artistic nude photography in nature: a sunrise story of freedom

Every time my phone pings with a message from someone who wants to be photographed, I do a little happy dance. When this one came through, I had no idea how life-changing it would be.

Rod had found me online. My work spoke to him, and he inquired about an artistic nude photoshoot, one of my favorite kinds of sessions, especially in nature, especially at sunrise. Dawn is such a magical time, symbolic of new beginnings, a fresh page waiting to be written. What would Rod and I write together?

We got on the phone to talk logistics: location, date, time. He'd had some experience with this before, posing nude for a drawing class or a photographer friend, and he found himself drawn to it again.

Why are people drawn to the idea of a nude photoshoot?

For some, the thought of being seen naked, let alone photographed naked, is absolutely horrifying, and they wouldn't do it in a million years. We are not talking about those people. The ones who are drawn to it want a taste of something liberating. When you're brave enough to be naked in nature, you're free: free from fear, free from shame, free from the social norms that tell us how we're supposed to look and be. I've inherited so much shame around my own body, so much struggle with acceptance. But being nude in nature lets me simply be. Nature flourishes in every form, every color, every shape. It doesn't compare, doesn't judge, it just invites us to do the same. We are part of nature too. How beautiful, to be free exactly as you are, to experience life not through how you look, but through how it feels.

I didn't have to sell Rod on my work. The experience spoke to him, and the images did the rest. It's funny, people tell me they love my artistic nude photography, and I always think, I really need to update my gallery! Maybe what's already out there speaks for itself. Artists are often not very good at talking about their art, we're good at making it, less skilled at selling it, so I felt honored that mine caught his eye. Or maybe it's simply that when you search "nude photography," boudoir is what floods the results, and nature nudes carry an entirely different spirit.

I see beauty in everyone, in everything. The human body is so magical, millions, billions of cells working in quiet concert to create the body we get to live inside of. How we are all the same, and yet so uniquely different. That fascinates me. It's what gives me the high of creating.

Back to the shoot. Rod and I agreed on sunrise. One easy thing about nude photography, it erases the question, "what should I wear?" You wake up, shower, and show up. (Bug spray, though, that I do need. Something essential-oil based, something that smells delicious, for every shoot in the wild.)

This was before the world of nudism and naturism fully opened to me, before I met Katie Ospina, who introduced me to Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort, where you can simply exist in nature in your birthday suit. So for this shoot, I chose places I knew would be quiet and uncrowded.

We chose Yamato Scrub Natural Area, just as the sun began to rise. Ours were the only cars in the lot. We walked into the Florida wilderness, stepped off the paved path, and Rod disrobed. We began to play. A field of tall, light-brown, fluffy grass caught my eye, and I invited him into it. When I give my clients something to do, it takes their mind off posing, and that's when they become fully themselves. That's when the real magic happens, and I press the shutter.

Rod was an incredible model. As we settled into the rhythm of the shoot, comfortable with each other, I let myself voice every idea that came to me, and some of my ideas can be wonderfully outlandish. If something felt like it might not land, I'd usually filter it out. But with Rod, I felt free to be completely myself, knowing that if an idea didn't resonate, he would simply say "no."

He never once said no.

He met every idea I brought with an open, willing curiosity, and the images we created together are proof of that, so varied, so alive. When I delivered the galleries, I made two: one in color, one in monochrome. So many images from that morning I still love, photos of pure joy, photos that reach something deeply human, photos that hold the strength of a body and the softness of a soul, photos that echo cycles and rebirth, tenderness woven with courage.

What an honor, to create these images with Rod, to have him as a friend, and as someone who believes in my art. What a gift, to see another human this fully: beyond the mask, beyond the clothes, beyond even the body, at a level that can only be called soul.

Here is a collection of some of my favorite black and white photos from Rod’s photoshoot. These are more introspective, deeper, symbolic of death and rebirth, but also full of joy, power, freedom and triumph.

And this is the gallery of photos in color, I love how rich and alive they are!

Thank you for reading! Which photos did you like the most? If this type of photography experience speaks to you, please reach out and let’s create some artistic nude portraits for you too!