Glamour shoot at home *NSFW*

[kirif1]

Hi there,

well i did another shoot with the lovely lady i posted about before. I really battled with lighting this time, using two SB-R200 flashed on my lens and nothing else. We tried different poses and different rooms.

I have not done any photoshopping yet apart from adjusting the exposure and cropping a few. The model says she likes them, I don't! What do you guys think?

C&C wanted

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2.

3.

4.

 

[Double H]

They look more like snapshots than glamour shots. The lighting is flat and not exciting. Not sure what you meant by 'directly at the lens', try using only one, getting it off to the side, try bouncing both of them together to create more drama. There are so many things we could tell you to do with those flash units, you just need to play around more, and try different positioning. Bouncing would be more flattering to her as it creates a softer light. You could also try some colored gels over one flash and bouncing it for some neat coloring effects.
Have fun, good luck, and show us your updates.

 

[LuckySo-n-So]

1.) Shoes, photo frame in background. She doesn't look very happy.

2.) She looks cold and uncomfortable. Light is behind her, and not on her.

3.) Best of the bunch. She looks comfortable, has a genuine smile, seems happy to be there. She is a pretty lady and has a great body. This picture shows what great shape she's in (biceps, pectorals). I'm guessing she's 35+ (maybe 40+)--if she's younger than that, the harsh lighting has aged her prematurely.

4.) Looks like a bad school photo for naughty teachers.

Also, in all of the pictures, her forehead and other parts of her face seem to reflect a lot of light. Strategically applied makeup would have helped this as well.

Double H is correct. Take the lighting off of the camera. I'm in the same boat: I don't have a lot of experience doing portraits. You just have to keep practicing and experimenting. Great start though. Keep it up! You are lucky to have such a pretty model to work with

 

[kirif1]

Thanks for your comments. The model is 35+ and i've shot her before...just feel dispirited at the results of yesterday's shoot, the lighting is off and cos i was concentrating (and getting frustrated about harsh light and shadows) she got a bit serious too. The last time i shot her...with less equipment seemed to have gone better!

I might have to ask to redo the shoot...take the lighting off the camera as suggested and have more fun!

Any other advice? I was using a 28mm lens and tended to use an f number of about 8...to high?

 

[Double H]

Sometimes the best stuff comes from the most minimal of circumstances. With less light, or only natural light coming through a window, you could open it up, get a narrower DOF and get a softer feel. Sounds like you already know what you need to do...reshoot with one, or only a natural light source like a window. With natural light, you don't have to worry about sync speed, so open it up and raise the shutter speed. She is a pretty hot woman, and definitely has some nice features. Get in close, try a longer focal length.

 

[Vicelord John]

Man that lady is beat. i hope he didnt pull out his greg.

3 is the best of the bunch and a little more dramatic lighting would have made it super sweet.

 

[Enough Already]

All images are cold. I would have opted for a single flash and bounced it off the ceiling to even it out more. It looks too direct. Sorry, she looks more like 50+. I cant understand why good looking women feel the need to do so much to their appearance with tanning too much, the fake boobs, and the bleached hair. I just makes things worse.

The third definitely the pick. I would have stood on a chair above and right for the last. The front on doesnt work. At least you are giving it a go, so my hat's off to you.

 

[jennyjen]

snap shots are the right word here. But not bad.

 

[bburzycki]

I will agree that the images are cold and sadly that does not help the mood I assume you are going for in the image.

I have found that when shooting a model with harder features you really need to try to utilize a softer light source. Softbox - Major difusser - etc - to include the use of possibly gels etc.

I would be curious your budget for lighting and if you are opent o other off camera techniques. I have never been one to even try glamour style work without getting my flash way off camera, very cose to the model and into a very difuse or beautiful light source.

Also I am assuming you are trying to shoot these TTL and that is very hard to get what you want...or what I assume you want.

Also a necessary evil of glamour work is the need to touch up photos... if you want to do it you might as well befriend photoshop and beging to think about what you need to remove to increase the allure of the shot. Glamour is not journalism and thus you can be brutal to pixels and the model will love you for it..

Some good places to look at where the shadows fall.... most have very hard defined shadow edges.. that is not glamour light per say - that is more the look for fashion and edgy material but you need a very specific type of model to pull that off..

 

[kirif1]

thank you for your comments, looking back at those pics i tend to wanna craw in a hole and stay there lol. I have posted some pics from my most recent shoot with better lighting!