brown eyes, her warm and inviting smile – but I was most interested in capturing and accentuating her figure. She’s classically beautiful, in that her proportions are like those of the art of antiquity.
And she knows how to evoke that classical beauty. She’s only been modeling for a few years, but it’s her full-time gig, so she came with a comprehensive repertoire of poses worthy of Michelangelo (or any of the other Ninja Turtles). If you want to keep up with her work, follow her on IG – she’s a busy girl. Demanding, too – when I first reached out to her, she told me that she only works with photographers with verified experience and wanted some references. I gave her some, and she followed up on them! I liked that, actually. Tough but fair.
We started the shoot with a usual feature of these projects, which I’ve taken to calling show and tell. Every model who does these kinds of shoots is in possession of no fewer than seventeen thousand pieces of lingerie, shoes, and props/accessories, most of which she’ll bring along to the shoot regardless of what was discussed prior, and Crystal was no exception. Even though she’s perfect just the way she is, I did pick out a couple things that I thought would complement the colors in the living room and bedrooms, so you’ll see a bit of color and texture thrown in with the pure nudes.
Wardrobe selections agreed upon, we got to work in the living room first. I was a little worried that the light from the large windows in every room would be too harshly directional to be flattering, but the worst of the midday sun was enervated by surrounding buildings and by a considerable amount of dirt that had built up on the outer panes. It’s sort of like replacing the windows with huge Glimmerglass filters. The living room was also big enough that it was easy to step away from the light sources just enough to get the best diffused light.
The two bedrooms are very similar, but just different enough that it was worth shooting in both. One has a bigger bed and wooden floors, the other a smaller bed and carpet. There was also a small, rectangular mirror that was frustratingly close to being useful for some creative shots, but I struggled to get the compositions to work.
We shot quite a bit in the window seats in multiple rooms as well. I find the strong light is great for close-ups and more standard portrait-style compositions, but Crystal’s model brain (and young, cooperative body) immediately went into creative pose mode. I’ll share my favorite of her contortions here for your consideration – she really went for it!
I just want to riff a little bit here at the end about erotica as opposed to art nude, because I very much consider myself a student and purveyor of the latter rather than the former. That said, I’m trying to make a living here, and I know there’s a market (probably a bigger one, let’s be honest) for erotic content (which, in the modeling world, really just means “open leg poses”). I shot some of that kind of content with Stephanie, and Crystal was perfectly happy to do it as well. (Not all art nude models will do erotica; the ones who do charge more for their time when it’s involved.)
She mentioned during the shoot that there were really only a few poses to throw out when it comes to the open leg stuff, which I think gets to my difficulty with it: it’s hard to do creatively, or artistically. Perhaps that’s the point – erotica is a blunt instrument of visual engagement, not meant to be deftly executed. Still, the creative in me doesn’t want to accept that premise, so I’ll just have to do some deeper exploration of the genre and learn what else I can do with it. For those of you who enjoy the blatant, the obvious, the unsubtle – become a paid subscriber and you’ll get what you’re looking for after the paywall!
If you’re just a big fan of Crystal’s and don’t want to subscribe, you can unlock access to her individual gallery for this shoot here.
If you love seeing Crystal as much as I enjoyed working with her, I’ve got good news: we had such a positive experience that we decided to do it again while I was in town. Stay tuned for more of her – the same, but different!
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