Simply because it is my birthday today 😀
Another new limited edition print available. ( 7 copies + 1 Artist Proof) ‘PEARLS’.
60 x 60 up to 100 x 100 cm on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta – finishing/framing on demand.
pls contact me at
ludwig – at – renderhouse -dot- eu
for more info.
see you soon,
ludwig
New limited edition print ( 7 copies + 1 Artist Proof) available.
100 x 100 cm on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta – finishing/framing on demand.
Sudden gust of wind
Pls. contact me for more information. Be quick, they’ll be gone before you know it. 😉
ludwig.
Another set of images made it to the digital ‘Nude Is Fashion’ platform:
Lisa at the Mansion. From a shoot last summer, one of the last shoots I did at the Mansion. Now as an exclusive image series on NIFmagazine.
a couple of weeks ago my work got published as an exclusive feature on NIF Magazine.
NIF (Nude Is Fashion)Â Magazine is an online platform for promotion of the nude as a fashion statement. They do so by promoting art-nude and fashion nude photographers on their website.
I thought that ‘Tatjana at Sabine’s house’ was a series that fitted well this description.
look for yourself:
Handcuffs and blindfolds, they have nothing to do with submission or repression, but all with the fine art of lovemaking.
text by Greg Phillips
image © ludwig desmet
Model: Sarah
1/25 sec – f2.2 – sigma 50mm f1.4 DG Art on Canon 5D mark II
thank you for watching.
Ludwig
No words …
see you soon.
Ludwig
It has been a while since I first started thinking about how to define ‘fine erotica’ and what can be described as being erotic, and I still am not really sure how to describe it. I think it must be a mix of State of mind, sexual attraction, visual appeal and a lot of fantasy about the promise of an intimate relationships. For me erotica is not directly linked to nude, and nude is not per definition erotic. I think there’s a lot of nudity available on the internet that has little or no erotic effect, rather the contrary. And there are some (harder to find) very erotic, non nude pictures out there as well.
As a photographer it is not easy to find and keep that very thin border between ‘just another picture of a beautiful woman’ – fine erotica – ‘just plain vulgar’. And that is just what I’m trying to achieve in some of my photo shoots.
I think I have the necessary technical knowledge now, but there’s a lot more needed.
One of those things needed is a willing model, understanding your ideas and showing enough confidence to let you execute them. Not easily done these days, where all things including nudity, erotica and sexual arousal are hidden far away behind closed bedroom doors.
It will be a long search, and I feel I only have just started out.
This shoot was done with help of Audrey from Hotel Remington in Ronse, thank you Audrey, for keeping a room for us that day. Clicking on the name-link will take you to the website of this nice, charming hotel.
Emilie was ready. She understood the things I wanted her to evoke, and she did it. Thank you so much Emilie, for your confidence, your trust and the beautiful results we made together.
Emilie is not really sure about revealing herself to the world as being a nude model, so we agreed to show only ‘non recognizable images on this blog’. I hope you understand, and I hope you can enjoy these pictures.
After working with Ivana for about an hour or two, it appeared to me that she hadn’t showed herself in the shoot the way she presented herself when ringing at my door that same morning.
So I wanted her to look NOT like a model for once. So in stead of asking her to convey a certain emotional state, or a certain strength or vulnerability or whatever look I had received from her, now I wanted her to show the real Ivana. Now THAT was a very hard think to do. And I think that is the biggest disadvantage of working with pro models, they kind of lost themselves in those hundreds and hundreds of hours of being someone else.
But I think we succeeded, and Ivana at last had me have an insight in her natural being. So here she comes, the real Ivana. I am proud, thank you Ivana!
thank you, come again soon, please leave me your thoughts and questions.
warm greetings,
Ludwig
Ivana is an international working beauty and fine art nude model. She was in Belgium last september, and I took the occasion to work with her for a morning session at the mansion.
Working with professional models has advantages and disadvantages. One of the biggest pro’s is that they very quickly understand what they need to convey in the image. If you want a certain expression or attitude in the image, most of them are quick in producing the look you’re after. Another advantage is that you can be sure they will be present at the fixed appointment date/time. Working with ‘facebook models’ sometimes lends to ‘no-show’ at the time of the shoot. (In excuse of Grandma’s dying and more of this stuff). Ivana also took care of her own make-up, hair was done by my wife Nathalie. Nathalie attended an entire shoot for the first time, and found it enriching and exciting. I was really ok for having her around, and so was Ivana. She’s used to having a whole team present at shoots, so she couldn’t be bothered less with only me and Nathalie around.
We worked in different themes, I’ll show you ‘the lady of the castle’ first.
for those wondering what NSFW stands for: Not safe for work – due to nudity involved.
All images available light only, Canon 100 mm Macro and Sigma 50 mm on my trustworthy Canon 5D II.
