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Combining nudes and landscapes

Lesson 51 from: Masters of Photography

Albert Watson

Combining nudes and landscapes

Lesson 51 from: Masters of Photography

Albert Watson

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Lesson Info

51. Combining nudes and landscapes

In this lesson we reveal one of Albert's very latest projects. Learn as Albert teaches you how he created a stunning series of images by combining nudes with different landscape textures.
Next Lesson: A perfect print

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Meet your Master

01:26
2

Learn from the journey

15:24
3

Using inspirations

08:43
4

Photography is stopping time

09:27
5

Albert's library of ideas

08:30
6

Tips on preparing for a portrait shoot

12:10
7

Setting up the studio

04:56
8

Understanding studio collaboration

07:35
9

The importance of casting and hair & make-up

08:59
10

Foreground studio set up

08:46
11

Studio session with a model - set up 1

11:23
12

Studio session with a model - set up 2

05:55
13

Studio session with a model - set up 3

08:01
14

Picking the best shot

03:36
15

Working with photoshop

13:14
16

Creating a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock

04:18
17

The gigantic question... Colour or black and white?

07:55
18

One day with Kate Moss

05:06
19

Learn to have your ideas ready

06:14
20

Using Polariods

06:29
21

Creating beautiful photographs of hands

04:45
22

Controlling natural light

05:38
23

Shooting a monkey with a gun

06:27
24

Choosing your format

07:13
25

Composition and lens

04:47
26

Shooting landscapes. The Isle of Skye

15:18
27

Planning and ideas for a landscape shoot

06:32
28

Creating still life images

13:48
29

Photographing the Lost Diary

10:53
30

Shooting album covers

03:09
31

The Strip Search Project

10:28
32

Shooting Las Vegas landscapes

08:24
33

Photographing Breaunna

07:21
34

Balancing daylight, God bless America

03:45
35

Creating the Maroc Project

10:21
36

Creating the Maroc shoot

08:11
37

Photographing sand dunes

04:09
38

Photographing Moroccan children

10:42
39

Advice on making portraits

10:12
40

How to be alert to finding photographs

07:35
41

Making a portrait of Mike Tyson

02:39
42

Creating intense colour in a photograph

03:04
43

Portraits of rap stars and a Golden Boy

08:40
44

Photographing Jack Nicholson

04:20
45

Creating a portrait of David Cronenberg

02:14
46

How to light only using two $10 bulbs

07:29
47

Studio fashion set up 4

10:47
48

Studio session with a model. The geography of a face

13:05
49

Look inside the picture

02:56
50

Creating memorability in an image

02:54
51

Combining nudes and landscapes

04:52
52

A perfect print

07:50
53

The business side of things

06:50
54

Conclusion and farewell

03:55

Lesson Info

Combining nudes and landscapes

(lighthearted music) I think I've mentioned a few times in the talk, about the importance of preparation. And there's another word that goes into preparation, which is concept. So, the preparation and concept is part of your thinking. It's not just turning up and saying well I'm so good as a photographer, I don't really need to think about anything until I get on the set. Preparation really is ganna do you well. Conceptual thinking also helps, so that's something you should be practicing. I'm ganna show you now an example of something that was preparation in the extreme. I'd always wanted to do this series of double exposures with landscape and also nudes. And I had done a project on the Island of Skye off the west coast of Scotland, beautiful island. And I shot there some very very simple, textural backgrounds: trees, leaves, rocks, where I was able to think about there would be a nude with, you know, in the back of my head, with these various elements. So I did a whole series when ...

I was doing also Landscape photography as well. So I held onto those for a couple of years and then finally I got it together back in New York to shoot some nudes and incorporate these textural landscapes with the women. So I've done a whole series of these, there's actually 60 or 70 of them. (lighthearted music) I'm just emphasizing concept, thinking about things, preparation and so on. So this is a rather extreme example of preparation where I had this idea of the double exposure and the landscape picture was done two years before I actually got to shooting the nudes. But I had the makeup artist kind of bronze the body because then I knew it would take the tattooing of the landscape, the double exposure onto her skin. And the basic idea for the nude series was also a little bit A Midsummer Night's Dream, a little bit of a tribal, strange, mystical place. That was where the whole idea came from, you know. A little bit strangely, Lord of the Rings or something. So, I had these landscapes, textural landscapes and then I proceeded with the nudes, and then this image here, you can examine it and you'll see how the skin is almost, takes on a tattoo that looks a little bit primitive. And it's a very good use of the computer to compile an image. And, I'm a big fan of the computer, I'm a big fan of the past, 30 years ago, 40 years ago film, but I'm also a fan of all the new technology as well. And just because you shoot a digital camera doesn't mean to say that you can pick up a roll of film next week and shoot a roll of film. Film hasn't gone yet. But this is a good example of preparation. So in the computer, it's actually quite easy on the surface to just do a double exposure, you're basically overlaying two images together. It's a little bit more complicated than that. Because you want to feel that this image is tattooed on the body. So, you really have to isolate the nude from her background and then you're dropping the landscape primarily onto the body. So there is, of course, some very delicate Photoshop work that you have to do. And you have to get the balance the density of the landscape on the skin the skin shouldn't be too dark, it shouldn't be too light, so this is a really beautiful way of working with modern technology and putting together a really interesting image. And it's very very flexible. So I had shot maybe as many as 30 textural landscape pieces for this project, and therefore I had a lot of flexibility when I combined them. (lighthearted music)

Ratings and Reviews

Richard A. Heckler
 

"Unless you're Mozart"...this course is an invaluable asset. I'm a pro, humanitarian/documentary photographer, & wilderness...and I've learned much from the 40+ sessions here. This is truly a Master Class...next best thing to being with Albert. And although I could watch studio sessions forever, this course offered a very balanced curriculum of technical information, artistic encouragement and guidance, and a open, generous window into the thinking of a gifted artist and photographer, sifted from decades of first class experience. Kudos to all involved. Excellent!

a Creativelive Student
 

I purchased my first CreativeLive class in 2011 and have continued to purchase many classes over the years. I have learned so much from the many great instructors. This one is not a technical class that will tell you to set your camera at f4, 1/60, ISO 400 and you can get this shot. If you are looking for that, there are many other options. If you have a solid working knowledge of photography, this class is so much more. The way it was filmed is like you are there with him in conversation or in the room with him watching him shoot. To see and understand the how and why he does what he does. Not to take anything away from other classes that have helped to give me a strong understanding of photography, this is my favorite CreativeLive class so far.

Student Work

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