Meet Nigel Aves | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nigel Aves and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nigel, what principle do you value most?
When you are a photographer that also works in the genre of “Boudoir / Fine Art Nude” the most important factor is Reputation, followed incredibly closely by Trust. There can be nothing more important than those two “things”. Typically (especially in the boudoir photography genre) I typically prefer working in the home of the person I’m photographing. Also, it’s normally their preferred location, but this of course is dependent on what the final product is going to be used for. 99 times out of 100 it’s for the husband.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started doing photography when I was 14, when my Grandmother bought me a Pentax camera and a couple of lenses. This of course was “film”! It soon became apparent to me that I’d need a way of developing my own film as it was a tad expensive getting a roll developed. Much trial and error later I was able to load a drum with film, develop it correctly, and see which frame numbers should be printed. You actually learn to look at stuff in the negative form. Now it’s time to have a darkroom to do your own printing. How I miss all those toxic chemicals! But you soon learn how to play the tricks needed to take a negative image on film, and turn it into a positive image in a print. And it’s worth mentioning that depending on what “the photographer” is looking for will depend on the film he / she is using. Each film manufacturer had something a little different.

But all that darkroom experience, which you probably think is of no value, has drifted very successfully into the modern age of digital photography. When working with a subject (a mountain, a model, a something) my mind immediately goes back to, “how would I take this on film?” Strange? Not at all. There are some incredibly good software packages that allow me to reproduce the final edit, as if I had used a darkroom. Even down to the grain of the film. (the size of the “grain” on a photograph is actually governed by the speed (ASA) of the film.)

As a photographer it is sometimes hard to judge how people, viewing your work, see what you have seen. Because I work principally with models who are looking to refresh their portfolios (dressed through nude, whatever they need), it can sometimes be a tad irksome when you see your photograph(s) on social media with lots and lots of comments on how “beautiful” the model is, but absolutely no mention on how skillfully the photograph was taken! 🙂 However, you have to stand back and take all the beautiful comments as a positive for your work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
(Well, this question came out of the blue!)

Drink. The Speakeasy on 3rd and Main Street, Longmont. The owner (Sarah) has turned the bar into a truly authentic looking Speakeasy from the 20’s. And people don’t realize just how large the place is! (Basement). Sarah has done extensive research on the building, and back in the 20’s this actually was a Speakeasy (including escape tunnels). Sadly cannot find any original photographs of the place.

Eating: Longmont, (for a small town) is lucky to have many fine eating places depending on your taste buds. Boulder is just down the road, so, it’s easy to be spoiled by choice! Tell me what you like, I’ll tell you where to go.

Places: Being in Colorado and Longmont, we have the foothills of the Rockies just 4 miles away. If an overnight stay is on the cards, then the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone can also come into play. Denver (about an hour away) has a lot to offer with world class Zoo, Art Museum and Natural History Museum. All of which are worthy of a visit.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Strangely, no! Photography is one of those very weird occupations that is incredibly (if not impossible) to teach (IMHO). You can go to school to learn photography, but what that does, in simple terms, is to give a full understanding on the principles of how a camera functions. But the one thing it can never teach is how a photographer looks at the subject and sets up the shot. But if you have to be taught this (back to school again!) then the results will never be quite the same if the photographer “sees” by intuition the framing of a shot. Just having a camera a few inches in either direction can make a massive difference.

There are two quotes that sum this up perfectly :-

“When people ask me what equipment I use – I tell them my eyes.”
— Anonymous

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
— Elliott Erwitt

It is like many occupations in the arts. You can be taught the principles, but that does not make you an expert / or an artist! It’ all depends on how your brain is wired from birth.

Website: https://gallery.soft-focus-imagining.com/index/category/new-shoots

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nigelaves/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-aves/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoftFocusImagining

Image Credits
Ashley Banks, Jess Cialone, Savage Van Sage, Kensey Jean, Gemini Love Mathew, Grace Potter Keller, Jordy Conover, Kensey Jean