Click images for a bigger view.
thank you for watching, next set coming soon,
Well, here they come. Lisa is a dancer, and she can’t keep from moving and being graceful and elegant. She’s also very well trained, and her body shows. The attic is dark, and cold and deserted, but it has window light that plays well with the curves and contours of a beautiful body. This is the first half hour of the shoot, and we still had to get ‘warmed up’, …
I feel it helps getting my models comfortable and at ease when my wife spends some time getting their hair done. They feel less vulnerable and helpless, knowing there is a third person involved and also I believe they feel less threat knowing that I have a relationship that works well etc. … Lisa at least felt at ease from the start of the shoot.
images taken with 24mm (first one only) 50mm and 100mm
come back again soon.
Ludwig
If i remember well, I think Adam and Eve met at the garden of eden.
I think they must have had a similar feeling as the one I had when I first saw this garden.
It is absolutely fabulous, and I love taking my models here. I can’t thank you enough, Sabine, for lending me the result of your hard labour and work.
Next chapter in the shoot with Pauline.
A great model, lots of character and willing to integrate my ideas in this shoot.
Thanks again Pauline, I enjoyed working with you.
Come again soon for my next post, another before and after image, with Lightroom development tricks explained.
happy photography,
ludwig
Next chapter from this same shoot.
I have shown some images I took on film, some digital, developed in color, now some digital images, developed black and white.
You will probably notice that I use square format more often in my images lately. i think they have a more balanced frame, more stable and that fits my photography well.
That is probably also one of the reasons why I love working with the analog 6×6 camera. It frees you from the question of shooting horizontal or vertical. Peace of mind, really.
All in all I think this was a very fruitful shooting session, don’t hesitate to communicate your thoughts and ideas.
Model: Tatjana DN
Hair: Nathalie R.
MU: Heidi H.
Lingerie and mask: Tutti-Passi
Thank you to Sabine, for granting me access to her house for this shoot.
All images except fourth (Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro L IS) and last (Canon 24mm f1.4 L) are taken with the new Sigma 50mm 1.4 DG.
I hope you enjoyed,
Ludwig
a series of color images I took at the house with the wonderful garden, in Ronse.
Sabine saw my work in the ‘Kunst omhulst in Villa 99’ exhibit, and she tracked me down on Facebook. Per return, I saw pictures of her garden and I immediately fell in love with the beauty and romantic feeling the garden expresses. I had a first shoot with Anna O. in the garden itself, and now her house interior was decor for this shoot with Tatjana. Sabine is a painting artist herself, and very open minded for these collaborations. Thank you Sabine, for having me at your home that day. Tatjana is a non professional model, but very experienced in model shoots anyway. She was really open to work with, and a lovely personality. We were so indulged in the shoot that we had to hurry to catch the train at the scheduled time.
Rain all afternoon, so we didn’t have the possibility to shoot in the garden that day, but the interior of the house proved very adequate for a ‘natural beauty’ shoot.
Make up: Heidi H.
Hair: Nathalie R.
Lingerie was willingly provided by Tutti-Passi, woman friendly pleasure shop.
Hope you like this small selection of images.
I will soon show a second series of black and white images from that same shoot.
Images taken with Canon 5D II and Sigma 50 mm f1.4 DG Art and Canon EF 100 mm f2.8 Macro IS L. In the first and second image I used a strobist flash off camera to get some additional light. It is bounced on a reflector, right side from the camera.
Hope to see you again soon, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, ask questions or whatever.
Ludwig
One single image today.
Result of the Mansion shoot with Anna Orlova, in Ronse Belgium.
Styling and photography by me.
Make up and model: Anna Orlova
Limited edition prints available.
I have to admit that I did some tricky stuff on this one.
Post processing and 3D image manipulation/rendering by me.
thank you for watching!
ludwig
One single image today.
Result of the afternoon shoot with Anna Orlova, in Ronse Belgium.
Styling and photography by me.
Make up and model: Anna Orlova
Dog (Nono) and garden: Sabine V.
Limited edition prints available.
In Control I
Click for bigger image.
thank you for watching,
Ludwig Desmet
Hi,
I had another shoot at the mansion some weeks ago. Anna is a international nude model, and from time to time she is working in Belgium for a couple of days. I had the possibility to work with her for a short day in Ronse. We did a shoot at the mansion before noon, had a break at my place, then had a second shoot in what I want to call ‘the garden of eden’, a new location I discovered lately, in Ronse as well. I will show you the results of this cooperation in multiple posts. First part is called the Salon, one of the bigger pieces of the Mansion, on the ground floor, and now almost renovated completely. The owners of the house are slowly gathering furniture that fits together with the interior, and we were lucky to find this lovely small bench.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to buy some more gear, and I wanted to further expand my low-light possibilities. I have had a hard time making sharp images several times in these ‘mansion shoots’ due to low light conditions. The lenses I have are good, are having the benefits of wide open apertures, but none of them features image stabilization. I have decided to try on the Canon 100 mm f2,8 L IS for this reason. It is one stop slower than my 135 mm, but it provides 4 stop image stabilization, so I gain about 3 stops in shutter speed, provided that my subject is not moving. I have managed to keep Anna stay in place. 😀 Another benefit from this lens is its macro capability, so no more struggling with minimal focus distances. This lens focuses so close I can get a single eye filling the frame.
