I Feel Naked

I've never really done nudes before. Once back in school they had us do a nude assignment. The school provided us with models to use for our shoots. My girlfriend at the time refused to let me photograph another woman naked. And yet, at the same time she refused to let me photograph her naked. Knowing that I had to complete the assignment she eventually caved. I guess the thought of me photographing another woman naked left a worse taste in her mouth than posing for the assignment herself.At a workshop I recently attended we were given a model to photograph. Everyone in the workshop proceeded to photograph her naked. Each photographer had a few minutes with the model and they did their thing. With 15 people in the workshop, the poor model was poked and prodded as if she was a piece of cattle on the way to slaughter. It was now my turn. I don't really like to be watched by a lot of people when I take pictures (if I can help it, which often times, I can't) so I went last. As I walked up to the model I said to her "Ok, I'm going to ask you to do something really weird." The model had a horrified look on her face as if I was about to ask her to do something even Larry Flint would blush at. Instead, I set her mind at ease by asking "would you mind putting your clothes back on?" She laughed and obliged my not-so-deviant request. Everyone else in the room thought I was some sort of weirdo for having the naked woman put her clothes back on.So why nudes now? I'm not quite sure... My assistant Emily does nudes, so maybe rather than my style rubbing off on her as is often the case with photographers and their assistants, it is her that is rubbing off on me. Either way, I had been thinking about exploring nude photography for the last few months, so when given the opportunity I decided to give it a shot. And what better opportunity than when my friend, the lovely and beautiful Jennifer, despite her reservations (something about the pictures ending up on the internet... which I assured her would never happen), let me photograph her one chilly morning last week.Jennifer isn't a model so having her photo taken isn't exactly a routine event for her... let alone having her photo taken while undressed. Despite feeling a bit uneasy at first, she did a great job and quickly became relaxed in front of the camera.I do realize these aren't technically nudes since Jen is covered up for the most part. I didn't really do anything different than what I would do shooting a clothed woman. I guess thats a good place to start until I figure out what it is I want to do. Maybe next time I'll try something outside my comfort zone. That's what this personal work stuff is all about after all... trying something new and different.