The Art of Boudoir Photography with Speedlights

75 Pages·2014·9.367 MB·English

by  Michael Zelbel

Featuring Emily Wei
The Art of
Boudoir Photography
with Speedlights
From the author of SmokingStrobes
• use reliable lighting setups
• enjoy shooting stunning photos
• make your models proud
The Art of
Boudoir Photography
with Speedlights
Copyright 2011 by Michael Zelbel. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected
under International Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material
is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
Contents
Introduction
5
My Painful First Bedroom Shoot 5
The Perfect Studio 7
The Concept of “Going NUTS” 9
Step 1: Know Your Bedroom Basics
10

Hot Shoes – For Hot Lighting 11
Prime Time – For Your Lens 11
Great Little Gear 12
Playing Light Jockey 14
Besides the Bed 16
Go Nuts: Furniture Resembling Body Lines 18
Step 2: Choose The Right Lingerie
19

A White Shirt 20
Lingerie with Lace 21
Bridal Fashion 22
High Heels 23
Simple Underwear 24
Go Nuts: Striptease 25
Hot Pants 26
A Blanket 27
Clothes That Won’t Work 28
Step 3: Setup Your Light
29

One Light Setup 31
Bodyscapes 34
One Light + Accent Light 35
One Light + Kicker Light 37
The Lighting Sandwich 39
Beauty Light 44
Natural Light 46
Go NUTS: Back Lighting 50
Setups: Those We Don’t Speak Of 52
Step 4: Posing Your Model
53
S-Curve 54
45 Degree 54
Facial Expressions 55
Tell A Story 56
Lazy Posing: Body Parts 56
Go Nuts: Stretchy Poses 59
Step 5: Choose Interesting Angles
60
Find the Chocolate Side 60
Tilt Your Camera 60
Lines 61
Boring Dead Center 61
Rule of Thirds 61
Go NUTS: Shoot from Her Feet 63
“Climb Into Bed” Height 63
Go NUTS: Eagle’s Perspective 64
Focal Point 65
Step 6: The Don’ts: Avoid the Most Common Mistakes 66

No Bad Hands
Too Much Distrac… Oh, Shiny! 66
Too Many Colors 67
Too Tight Lingerie… Ouch! 67
Fat Wide-Angle Photos 67
Dirty Heels 67
Uncared Nails 68
Go to the next level
69

