Location Photography, Playboy Playmate, The Story Behind the Picture
I received an e-mail from a producer in Canada that was going to be in Los Angeles and would like to add me to a story he is doing about glamour photographers in LA. His film was to be a documentary of interviews with photographers and their models with some B roll of the photographer shooting a model on location or in their studio. I contacted him back and told him I could do it and that I would have a Playboy® Playmate Barbara Moore as my model to shoot that day and that he could also do an interview with her. He informed me where he and his crew were going to be staying in Los Angeles and I let him know that I would just come over to them and that they could film me shooting in the hotel room and do the interviews right there. I could also give them some of the stills from that shoot, right out of the camera as I was now shooting digital. For this shoot as you could not get that many people in the room I would bring my DP/assistant and one 650 W tungsten light and stand, I did not need a lot of equipment. Barbara Moore was coming on this project with us to help promote her website at the time. We all get to the hotel and it’s just the same as always so no surprise’s there. We set up the light and Barbara got into some very sexy under wear which she would then strip out of as the shoot progressed. I had been...
Playboy Playmate, Studio Photography, The Story Behind the Picture
In these shots of Playboy® Playmate Irina Voronina for Maxim online I set up a white backdrop with some silver cards to add some dimension and interest to the shot. The white back drop needed to be white so I had two lights facing the backdrop they would be behind the cards so I would not have any light bouncing back onto the model. You have to keep the lights bright but not to over exposed or you will have some flair that will come back onto the model. I would say the best way is to have them about 1-1/2 stops of light brighter than your front lights. Now with the cards on each side it made for a nice look of depth in the shots. Just have your model stand between them and then light her up with the use of some front light. You can use a ring light or soft box. I would not use round lights or modifiers as they will show up as a hot spot on the cards. So tall softbox would be the hot ticket or as I said I used a ring light. A ring light would that not make a hot spot because its in line with the model and she is stopping the light from showing up as I hot reflection. Now the nice thing about the cards is that they will reflect back light to light up the model from behind so you will not see a shadow, the white backdrop also helps with this as well. Working with a Playboy® Playmate Like Irina will help get...
Playboy Playmate, Studio Photography, The Story Behind the Picture
This Playmate Poster story behind the picture is about coming up with an idea for a Signature poster of the lovely Playboy® Playmate Neriah Davis. I had seen an image of the famous movie star Brigitte Bardot and thought I could use this as a guide for one of my own idea’s something simple and sexy as I was shooting a Playmate. When you shoot for a poster company or for any one that you think will need to make a decision (Pick a shot) of what they think it's best to come up with more than one idea. My first idea was the Brigitte Bardot sitting on the floor topless with black stockings on, Neriah would have to cover her boobs to be able for the poster to be sold to the public. My other idea was to have her against a red backdrop in satin underwear. Each of these shot were going to be in the studio so I would have to come up with similar lighting that would work for each so that I could have them done in a one day shoot. The sitting on the floor shot was with a white backdrop and a nice shinny floor for some reflection as I did not want it to look like she had been cut out and was floating. The Red back drop shot was with a satin cloth draped from a rod across some back-ground stands. This shot was only going to be a ¾ shot so I did not have to do anything about a floor. The lighting was almost the same for...
Location Photography, Playboy Playmate, The Story Behind the Picture
I had seen this group of buildings and thought I would go there to see if I could use them as a back drop for some fashion shots. So, to get my idea started I went there to scout out the location and take some photos so I could send them to the model and also look at the lighting to see what I would need to take with me on that location. I had in my mind to shoot a model with this sexy black catsuit which I thought would make for a super fashion shoot. I had an e-mail from Playboy® Playmate Carrie Stevens about getting together for a shoot and I thought that she might like to go on location with me for my idea. So, I informed her about this great location I had found and that I also had this fabulous sexy catsuit I would like to shoot her in. Carrie thought it was all good and we set up a date to shoot. After thinking about what I was going to use at the location I also thought about how much time I would be able to get there before somebody would ask what I was doing. Now it is best to find out if you can shoot on a location but as this was open to the public I was thinking of the people who were going to be just walking about as I did not want to make some disturbances. So, about 20mins was about the time I thought I could get. I set up my camera with my portable ring...
Playboy Playmate, Studio Photography, The Story Behind the Picture
My big tip when working with a model is talk and assist them in pose’s don’t just let the model go. I am fortunate to have a seasoned Playboy® Playmate to work with on this shoot, Barbara has many poses that she has used from her ongoing work with Playboy® and other photo assignments, that is what helps make a seasoned model. This story is about how I set up a swing and made my images look like a trapeze artist with Playboy® Playmate Barbara Moore. My first thoughts were how to go about making it safe to be on a swing and what outfit I should use. When working on a new project or set of images one of the things I like to do is think of the story line & have a starting point and an end point. You don’t just shoot and hope for the best shots to show up it’s not luck of the draw. I did find a corset which was black and white striped & I also found some stocking’s that had black and white strips on them. I had a white bower and white shoes that also went well together so things were looking good for the outfit. Now for the swing, I made it out of plywood and covered it with foam and black cloth I had drilled holes in each corner for the ropes to go through and twisted the two on each side together into one cord on each side leading up to clips that would go to rings that were in the rafters in the celling of...
Location Photography, Playboy Playmate, The Story Behind the Picture
I use to shoot most of the content images for Playboy® Playmate Barbara Moore for her members website which is no longer available! As a working photographer I used to come up with idea's that are inspired by something or place depending on what I am thinking about & photographing a lot of very sexy girls is always part of my mix. I was requested some time back to shoot some images of Dita Von Tease & her people wanted me to shoot something like the Marilyn Monroe images that had been taken of her on the beach in a sweater. That project never came to pass so I kept that thought in my head so one day when I found one of my sister’s sweater’s I thought it would be a great for Barbara to wear at the beach and seeing this sweater it came back to me about the Marilyn Monroe shots, time to do the sweater idea. There is this beach in Malibu California and I had shot at before, so I know what was there to use as a backdrop. It also happens to be the spot were Herb Ritts shot many time's, it’s like the goto place for the photographers that are in the know. I had shot Barbara with direct sunlight many times before and she looks fantastic when shot that way posing into the golden sunlight. Just in the case I needed some of my own light I took with me a strobe that was able to kick out about 200-watts. This strobe (Q-Light) has a great recycling time it's very...
