STEP BY STEP SUGGESTED NUDE PORTRAITS

How to set up a home studio and capture an iconic black-and-white portrait

01 CAMERA AND LENS

Any Canon EOS camera and standard zoom will work for full-length portraits. We used a full-frame Canon EOS 5D Mk III and a focal length of 70mm on our Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8l for better working distance and framing for the backdrop.

02 MANUAL MODE

Manual mode is essential when you’re shooting with lights, as you need to control the aperture, shutter speed and ISO independently. We used an aperture at f/5.6, ISO160 and a shutter speed to sync with the lights of 1/160 sec.

03 HOME STUDIO SETUP

We set up our black backdrop and light in our home studio. Ensure your model remains comfortable during the shoot and keep a dressing gown to hand while you’re setting up your lights and such, so they only need to disrobe when you’re ready.

04 SQUARE SOFTBOX

We prefer to use softboxes generally for portraits and they were ideal for this sort of iconic lighting, as we need a strong and directional light. We also need the light source to be soft for a more flattering look when taking nude portraits.

05 LIGHTING SETTINGS

We positioned our light up close for deeper shadows, at a 45-degree angle, and set to 2.6 power. Being self critical, we would’ve played with the lighting to create more shadows, but on some shoots there isn’t time. Thankfully, we can increase the shadows in Photoshop…

06 BLACK-AND-WHITE CONVERSION

We converted our Raw image to B&W in Adobe Camera Raw for more control. Click Treatment: Black & White, then we boosted Shadows and Contrast, reduced Highlights and Blacks, and used a Grad Filter at the bottom to darken the feet like the original.