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, The Story Behind the Picture
I had met this lovely looking woman at a car wash and talked with her about modeling. She had been approached before but nothing became of it. I informed her of some of the models that I had worked with and knowing of some of the names of the model’s herself she decided to come see me at my studio to talk about a day to go and shoot some images. I had a client that was very interested in some new swimsuit shots for a calendar and so I set a day and time to shoot a sexy swimsuit shot of this fabulous new model. We went down to the Newport Beach, CA pier to shoot early in the morning and the sun was coming from the Left of the image and in order for me to get some softer light we moved to the underside of the pier, the light under the pier is what we call open shade. I had a small silver reflector to add more reflected light on the model from the other side. Now the trick for exposure is open up your f stop by ½ a stop so you expose for the shadow detail. In doing this you might get a bit of a hard highlight on the body with the sun but I think it works. I found that the structure under the pier gave me very hard lines in my background which looked masculine that then gave the curve shapes of the model’s body more femininity. This is a quick way to get a super shot if you don’t use...
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, The Story Behind the Picture
"Claudia Christian Celebrity Headshot" - Story Behind the Picture When shooting a celebrity portrait, you will find that you are not given a lot of time, you will probably get maybe about one hour if you’re lucky. My advice is to get to the location and set up before your client is due to be onset, also know what lighting setup you are going to use. Do some research on the look of the client and work out what would be the best lighting for that client and what they will expect from you. It could be PR photos, book cover or an image that they might use at a signing for fans. If you have been commissioned you have free range to set up your lighting the way you see the celebrity, just make sure it’s something they would also like as well if you have never shot with them before. You do run the risk that they might not like your look for them which will translate into not liking you. One of the things I like to do if I can, is to use some of the natural light in the shot if I am on location, or I just make it about my lighting to just look like it’s a studio shot. Now for these set of images of TV Sci-Fi star Claudia Christian of Babylon 5, I was asked to her home in LA. I was able to look around and I found a great spot in her living room that had a tapestry on the wall with a fabulous chandelier hanging...
Penthouse Pet, Studio Photography, The Story Behind the Picture
I received a lot of e-mail requesting how to work with a ring-light and why would you use one. Shown below (image) is the right light I use and as you can see it’s got a large strobe light inside the front part of the product. The strobe is behind a plastic window which in my opinion is a good thing as its protected if you happen to knock it. Also, inside are some LED’s which you can switch on to use as a modeling lights which help's you to see your subject, and the LEDs have 3 different brightness. This will not affect the strobe light exposure as that has a lot more power than the LEDs. On the back, there is a power on button and also a way to control the amount of power by moving the ring dial around & as you do this it goes up and down in third stop incremental to adjustable the power. The total power output is 400ws. There is also a test button to make sure that the light is working. It has a big battery on the bottom which you charge up with a transformer. Having a battery makes this strobe portable so it’s a go any were light. On the side, you have a way to plug into the strobe to sink it with your camera, one is a PC cord input and one is a USB, there is also included a socket for a remote control. I like to use a PC cord which then connects to my camera by the hot shoe mount, sometimes...
