2013 pics – one a month
Shamelessly nicking the idea from a friend, here is a selection of 12 of my photos from 2013, one a month....
Nude Studies (NSFW)
I did some other nude portraits recently - I haven't posted them up previously as I hadn't asked the subject about it. They said yes, on the condition that they're not identifiable - so here they are.
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Art Nudes (NSFW)
A couple of weekends ago I ventured up to London (a rare event) to take part in an art nude studio photography day. This was organised by a naturist friend and was a clothes optional event, which made for a really good environment with the models, and was probably a bit unusual for them - I think they're used to being the only naked ones. What was very noticeable was that the day wasn't just men photographing women - we had almost as many male models as female, as well as women taking photos. Several people did stints on both sides of the camera.
If you've seen any of my work you'll know that I don't photograph people very much, and certainly not in a studio, so this was quite a new experience. My main learning point is to come up with more ideas of my own, rather than relying on the models (who were excellent). On the whole though, I...
Alton Towers
I spent the weekend at Alton Towers - the theme park is closed for their winter maintenance, but we were at the Splash Landings Hotel which has an indoor water park attached.
"We" were British Naturism, running their 7th Alton Towers weekend (Friday evening through to Sunday lunchtime), although it's the first one I've been to. It was pretty much sold out, with approaching 400 naturists staying.
Strangely, Alton Towers don't allow their name to be used in advertising the event, and it can only be marketed to BN members - so they're happy to take our money (what's known as the buff pound) but not to be publicly associated with naturists. Would their regular clientele be completely freaked out?
The waterpark was great fun, with a couple of good water slides - one of them was long, fast and dark. A real blast!
As well as various activities (yoga, tai-chi, paper plane making, a portrait photography workshop (not by me) and evening musical...
National Memorial Arboretum
Some photos from a trip to the National Memorial Arboretum, near Lichfield - the national services memorial.
An interesting place, with several moving memorials. Worth a visit.
By the way, do please tell me if you think I'm overdoing the black and white. For some reason the photos from the new camera just seem to work really well - crisp and sharp and well suited to contrasty b&w....