Today’s Post by Blue Moon Staff
The personality must be bigger than the prop.—Harry Blackstone, Sr.
One of the first questions that new models often ask about having an intimate portrait made is “what do I do with my hands.”
One of the simplest and best answers for them is to hold something and that’s why props can make a big difference in separating your portrait from someone else’s. The more personal the better. Or you can pick a prop and have it match your clothing or makeup or in this case maybe just her makeup and coloring.
Inexpensive accents like flowers, drapes or baskets can set different moods even with the same background. These days there seems to a trend away from high-key white props and more toward vintage colors like ivory, walnut, neutral greens or warm golds as in this portrait. But ultimately it’s up to you. It’s all about trying something new, while giving you something to do with your hands.
How I Made this Photo: Alice brought a golden scarf to the photo session and wanted to use it as a prop for what was to be a nude session, mainly for the reason that it added a splash of color and also solved the problems of what to do with her hands. The pose is totally her own and I think she and the scarf look fabulous.
The lighting setup for the above image was made with Speedotron’s DM402 2 CC Head Kit. The background, what you can see of it, was from Silverlake Photo Accessories. This portrait of Alice Ivers was shot with Canon EOS 5D Mark I and EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens (at 95mm) with an exposure of 1/125 sec at f/13 and ISO 100. Soft focus and diffusion effects that were added to the image (on separate layers) include Classical Soft Focus and Glamour Glow from Color Efex Pro
