{"id":29136,"date":"2015-06-26T03:09:30","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T07:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=29136"},"modified":"2018-04-11T18:59:54","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T22:59:54","slug":"themes-context-boudoir-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/themes-context-boudoir-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Themes & context in Boudoir Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Themes & context in Boudoir Photography – on the streets of NYC<\/h1>\n

The model in this striking image is my friend, Jessica<\/a>, a boudoir photographer. Her pose is intentionally this strong and assertive.\u00a0The concept here is part of an on-going project\u00a0she had planned for a long while now. She had asked me to collaborate with her in taking the photos. The main idea behind the project (and these are my words and interpretation of what we had discussed) –\u00a0women are objectified in society, but there is a disconnect in how people respond (or don’t) to provocative posters and images of scantily clad women – yet, when an actual woman appears in the same context – scantily clad in public, but out of context, people react differently.<\/p>\n

During this shoot out on the streets of NYC, where Jessica appeared in different outfits, people responded in an interesting way. This is New York. People have seen everything. Little fazes them. People easily go about their routine. Some are more bold, and\u00a0stopped to look, and even comment. Of course, the Observer Effect kicked in in a big way – by observing an experiment, you affect its outcome. So the presence of my camera, and the lighting, as well as a friend doing a behind-the-scenes video, obviously affected people’s response … compared to that if Jessica had been there on her own, just wearing lingerie.<\/p>\n

A quick note about the main image – the guys in the background were 100% a deliberate choice in this composition. As was the timing that they both look at their phones.\u00a0With that in mind, this photo is one we both picked when selecting an initial image to show. Her narrative will come later in a post on her site.<\/p>\n

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The lighting setup<\/h2>\n

The lighting setup was straight-forward. I just wanted flattering light on Jessica, with a hint of drama.<\/p>\n

With this, one of the initial test shots, you can see the reflection in the bus shelter’s back panel, of the 1×3′ stripbox<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) with the flash. I then asked my assistant to step even further to my right until I couldn’t see the reflection. With this test shot, the image was over-exposed by a stop. Pulling the flash exposure down in post, of course made the background darker.<\/p>\n

For the proper sequence of photos here, the flash was just fill-flash to even the light out to give me clean open light on Jessica. I used the Profoto B1’s TTL mode to get the initial exposures, adjusting the FEC until it looked correct – and then I locked the exposure with manual flash, as described in my\u00a0review\u00a0of the\u00a0Profoto B1 flash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Profoto RFi 1\u00d73′ softbox<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) is my preferred light modifier for the B1 flash when I work on location. It is narrow, making it easier to move through crowds, or through doorways, or up stairs.<\/p>\n

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Camera settings & photo gear (or equivalents)\u00a0used<\/h2>\n