M. Scott Ault Presents :: Nude Portraits

    Fine Art Nude Portraits... an awesome portrait where the subject of the image is nude/ naked/ not wearing any clothing.

    I've been shooting nudes for almost 20 years and in all that time I have tried very hard to remain true to my vision, my passion, and to not only quality output but celbratory material that is beyond reproach.

    I was one of the first two Canadian photographers (very first Vancouver based photographer) to be featured on the website "Michelle7." I was more than just a little honoured by the praise and salutations I received through this. As sites, such as that one, move more towards "simple" and/ or "sensual" nudes two things are happening... first, quality artwork is being overlooked and dismissed (primarily due to quantity of output) and the general perception of nude photographic art is being sullied. As such, I am starting to call the work I do "Fine Art Nude Portraits" because, in all reality.. that is sort of what they are.

    A portrait isn't three or four hundred images. A portrait is an image to be proud of. A portrait should stand the test of time and remain, on display, ages down the road. Shooting off two, three, or four hundred images in order to get one or two good portraits isn't really that good of an idea... the subject assumes a pose and you compose the shot using one, two, or three frames. And the reprint~ ability of a portrait... should be as large as possible... so, I use film to make mine. 35mm, medium format, and large format.

    Fine Art Nude Portraits... quality, creativity, and originality.

Some of my tools

Nikon F5 Nikon's F5 body was released somewhere around '97 or '98 ... this thing I picked up there abouts and have been shooting with it ever since. So, this is the machine I'm comfortable with. I prefer using it... I know it's internal workings backwards... and I just love the way it sings when I'm making it work hard. It might be a little heavy and this unit might be a little battle weary but it's worth it... and the many nuances of this machine makes it my favored toy. *Replaced... new (to me) item arriving soon*	Nikon n90s Nikon's N90 (F90 in Canada/ other places) was released slightly before the F5 and it is looked at as the "little sister" or one step down from the F5. This machine I picked up off eBay for a cool couple hundred and use it, now, as a back up... loading it with different film compared to the F5. In that way, I can achieve similar images with different film stock. It is in this light that I am hoping to not only replace the current F5 (it's main and sub command dials are acting up now) but also pick up a second F5 to ensure exacting reproductions with different film stocks... for different purposes.
Holga The Holga, part of the "Lomographic" genre, is a square- formatted camera producing negatives measuring approximately 6cm by 6cm. The lens is crappy, the body is plastic... and it rarely produces the same image style from frame to frame. Part of it's peculiarity comes from the film itself~ a paper- backed film that can be "loosened" on it's spools to allow a little bit of light bleeding in and burning the edges. Another part of the uniqueness is derived from the plastic lens that has odd focal characteristics. Another quality(?!) is the shutter speed and pre- set aperture rating (approximately 1/15th of a second shutter speed, fixed; f:11 aperture setting) which means you need the right variables for the image to be captured... or it'll be well... different. Unique. Original. An example can be seen, below...	Nimslo Nimslo is the name given to a "quadrascopic 3D lenticular" camera... or, a camera that has 4 lenses, all in line. The individual lenses are aligned slightly off of each other in order that, when printed at specific (and defunct labs) the image is fully 3D. The result, for me, is essentially a "Triptych" where the subject is assuming only one pose but the camera produces 4 unique and different views of it. Lomographic cameras are working in a similar vein these days. An example can be seen, below...
Film Stock
Black and White I like shooting with Black and White film. There are times when I will shoot predominantly with colour film but that doesn't mean I can't print it as a black and white print... just, some labs are squeemish when it comes to processing even "C-41" black and white... so, make it easy on them. But, all in all... the black and white print is a far more expressive piece. The print, as well, leaves so much room for exploration and examination... extrapolation.	Infrared Infrared film is often mistaken to be a film that records heat. While heat can be a strong prducer of infrared energy, it isn't the "harbinger" of it. Infrared light falls below the visual spectrum (ultraviolet being above) and, as such, captures subjects in a very creative manner. The nature of the image is the reflective value the subject holds or... how much infrared light is reflected by the subject. Blue sky, for instance, reflects no IR light thus... it renders as "black" while skin is a milky translucence to it and plants, often times, are white. This is, by far, my favorite film to use.