Domestic portrait photography is one of the most popular forms of photography for the home-based services market. Many of these include weddings, newborns and infants, celebration, events and glamour photography. Glamour photography is very popular today. What are the main differences between domestoic portrait photography and this stylish photography? Furthermore, in what way can we shoot the most ideal images for the task?
Glamour photography is a stylised representation of someone. Stylised will mean that that someone is styled, had their hair and make up done to look a particular way. It may also employ props such as home furniture, clothing and elegance to make someone look a particular way. Fashion photography is quite comparable but it’s not quite the same as glamour. Glamour photography is created for the domestic market and fashion is created for promotion.
Many people love this type of glamour photography. It’s actually a lovely service to provide for a friend. For the client, especially women, it is quite exciting to get made up for a photo with the specific aim to look as beautiful as she can. As a photographer there is a lot of possibility for this kind of service.
In this glamour photography tutorial I will be discussing how photographers can develop sound and successful lighting and shooting methods to photograph the very best in people. To begin with, look at how people want to be photographed.
Ask the customer how they want to come across in the photo, and, what sort of photo they want. It’s a great idea to ask them to offer you photo examples of what they love. If they don’t know what suits them you can always have photographs to show them. They will get a well thought out idea of how they want to look. You can then chose the lighting set up according to what they want to look like. You can also suggest clothing and colour ideas.
Colour matching is necessary in glamour photography. Colours help to create elegance and beauty. The best colours usually have a sensual feel to them. Colours that are bold work well with feminine make up styles. One of the best and most effective ways to get your colours appearing real and genuine is to do a custom white balance. Why is this so essential? For skin tone primarily. There’s nothing inferior than skin tones looking a little yellow or green because the white balance is wrong. At all times use custom white balance with a grey card.
Once you have done that you can create outstanding and brilliant colour using bright clothes or material. In the recent glamour shoot I did, I used a long piece of energetic scarlet chiffon. Chiffon is a beautifully light, semi-transparent fabric. It hangs in straight lines that work suitably for the feminine body. It has a fine and beautiful feel to it. I folded it over itself a few times to take away transparency.
Next, lets look at some glamour photography tips to get you started. Once you have a real comprehension of how your friend wants to look, set up your lighting. More often than not glamour photography is done in a studio using what we call modelling lamps, or key lights as they are known, and fill lights. The key light is your most important light source and your fill lights are the lights that help minimise some of the dark areas. Usually your key light is brighter than the fill lights. This is how you recognize which is which.
A deep black setting, an individual source of light from the side and a splash of colour is more often than not what distinguishes glamour photography from other sorts of portrait photography. This is usually done using a piece of black paper type of material that can taken out of a huge spool attached to the top of the wall. That’s all very well if you have a costly set up. If you only have your living room or garage to work with then you need to get creative.
Think about your lighting. Soft flash lighting from the side works well. If you can take your flash off your camera and link it remotely then do so. Each time you press the shutter the flash will discharge. You can change the intensity output of the flash manually. This is done shooting with the manual mode on your flash.
Once you have your lighting set up, consider your environment. If you do not have an appropriate background then don’t use a background at all. It’s better to use no background than a background that does not match. Try tightly framing the photo by photographing a head and shoulders shot.
Lastly, lets look at some glamour photography poses. These are usually done by making lot of angles of the body. A flattering glamour photo of a woman is not one where she is standing front-on. It looks flattering to have one shoulder higher than the other or her head somewhat titled away from or in the direction of the camera. For thoughts of finding the right pose, have a look at glamour photography websites. See how other photographers have requested their models to pose. If you get caught for ideas use other photographers photos to inspire you.
Try to photograph from different angles. I shot my model from a higher angle for a few photos. I then got on the ground and shot from floor level as she lay in front of the camera. Lastly I did the shoot at normal standing height as she sat on a stood. You can get very resourceful. Make sure you have the background to support this. If you don’t try some closer focal lengths that crop the background out.
Always remember your lighting. It is one of the most important things in glamour photography. Use flattering poses and opt for no background if you can’t find a background that works. And most of all have fun!
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