Nyx Shoot Planning

With this Goddess I want to have two different shoots with different poses. This is because I can't decide between what pose would be most effective.

The first will be based off La Nuit - William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).

I have gone into more detail on the painting in my previous post about Nyx, however this post will talk about how I plan to execute this.

The biggest issue I will face with this shoot is the water. As Nyx is obviously nude, I don't want to be done for public indecency. The weather will also make this difficult as it's rather dark and stormy. Both of these aspects may have to be added in with photoshop, however I much prefer the background and other aspects of my images to be real. I will have another post exploring this preference.
In addition to the location and weather issues, the birds would be ridiculously hard to time, and so they would also have to be added in via post-production. At this point, most of the images would be a compilation of edits rather than something that feels real, however, I still want to try it in case it's more successful than I thought.
To make this a reality, I would have to go to the location, explained below, and take the photo to match the painting. The painting is moody and dark, and so i'd be looking at replicating that by having a fast shutter speed and high f.stop. To keep the glistening of the water I would then take a second exposure to expose for the water, and then merge the two images together keeping the bright water and the moodiness of the rest of the scene.
To get the image of me, I would have to use my home studio. This would be done in my kitchen with natural light beaming to my left side to mimic the light in the image. When posing for the photo I obviously can't levitate, so I would probably just stand on my tiptoes. That way, you still get the elegance of the legs and it keeps some sense of reality, retaining the feeling of being a mix between fantasy and reality.  I would try to jump with a fast shutter speed and paste the in-air feet on to the legs from when i was just standing, however I have no idea if that would be successful. I will, of course, attempt this as it would be closer to the painting.
I have a large bit of lace fabric that I will use for the drapery around Nyx. Both shoots will use the same bit of fabric as to keep costs down. I will also use my own natural hair instead of wearing a black wig. This is one image where I did have doubts about this because the colour black is so prevalent in Nyx's appearance - after all, she is the goddess of the night. However, I feel it important to keep some of my own identity in the self-portrait.

When editing all of these components together I will probably have to use brushes to replicate the clouds and the intensity of the colour and shapes. You can find free cloud brushes online. I would also have to add the stars in via photoshop.

For the location I would try Tollebury marshes. Here is rather flat and has a lot of potential shooting spots. I have never actually been here myself but have friends who have been and it was recommended to me. After looking on google for sample images, I am satisfied that I could make this location work for me. I would look for a spot with more land than water as to be accurate to the painting. It would also be more affective if I shot this in winter as there would be less grass, however I don't think there being grass will ruin the image as I can desaturate it and make it more earth-toned anyway

For the second shoot, I will be using The Night escorted by the geniuses of Love and Study - Pedro Américo (1886) as inspiration.

Again, this painting shows Nyx as a levitating goddess draped in black lace. This time, she is
accompanied by two other figures, possibly Eos and Athena.
For my shoot, I do not want these side figures, only the main figure, Nyx.

I believe yet again a fair amount of this image will need to be created in post-production, including the large moon behind her, the clouds and the owl. I am a bit weary that the image may look to fake yet again, but I will try to make it feel as natural as possible. One way I aim to do this is to make sure the lighting for each element matches the overall image.
The lighting seems to come from a high angle which may be hard to replicate in my kitchen and so would most likely need to use the photography studio at university and use artificial light. Hopefully, I can make it look more natural through angle, tone and how much the light is diffused. However, the light in the painting doesn't necessarily look realistic in angle, but in tone, and so this may be easy to achieve.
As the goddess levitates, my photographs are likely to not be as close to this image as my previous ones have but I think it's worth a go because it could look incredible for all I know. Like the previous image, I will at first tiptoe, and then try jumping and merging the two together.
One issue I predict is pasting myself on to the background. Usually, this would be no problem, however as I will be having lace around me, a fabric with holes, it may look blocky and fake no matter how hard I try to erase parts.
While Nyx in this painting has extremely long black flowing hair, I will be using my own hair as to keep an element of myself within the character. However, I don't see myself as having much other choice because I simply can't levitate, or afford a studio background similar to the background of the painting, which would have been a viable option otherwise.


Overall, I predict these shoots to be the most difficult I have attempted yet. I am also looking forward to the challenges they face and am determined to find solutions to the issues I may come across. I need to make Nyx appear powerful and strong as she does in the paintings while making it appear natural to the eye. If it does not seem natural to the eye the sense of escapism is compromised.