Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Photographing Body Paint Art

There are many photographic projects that are fun to do. There are many that are hard to do and there are many that are expensive and need several people to help you bring it to fruition. This project is all of them at one time.
Not only will you need to hire models or at least secure the assistance from friends or perhaps students from a college art class. You will also need to hire a good body paint artist, so now you know what the article is about.
"Body painting, or sometimes bodypainting, is a form of body art. Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, painted onto the human skin, and lasts for only several hours, or at most (in the case of Mehndi or "henna tattoo") a couple of weeks. Body painting that is limited to the face is known as face painting" Wikipedia.
Permits may also be required depending on the locations that you choose to record images of your subjects. Assistants to help you, your subjects, and the body paint artist and so on.
One of the best tips would be to conduct this project in a studio, but this will with certainty limit your available subject themes.
After you have decided if the project will take place in a studio or outside the fun begins. Keep in mind that these people who will have their bodies painted are in reality "nude" and a series of laws and permits for such endeavors are most always required, unless the project happens to take place in remote areas and no one "sees" you.
You can conduct the photo shoot using one single model at a time and it can be either male or female. However some of the best compositions or scenes are those involving several models pretending to be interacting in a thematic scene such as sports, or games and so on.
You can also turn the project into a nature theme, sci-fi theme and many more. Be mindful that the more complicated the theme or scene the longer it will take from beginning to final image.
This project will take time and there are basically very few shortcuts around it. You will need time and the space for the artist to paint the model, you will need time and space for the models to get rid of the paint, in a shower more than likely, you will need time and space for the models to change clothes such as bathrobes for in between shots. You will probably need to make some sort of arrangements for some refreshments as this shoot wil more than likely take a few hours to complete.
These photographs are very good to submit to photographic stock houses and some calendar publications.
They are also very suitable to send to general photographic publications and to turn them into a photographic book or for use by the body painting industry.
Try to avoid being overly exotic and not to show nudity, at least in its true form.
Remember that some may be offended by this art but the artists who specialize in this type of body art are generally quite adept at hiding certain body parts and have taken this technique to new heights.
Nevertheless, it is often best to exercise some common sense in displaying the images and controlling who has access to viewing them once the shoot has been finalized.
Nature/animal theme
Nature/animal theme

Sci-fi theme using glow in the dark paint
Sci-fi theme using glow in the dark paint

Sci-fi theme
Sci-fi theme

Nature theme
Nature theme

Sci-fi / action heroes theme
Sci-fi / action heroes theme

Sports theme
Sports theme

animal theme
animal theme

sports theme
sports theme

war theme
war theme

action hero theme
action hero theme

Sports
Sports

Sci-fi
Sci-fi

movie theme
movie theme

patriotic theme
patriotic theme

gaming themes
gaming themes