Well if I had a pound for every offer to hold my camera bag, reflector or tripod I wouldn't be writing this article.
I've been developing my freelance photography over the last 2 years and have worked in marketing for 16 years now. Producing everything from brochures to web sites to videos and conferences.
My corporate straight jacket now requires a Harry Houdini manoeuvre so that I retain some of my sanity. So, my interest in photography which has always been has brought me from buying in professionals, to retraining myself as one.
I've been photographing all sorts of subjects, seeing what appeals and looking for a style of my own - I think that I'm still looking if I'm honest, but I did think that glamour might appeal as an extension to my love of fashion, so with an open mind I gave it a go. But how do you approach photographing glamour models? Well this is where all the testosterone has to be left firmly outside of the studio, else that's where you'll be very quickly. I attended a small workshop style shoot with 3 other photographers at Blue Moon studios on Dudley, West Midlands. I'll admit that I was a little nervous of what they day might bring.
We had plenty of scope to work with. The studio has various themed areas or “sets” and of course provided a professional model. Blue louvered blinds gave scope for a more creative lighting set up as well.
The day was much more challenging than I imagined - I found my creativity drying up and was struggling to come up with concepts that worked. I prefer much more subtle and low key lighting effects than the modern “all white” look. Less was certainly more - but not when it came to clothes, the shots I felt worked better with a hint of what you couldn't see. You certainly have to be clear in your mind as to what you want and how to talk to models. It's hard not to be put off at the end of a sequence of images when your model comes running over to pinch the camera off you and check the shots on the back.
It's good to work to a theme and to build a set of shots that tell a story or show a sequence. Also shots that show the process of an action rather than just the end result - it makes for more feeling and adds anticipation. Personally I like to try and get a bit of attitude from the model into the shots - something that shows their personality.
As for kit, I was using my trusty Nikon D70 mainly with 18-70mm lens. I also took some shots from the gallery of one of the sets using a 70-200 f2.8 to give a different perspective. Studio flash was 1 or 2 Bowens Esprit 500w flash heads with radio triggers and soft boxes. I kept the lighting at a low level - firstly in relation to the model and secondly in terms of power, so that the mood was conveyed in the pictures. Most of these shots were taken using 1 flash head, soft box and all the windows darkened using the blinds. Flash head power was set to ¼ for starters then reduced to suit.
As for camera settings I rely on my favourite starting position - 160 sec and f8 - camera on Manual. Then the rest is done by eye and a quick check of the histogram. With low key lighting and the model wearing partly black and seated on a black sofa I expected the histogram to be skewed to the left.
I was looking for something different than the typical cliché topless shots and eventually found the great contrast in black and colour with low key lighting.
The only exception to this was the portrait shot with Vik's hair over one eye, I absolutely love this shot, which is now on my home page and was cropped out of a wider ¾ shot.
All in all a good day and a great experience, on reflection it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. So would I do it again? Yes it's a challenging area to work in and a great test of your creativity.
www.peter-davey.com
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