Today’s Post by Blue Moon Staff
She was so beautiful at that time. I didn’t say, “Pose nude.” It was more one thing leading to another: You take clothes off and off and off and off and off.—Bert Stern on photograhing Marilyn Monroe
If you prefer a more formal look for your intimate portrait, we can easily create it in our home-based studio that’s located near Parker, Colorado. But you might prefer to shoot at somewhere closer, including your own home or apartment. The advantages of shooting in your home are similar but different than shooting in our studio.
- You have privacy. If you choose to be photographed, nude or partially nude like the client at right, you are in a completely private environment.
Lighting. The photographer has the ability to work under a wide range of lighting conditions to create different looks and moods.- Variety. You can go from room to room and take advantage of furniture and props with minimal effort.
- Flexibility. Your complete wardrobe and make-up are just a few steps away.
This customer was referred by a friend and wanted an intimate portrait made in her home. It was shot in her living room where she’s relaxing on a sofa.
Intimate portraits are all about light, so we begin the session by looking around your home for places where there’s plenty of light. In the past we have photographed in many different locations including, yes, a kitchen. The late Peter Gowland, for example, created many of his classic glamour photographs in the same house where he lived for more than forty years.
How I Made This Portrait
Another model that I had previously worked with referred Joy to me because she needed some new portfolio images. Our first shoot together went well and fulfilled her immediate need but I really liked working with Joy and suggested another shoot trying out some of my concepts. Today’s image is from that second shoot. It sounds like a cliche but she was a joy to photograph but more than that, Joy has a delicacy combined with an inner sweetness and sensuality that was unique and I thought we could work together to exploit in another shoot together. But life got in the way and that never happened. She now lives 200 miles away. Recently we exchanged some emails, with her indicating she would like to work together again in the future. I hope that happens…
I photographed Joy on the sofa of my family room using a Rotolight Anova LED light source that was placed at camera right with a (no kidding) table lamp at camera left proving some fill and a bit of a rim light on her face. The camera used was a Panasonic Lumix GH4 with Olympus M. 45mm f/1.8 lens with an exposure of 1/40 sec at f/1.8 and ISO 640. The image was color corrected with PictoColor’s iCorrect Portrait, lightly retouched and tweaked using the Glamour Glow filter that’s part of Color Efex.
