Today’s Post by Blue Moon Staff
A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside— Denis Waitley
One of the most classic forms of lighting for glamour photography is window light. Long before the invention of the electrical light bulb in 1879, painters and photographers used as a source for lighting portraits. So let’s photograph your intimate portrait using this classic technique!
The composition of shadows and soft light gives window light portraits a distinct effect that looks different from portraits made using artificial light. This particular model, Zoe, had a specific idea for her intimate portrait and knew in detail the kind of lighting—window light—she wanted for her session.
How I Made this portrait: Zoe is a six foot tall blonde—I seem to have an affinity for photographing tall models—who is an ecdysiast. (I’ll let you look that up.) She wanted me to make a series of portraits for promotional purposes for her website that was different from some of the other more sexy images that we created during some of our other shoots.
The camera used was a Canon D60—not a 60D—with an EF 135mm f/2.8 SF lens set at zero soft focus. The exposure was 1/200 sec at f/3.2 and ISO 400 with a plus one and one-third stop exposure compensation to compensate for the backlighting.
Creating a portrait like this on location has many advantages over shooting it in a studio. Shooting in your home is convenient; since the subject will have access to your own clothing and make-up to create just the look you want. They don’t have to worry about forgetting your favorite make-up brush because it’s just a few steps away. Wardrobe decisions are simpler and you don’t have to think about what to bring. Your closet and complete wardrobe are right around the corner.
Posing is easier too because the model will have physical objects to interact with. I try not to be fussy when posing subjects. I watch what they do naturally and try to have her interact with the background in some way that’s physically comfortable.
One way that I increase communications with the model is to show them some of the images on the camera’s LCD screen during the shoot. Not every shot, just ones I like because I don’t like to break the concentration between the subject and the photographer. When this works—and that’s most of the time—seeing how great you look makes the session progress smoother.
Models, potential models and women looking to find our what this kind of experience is like should dontact us today via the Contact tab above and let’s schedule a photo shoot.
