Rants & Observations

Professional Digital Techniques for Nude & Glamour Photography by Bill Lemon

Those of you who have read my reviews before know that I like to announce my biases up front so let me tell you how I came to know Bill Lemon before we start. During the mid-1970's I shot a few photographs that are known as classic nudes. I enjoyed the artistic expression and in the past year I have considered getting into it again.

There were many questions I had that I wanted answers to. Generally, when that happens I turn to the online bookstores so as to find books with the answers to these questions. I typed nude photography into the site's search engine and started looking at the reviews of the various books available.

While reading the reviews of one of Bill's books I was simply flabergasted at what I can only say I considered to be the reviewer's audacity, rudeness, and lack of knowledge about not only photography but about subjectivity in general.

Simply stated, the reviewer made me mad. Having had my share of un-earned bad reviews (I've had more than my share of well-earned bad reviews also), I went to Bill's Website and looked at his work. What I found convinced me I wanted a copy of this book. I then proceeded to buy his book direct from him and sent him an email letting him know how much his site impressed me. Within hours he was calling me on the telephone and we were talking about some of the questions I had. Since that time we have had several, at times, lengthy conversations by phone and a couple in person.

So, I consider Bill, if not a friend (and only due to the short time I have know him), at the very least a man whose opinion I value. There are my biases. Take them for what they may tell you.

Let me now turn to this book and my review thereof. One thing we all have to remember when picking up a book and determining if it has satisfied our needs is that we are talking about our needs and we all come to the book with different needs. We also interpret the information the author presents through our own sets of filters and experiences. So no matter how an author presents the information, it will be interpreted in at least two ways. Looking at the reviews of Bill's books on the various online book store sites, Bill's scores are ones, threes, and fives. According to Stephen King, tie goes to the author.

Another thing you need to remember is that the author doesn't always get his way. Believe me, I know that from painful experience. A variety of editors perform various tasks and make final decisions regarding the book that the author has no say in. The good news is that I only found a few typographical errors in this book. One did confuse me for a few moments as the image was mis-numbered in the text and I was being referred to an incorrect image.

Readers need to know what they are looking for, myself included. The book clearly says glamour photography. There are several types of nude photography and glamour is just one of them. Bill and I have had several conversations concerning the differences between classic nude and glamour nude. I think Bill shoots, for the most part, glamour nudes and I don't think he would argue with me on that point. I got the impression in reading some of the reviews that the people were looking for something on classic nudes.

I think you need to know what kind of nude you're wanting to shoot before you say you are dissatisfied with this or any other book on nude photography. Face it, if you're wanting ice cream and you find yourself in a wine shop, it's not the store owner's fault. Basically, after months of research, the basic differences between the two types of nude is that most classic nudes are B&W while most glamour nudes are color. In most classic nudes the subject seems unaware of the camera while in most glamour nudes the subject is playing to and for the camera. Classic nudes are what you find in art museums. Glamour nudes are what you see in Playboy. (That's being a little high handed but I think you get the idea.)

Some of the classic nude people (both photographers and models) that I have met tend to be rather snotty like they're doing art and the rest is just cheesecake. On the other hand, some of the glamour nude people (both photographers and models) that I have met have made me feel like I needed a shower after meeting them. My point is that as in all things, the people in nude photography run the gamut so don't be surprised by any that you meet but don't be too quick to judge them either.

I think some of the people reviewing Bill's books are classic nude people and are simply looking for the wrong thing out of Bill's book, this one especially. Yes, as one reviewer complains it does at times seem like Bill is just saying here is a model and we were in this place and I told her to do this and I shot the picture.

One reviewer complained of too much technical information and another complained there wasn't enough. (Tie goes to the author.)

So what if Bill seemed a little redundant after a while. The way to learn things is through repetition and none of us learn anything by doing it right the first time. Bill shows picture after picture of young ladies that are attractive to some one and explains how he got what he (and others) consider to be good shots (Bill does make now and has in the past made a living at this). While I don't necessarily agree with every point Bill makes, I do appreciate his drawing my attention to these points so that I can clarify for myself how I feel about them.

A couple of comments about the book specifically ... The title says "digital techniques" yet a little time browsing his site and comparing the photos and you can tell that some of the pictures in the book were shot with film. When I brought this to Bill's attention he told me that these were pictures the publisher wanted used. Having dealt with publishers before, I can accept that explanation. The thing is the publisher ought to know that the reader blames the author for little cheats like this (and they do consider taking a photograph with film and then calling it digital cheating) and enough of these cheats the author can end up with a bad reputation, deserved or not. I personally think the word digital is thrown in books like these by the publishers because it sounds cool and they hope it sells books. A lot of excellent work is being done with nudes using both film and digital and the technique of attaining the image is similar in both technologies so I'm not sure using it in this title with this content is the right thing to do.

Now I realize that for the most part in this review it's seemed like I'm defending Bill and his work from his detractors and I guess I am. The main point of a review though is to let you, the potential reader, know if I think you should spend your time and money on this book. The answer is that I do.

Bill's work is good, at times brilliant. For the style he works in (that being fashion/glamour nudes in my opinion) his work is very good. For those who wish to take that type of photograph, emulating Bill is not a bad thing. This book tells you how he did it with these photographs, nothing more. If you're looking for more then you won't find it here. The question is, can you do the same kind of work using this information he's provided? The answer ... Perhaps.

A good picture is being in the right place at the right time with the right technology and the right karma. Anything you can do to help make sure that all these things come together at the same time for you is good as far as I'm concerned and the information in this book can help.

I say buy the book. It's worth reading and putting away for six months and then reading again.

posted by Paul @ 3:47 PM