Introduced to photography at an early age, artistic nude photographer Cam Attree has indeed come a long way. If you are someone who is looking for inspiration when it comes to capturing the most sensual nude photos, Cam Attree is your ultimate source.
Cam started his journey with landscape and wildlife photography, aiming to work for National Geographic. After a few shooting expeditions, he realized that it was not his calling, and today he is an inspirational artistic nude photographer capturing the beauty of the human form and inspiring us all.
Read ahead to learn how he got into this genre and his tips for all budding photographers wanting to blossom into nude photography.
Q1. How did your journey into photography start?
A. My father was a very keen amateur photographer so I grew up looking at his photos and when I was 16 he gave me my first manual film SLR – a Practica MTL-5. I fell in love with photography and went on to study at art college when I finished high school.
Q2. How would you describe your style of photography?
A. I always find it difficult to answer this question because I love experimenting with so many different styles and I try to be as diverse as I can with my work. Whatever I shoot though, I do try to find a good balance between sound technique and creativity.
Q3. What inspired you to get into artistic nude photography?
A. When I first started photography I was mainly interested in landscape and wildlife photography but I was exposed to artistic nudes at art college as we had to shoot it as part of our assessment. It wasn’t until about 6 years later that I started shooting model portfolios and was eventually asked to shoot some artistic nudes. I was drawn into the simplicity of photographing the naked form and using nothing but the shape of the body, light and shadow to create timeless images void of any other distractions.
Q4. What do you think are the challenges in shooting nude photography?
A. Definitely dealing with some people’s perceptions of art nude photography and their inability to distinguish it from pornography. This leads directly into the challenges of sharing and promoting artistic nude imagery on social media platforms which is getting increasingly more difficult every year.
Q5. What would be your 5 tips for someone just starting out in nude photography?
A. Number one would be to learn your craft before even attempting to do a nude shoot. Learning your camera controls, lighting, and composition will give you the confidence to get started in nude photography.
Hire a professional art nude model! If your model is experienced in posing and is totally comfortable being nude, this will free you up to concentrate on the technical aspects.
Be respectful! Treat it like any normal portrait shoot. Keep your distance, don’t touch the model, and use respectful language. Your model must feel safe otherwise you won’t get good images.
If you are shooting indoors or in the studio, play some music that the model likes. This also helps them feel comfortable and can often help with their posing.
Keep the shoots relatively short, 1-2 hours is generally enough. You may not get tired but posing for artistic nudes is hard work and your model is likely going to fade well before you do.
Q6. Which photographer’s work do you look up to the most?
A. One of the first art nude photographers I admired was Craig Blacklock. His book A Voice Within – The Lake Superior Nudes introduced me to the concept of combining the human form with the natural landscape. That book directly started me on my passion for shooting landscape nudes (Nudescapes) in many different natural environments.
Q7. Tell us about your favorite shoot you ever did. Why is it your favorite?
A. There have been many but probably one of my favorites was when I was running an art nude workshop in the south island of New Zealand in 2016, we hired some helicopters and flew up to an isolated glacier high up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. It was a very surreal experience and despite the cold, we captured some stunning images.
Q8. What can we find in your camera bag for a regular photoshoot?
A. These days it’s my Fuji X-H2 body. The image quality from the 40mp sensor is outstanding and it can handle any kind of subject matter I attempt to shoot.
Q9. How do you select your models?
A. When I first started I hired professional models so I could concentrate on technique and learn from their posing what looked good. Eventually I started working with less experienced or new models so I could practice giving posing direction myself.
My advice is to always select a model suitable for your theme or location. If you are planning a landscape nude shoot, make sure the model is comfortable posing nude in the outdoors and isn’t overly scared of creepy crawlies like spiders and insects etc.
Certain body types and shapes also suit different themes and locations so that can also play a part in model selection.
Q10. If you could choose another profession, what would it be?
A. I can’t really imagine doing anything else but I am an avid moviegoer and home theater enthusiast so perhaps something in that industry.
Q11. What are your plans for the next few years? Is anything exciting coming up?
A. At this stage I don’t actually have too much planned. Running a photography business full-time is quite challenging in today’s economy so I’m mainly concentrating on that at the moment. I do have plans to finish a new eBook and video tutorial series on studio artistic nude photography though so that will be pretty exciting to get that finished.
Q12. What do you consider your biggest achievement so far?
A. Honestly I would have to say the fact that I have been able to turn my love and passion for photography into a career is a big achievement. Being able to spend my days doing something I love and still pay the bills, while not always easy, is a great way to live.
Cam’s work is truly remarkable and is a source of inspiration for aspiring as well as professional artistic nude photographers all over the world. Cam loves what he does and it shows in his masterpieces.
If you are someone who is as passionate as Cam when it comes to artistic nude photography, this interview for sure must have inspired you to go against all odds and passionately follow your dreams.
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