The doctor must have put my pacemaker in wrong. Every time my husband kisses me, the garage door goes up.—Minnie Pearl
As you could see in some of these posts, any location can be used for making a dynamic and interesting glamour or boudoir portrait—something that stands out from a studio shot and is more fun for both the client and photographer because the right location can increases the creative possibilities.
The photograph at right was made in a garage—yes a garage!—with the subject sitting on metal steps that let to an overhead storage ares. The combination of the subject’s body and what she’s wearing— or not —juxtaposed against the hard but color metal of the steps produce immediate interest in the viewer and tells that’s different then what typically happens in a studio shoot.
How I Made this Portrait
It’s not just an glamour portrait session it’s an adventure. The yellow steps act like a colorful frame.
The camera used was a Canon EOS 50D and EF 85mm f/1.8 lens with an exposure of 1/60 sec af/4.5 and ISO 400. A Canon 550EX flash with Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce diffuser was used as fill form the natural light that was a combination of many different light sources. The cameras Auto While Balance color setting and the flash from the speedlight produce perfectly color balanced images with good skin tone. It was maybe slightly—one-third stop—underexposed by was easily corrected in Photoshop.
As in the case of the factory building portrait where we’ve worked before, the subject got permission to shoot in the garage on Sunday when it was closed. Get this: She had no connection with the company; just knew what the garage looked like; called the garage owner and asked him if we could use the location for a few hours. And he said, yes. He came in, opened the doors and left, because when we left the doors locked behind us.
So the next time, you’re thinking of a new location for a glamiur shoot, think outside the box and maybe all of a sudden a whole world of possibilities opens up. All you need is a private (key word) place to shoot where you have permission.
