Portrait photography: Dramatic lighting with LED Fresnel lights
Portrait photography: Dramatic lighting with LED Fresnel lights
For the portrait session of Jennifer Rozenbaum, I wanted to show her in her "office" - the studio where she shoots boudoir images of her clients. But instead of photographing Jennifer in a boudoir style, I wanted this to be portraits of her, the boudoir photographer, where she works. Her office as such. Still, it needed to be sexy, a little feral, yet sweet, and very much her. Read more inside...Posing tips: Pose the hands – asymmetry
Posing tips: Pose the hands - asymmetry
Similar to the recent post with Jessica J as the model, where I placed her feet in an asymmetrical position for a more dynamic pose, I did the same when posing Anita DeBauch's hands during a photo session. In the companion photograph, you will notice that her hands are symmetrical around her face. While the pose does look cute, an asymmetrical positioning of her hands and fingers improved the pose. Read more inside...Boudoir photography: Tips on posing & dealing with mixed lighting
Boudoir photography: Dealing with mixed light - daylight & incandescent
Boudoir photo sessions can be nerve-wracking - not just for your subject or client who undoutably feels vulnerable, but also for you as the photographer. You have to juggle speed in shooting, with meticulous posing and (hopefully) impeccable lighting .... and still keep the flow of the shoot going, and also keep your subject's confidence up. With this boudoir photo session in a NYC studio, I photographed my friend, Jessica Joy. I wanted to use this window of course, and incorporate the boxes. It all just Read more inside...Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens
Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens
With shooting space often times so tight for boudoir photo sessions, there is the temptation to use a 50mm lens for tighter headshots on a full-frame D-SLR. Instead of stepping back a bit and using an 85mm lens or longer, a bit of visual laziness comes into play, and we rely on the 50mm lens too much. It really is too short a focal length for a tight portrait. I think many photographers are even too in love with their 50mm lenses, and use it without thought of how this would distort someone's face when used too close to their subjects. I Read more inside...Lighting a vintage styled boudoir photo session
Lighting a vintage styled boudoir photo session, using LED fresnel lights
Working with the ever-delightful Olena in my studio, we went for a mix of outfits and looks. We started off the photo session with straight-forward headshots, but then when Olena showed me this outfit, it just begged for something with a more vintage feel in lighting. So, drawing on the classic Hollywood glamor lighting for inspiration, I used the Litepanels Sola 4 LED Fresnel Lights (B&H / Amazon), to create that dramatic light on her, and on the background. I've used the same lights before Read more inside...Details and sequences – Increase your sales in boudoir photography
Petra Herrmann, of Bella Boudoir, runs a successful boudoir photography business based in Kansas City. In my opinion, she’s one of the best boudoir photographers around. Her work is sexy in its simplicity, which I find quite appealing. Her use of interesting angles and composition first drew me in when I saw her work awhile back. The theme of Petra’s workshop is Shoot smart, shoot sexy, shoot to sell. I’m happy to feature Petra as a guest writer with advice on how to increase your sales in boudoir photography.