I think you’ll be able to figure out which images are with 100 mm lens, all the others are wide angle, with my 24 mm.
About the NSFW in the title, If you are offended by the nudity in my images, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to, but I think it is tasteful and beautiful, so I will very probably post more (covered) nude images in the near future.
I hope you liked the images. There’s more with Anna to come soon.
best, Ludwig
Hi there,
I’m planning on a series of posts with some explanation of the studio setups I’ve used for my portfolio shoots.
Here’s te first one. The model has some massage oil on her body, just very slightly. A slightly colored setup.
A triple light setup for a body shape portrait.
Model is laying down on a black velvet cloth, which literally absorbs all light. It is positioned in a infinite floor to wall shape.
1. On the left, studio flash with reflector, gridded. Gridded to keep the light from spilling all over in the studio. Reflector for those nice highlights on the body.
2. On the right, studio flash with small softbox (60x60cm) partially covered with a red cloth, for a slight color shift. I discovered that the use thin colored cloth works in a similar way as gels, and it is easy to just move the cloth a little bit (a wooden clothespin works just fine) to have a stronger or weaker effect. I currently work with some kind of very thin colored cloth pieces, like a magician would use. This second flash not as strong as the first one and aimed a little more off the model
3. just next to the camera, I’ve put an additional flash (Speedlite 580), again with a colored cloth in front (blue-ish) to slightly fill in the shaded areas.
Camera is just above the floor (me lying down).
Setup:
85mm – 1/125th – f3.2
I probably would have been better of aiming for a smaller aperture for larger depth of field, but this is the way it is 😉
hope you’ve found some inspiration here.
see you soon,
Ludwig
hi folks,
last weekend seemed like a roller coaster of happenings and emotions.
last friday evening, I’ve built up the exhibit for my ‘end of studies’ project Nude (In)cognito.
Saturday morning I had my Jury presentation at 9:30. The jury was rather severe, and focused mainly at the weaknesses of the project/the selection/the presentation.
That’s the best thing they can do, show you the possible points of attention, but it left me full of doubts and questions. Had I not worked 5 months within the idea of presenting a very good body of work?
After that we had a funeral to attend to, unfortunately. Very strong emotions of sadness and helplessness. A very good friends grandchild died after being born prematurely, and a short life of only 8 weeks. Tears and deep deep sorrow.
Saturday evening came the reception, where I had the opportunity to speak to some of the jurors, and already better rumors came my way. (about my work presented) This helped me understand the questioning I had had early that morning. A glass of sparkling bubbles and a fine meal afterwards, and then off to bed.
Sunday, at about 10 am the exhibit opened, and we literally had to search for an escape route at midday, to get some food in between. An overwhelming amount of people have come to visit the exhibition. Rightfully, absolutely. I think there were about 23 students who presented their work. I have seen a lot of beautiful work, and I’ve met a lot of enthusiastic people, both photographers and visitors.
I would like to thank all the people who have attended the exhibit, thank you for your warm reactions, your attentions and the good talks.
I hope you’ve all enjoyed the exhibit. I enjoyed it for sure. Literally broken yesterday evening, but happy after all.
I’ll include a picture of my part of the exhibit, and I will probably post some more detailed ‘making of’ articles on the different shoots I did for this project.
For all those interested in posing nude, I’m rather sure that I will continue this project, so please do contact me if you feel like taking part in this.
thank you,
Ludwig
Hi there,
today was an important day for my photography career.
I had to present my work Nude (In)cognito to the jury for final evaluation.
I’m still impressed with the arguments they brought, severe, focusing on details, questioning the approach, etc. …
I hope I will finally get the official degree of photographer next thursday – proclamation day.
Tomorrow the exhibit is open for everyone, I would be happy to welcome you all to see my work, and that of my fellow students. There’s really good work to be seen.
Adress: CC Meulestede, Meulesteedsesteenweg 515, Gent.
as an appetizer, one of the images I selected for the book. (not for the exhibit, those images remain secret till after the exhibit)
see you soon,
Ludwig
hi,
My project nude (In)cognito is running to an end now. In about a month we will have a group exhibition with all portfolio projects from end module students in the photography classes at KISP.
I have photographed 11 women in a studio session, and there’s one to come. Overall I’m really happy with the outcome. I have had women from the age of 22 and women aged +50.
I have been charmed with their motivations and their fears, I have listened carefully to what they thought about posing nude, how they feel about showing their body to the outside world, and how the personal situation is playing a big role in their decision to take part in the project or not to do it. And I am even more convinced than before that we do not live in a free society. I would like to thank all the persons that have responded to my request. It has been quite a gift to receive so many reactions, I’m sure this project will not see its immediate end after the exhibit. There’s so many people out there to be photographed.
The date for the exhibit is set at sunday Jan 19th, and the exhibit will take part at CC Meulestede in Ghent.
I yet have to decide on the presentation of the images, the video and the book. I will certainly make a book for the exhibit to be able to show some more work. I will most certainly not be able to show enough pictures to have every model represented, so a book will give me the opportunity to have all ‘models’ presented at the exhibit.
