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I have never participated in a naked Yoga practice, but I did have the opportunity to photograph one.
Several years ago I was contacted by a fellow nudist who was aware that I enjoy outdoor photography as a hobby. He was a member of a naked yoga group that wanted some promotional photographs taken for in-house use. You know, the kind that made it obvious that participants were nude, but didn't really show the penis, anus, etc.
Participants had agreed to bring in a photographer and allow the photographer be fully creative, using any lenses and shooting any angles or style or content, regardless of what body parts could be seen in the images, with the 'editing for content' to be done later. This would allow members who wanted unedited photographs the opportunity to purchase them from the photographer, but still allow the group representatives to direct the content edits for the promotional images.
The group did vote to place a few restrictions on the photographer:
1- No artificial lighting would be permitted, it would be too disruptive.
2- The photographer would need to sign a confidentiality agreement.
3- Since nudity was required for all participants and visitors during the session, the photographer would also have to be naked.
When I got the telephone call asking if I would be willing to photograph a Naked Yoga session, I immediately said 'yes'. I even offered to shoot at no charge, having no idea the difficulty I was getting myself into. The room was poorly lit, and not large enough to allow for the types of shots I'm most experienced with. Mirrors were everywhere, another distraction to my inexperienced eye, and it would be nearly impossible to keep my own self out of the photographs. (I would later figure out how to turn the mirrors into an advantage for both lighting and composition).
I had to borrow couple of lenses in order to shoot the event. My stock (kit) lenses wouldn't do the trick for such a low light environment. Of course the nudity wasn't an issue for me, and after the event was over I was so engaged in talking to the participants (and securing my equipment) that I damn near walked out to my car wearing only the courtesy footwear had been provided. Everyone got a good laugh as I did a hasty u-turn while opening the street door, still clueless that I had been chatting in the lobby for over 20 minutes as the UPS guy and several customers of both sexes came and went. Sigh... no wonder everyone was smiling.
As promised, the group leader and I met to edit for content, and all of the original images were turned over to the group to distribute to members as they wished. I don't think I would want to shoot in such a poorly lit environment again, but I did enjoy being the photographer at a clothes free event, and I did agree to photograph a couple members later on in outdoor (and better lit) settings.
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my hands are free, my feet why not?
Camel pose is not very difficult.
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