'You feel very vulnerable while nude, but even more so in the cold with very little to protect you.'
FH viewers know how much I love seasonal visuals, especially when those visuals are of the male form taken during the winter. In part, it's because there are so few of them. Not all photographers and models are up for the challenge and the added complications of shooting outside on a cold winter's day. There is one model however, who I know shares my passion for seasonal sightings, especially during the snowy season.
I first featured model Matthew Dunston's work back in 2017 and I believe I've featured his work in each of the year's four seasons. (HERE:) We've seen Matthew in the woods in the spring, surrounded by corn stalks during summer,, on a bed of Autumn leaves and on a field of snow. After his experience with winter shooting with Dave Larson (Takeapic4u) Matthew has been actively looking for a photographer who also wanted to shoot out in the snow. Matthew even put out notice on Model Mayhem looking for a photographer up for braving the cold to capture some great shots.
This past January, Josh from HardCastle Media messaged Matthew about wanting to collaborate. Matthew wasn't sure he saw his posting, but when he mentioned wanting to do a s now shoot, the Rochester NY based photographer loved the idea. It was actually Josh who picked out the location in Northern Pennsylvania. Matthew shares that although it involved a bit of hiking the old stone structures and waterfalls made it well worth it.
'The day of our shoot started at 8 degrees F and then only got up to 20 degrees F. Luckily the sun was out and it wasn't as windy in the valleys we were in There were actually some points of shooting nude when I totally forgot that it was freezing cold out!'
The shoot took about4 hours and Matthew was nude for up to 50 minutes at a time with 10-15 minute breaks to warm up his most important parts. Although Matthew loved the beauty of the location, he had to be careful where he stepped. There was still water flowing from the waterfall and although it was cold, the sun made the ice tricky and Matthew had to be careful not to fall on, or through the ice. Although he was careful, Matthew still ended up slipping several times, his bare skin landing on the ice and in the snow. You can't see it in the images, but Matthew's butt ended up scraped up and bruised. Matthew shares that it was worth though, for name of art and the incredible images that Josh captured.
'I will say that there are a lot of dudes out there who when I send them these photos think I'm crazy. They go on to say that they would never do a shoot like this in the snow because their penis would look too small, etc. I have a different perspective. The cold acts like an even playing field. Everyone gets small in the cold, it's only natural/biological. Therefore I don't think that people critiquing size when looking at these images (nor do I think the penis is the focal point of any artistic nude photo).'
'What I like most about doing shoots in the snow is the contrast of a warm body to the white background. For the viewer of the photograph, it almost tricks the brain into thinking that the day was warm for the model since they are out there without clothes on. But...then you realize that there is ice and snow in the background and that it was actually very cold.
I loved my experiences with Josh from HardCastle Media, and for sure recommend him to any model thinking of posing nude in the northeaster US region. I know we will be working together again soon.'
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