Creating a Pool of Shooting Ideas 69
Your Regular Portfolio Shoot 70
A Helping Hand 71
Author Bio 73
Acknowledgements 74
Bedroom Photo Setups Michael Zelbel
Introduction
I am probably not the fanciest artist you have ever seen. In fact, I still like to think of myself as an amateur
photographer – although when your hobby starts bringing in some good money, you get kicked out of
the “non-professional zone” by public opinion.
I’m starting to feel it as of late, but I still enjoy being an amateur. For me, this means freedom of experi-
mentation and also being able to get away with occasional mistakes or artistic decisions that a hardcore
pro would be crucified for!
Sharing has always been a big part of my activities in the photography community. The way I get other
people acquainted with my techniques and methods varies from real-world workshops and blog posts
on SmokingStrobes.com to personal coaching sessions in my little ProPortfolioClub.com. If by chance
you have tried to become a member, but found us unable to accept new people at the moment, please
keep reading – at the end of the guide you will find a handy loophole that makes the process a lot easier!
Now that we are through talking about how awesome I am, we should get to the meat and potatoes of
this e-book – making high-quality boudoir photography.
We will go through the very basic aspects of preparing your bedroom studio for a shoot, adorning your
model with all sorts of neat apparel (or stripping her naked, o la la!); then we will move on to something
more advanced – various lighting setups, poses and shooting angles. Lastly, we are going to top every-
thing off with a list of things you should NOT do if you want your pictures to be any good.
Before we go any further and delve deep into the bottomless pit of photographic knowledge (although
I’m probably just flattering myself), may I interest you in a bit of storytelling? Don’t fret – it won’t take
long. But by the end of it, you will have come to appreciate the conveniences of small lighting gear and
eager models. Because, you see, when I was starting out in beauty photography, things were a lot more
complicated.
My Painful First Bedroom Shoot
I can still recall the first time that I was confronted with a real boudoir photography challenge. A few days
after I had purchased my first DSLR camera and a set of monoblocks on lightstands, I could not resist
bragging with this great stuff to anyone within earshot when a friend of mine visited me. She is a very
beautiful lady – and, to my genuine surprise, she wanted me to take some good bedroom pictures of her.
I thought I had died and went to Heaven.
Back then I hadn’t the faintest clue about lighting, composition and posing. As you can probably guess, I
was pretty terrible – a lot worse than Nonja, the famous orangutan photographer from Vienna.
5
Bedroom Photo Setups Michael Zelbel
Predictably, this led to
a hilarious photo shoot
and some lame pictures
that did my stunningly
beautiful model no
justice at all. I wasn’t
experienced enough
to know what exactly
was wrong with those
images – or just how
horrible they were – but
I felt quite embarrassed
all the same. I thought
I had just my one-in-a-
million chance to shoot
boudoir pictures of a
hot girl.
Stupid man... Now, after
several years and count-
less photo shoots, I have
come to realize two very
important things:
a) Learning means grad-
ually going from bad to
good. It depends not so
much on your inborn
genius, but on practice
and skill. Vision, as well
as technique, can be
developed through
trial and error. The vast
majority of people start
out shooting crappy
pictures – it is a neces-
sary milestone.
b) There is no shortage
of attractive women –
some of them soul-
6
Bedroom Photo Setups Michael Zelbel
crushingly gorgeous – ready to be your models. to deal with a mind-boggling quantity of clunky
Bond with your potential subjects online on Face- gear. If your goal was to shoot magazine quality
book and other communities, or meet them in real pictures, there was no way around it – you just had
world situations like gatherings of civic groups, to have all that stuff! Intense lighting was needed
foreign country associations and the like. due to little sensitivity that film used to possess
back then. But those days are over (fortunately).
When I started to learn more and more about pho- Nowadays any DSLR you can buy, be it a high-end
tography, the first thing I practiced was setting up camera or an entry level device, delivers much bet-
light with the help of really big photography gear. ter image quality than any medium format camera
You know, like gigantic softboxes, and octaboxes, did 10 years ago. It also doesn’t require anywhere
and powerful monoblocks. Later on, inspired by near as much light. Speedlights are nowadays so
the strobist movement I moved my primary focus powerful that the issue of insufficient lighting is
on attaining the same excellent lighting by means practically nonexistent.
of very small gear. I moved on to using only speed-
lights, umbrellas and very lightweight lightstands. In fact, you are more likely to experience problems
with light that is too bright and too intense – but
This was the point of no return for me – taking those are easily remedied. I’ll show you how to deal
pictures became much easier. Portable and pow- with all sorts of hiccups related to lighting set-ups
erful equipment made boudoir photography less in this very guide. For now, don’t concern yourself
difficult to pull off in such locations as bedrooms with this and let’s carry on.
that possess a lot of artistic potential but prove
unsuitable for studio gear. With speedlights, how- The Perfect Studio
ever, you could shoot inside a dollhouse! Well, not
really – but they are still a lot more versatile than
As unlikely as it sounds, a bedroom is an ideal loca-
your everyday studio equipment.
tion for taking beauty and nude photos. It gives
you substantial opportunities for manipulating the
As a result, now I can parade into a bedroom and
light and positioning your model, which makes it,
set up some compelling and dramatic lighting
in essence, a studio. That’s right – a bedroom is just
in a matter of minutes. Then I pose my model in
another photo studio for you. The one you need to
the most flattering way possible and start taking
know inside and out, the one you need to master.
pictures. Easy as pie – no missed opportunities, no
pressing deadlines, no complex lighting contrap-
Any beauty photographer who is striving to bring
tions that nobody has any idea how to use.
in good money with his skill should be flexible
and able to shoot with limited time and resources.
I work much smarter now. The best part is, my
Your clients and your friends who want you to take
clients don’t care how big and complex my gear is,
boudoir pictures can’t relate to all the difficulties of
as long as the results are stunning. They are paying
organizing a shoot. That’s why it would be expedi-
me serious money for doing what is essentially my
ent for you to make it as time-saving and minimal-
biggest passion. How cool is that?
istic as possible.
Back in the golden days a photographer’s lot was
7
Bedroom Photo Setups Michael Zelbel
If you can walk into a bedroom, set everything up, least become less dependent on expensive equip-
pull out your camera and shoot away, producing ment and professional venues.
images of wonderful quality, asking why you won’t
do it in an actual studio would be the last thing on The photos in this e-book were taken during a
people’s minds! super long session with my wife Emily in our bed-
room at home. Emily is very beautiful, but she is
A full-fledged studio encounter with your model is not a photo model; nor is every pose shown here
costly, laborious and time-consuming. The results ideal for her. But I wanted to keep it real and take
are sometimes unpredictable, because not many the pictures for this guide “in the field” as opposed
non-professional models can relax in a studio. to just choosing some perfect examples from my
Relaxing in a bedroom is much easier – that’s what portfolio. In this darn age photography is clearly a
bedrooms are for! With this guide showing you team sports. Makeup artists, stylists and assistants
how to take care of the gear and the pose, you will are REQUIRED on set. But in order keep this exam-
be able if not to ditch studio photography, but at ple shoot reproducibly on a shoestring budget I
8
Bedroom Photo Setups Michael Zelbel
opted for doing it without any third party help - just Emily and myself. I think it got paid off in terms of
learning value. Had I just selected a couple of dozens of pictures from my portfolio and declared them
as the standard, I would probably end up with something irreproducible. I wanted to encourage ex-
perimentation and freedom of expression. So whenever you see the examples in the book, please keep
in mind that the same poses might look different with your model, and a different type of lighting can
change the mood and the overall impression dramatically. I urge you to try everything and knock your-
self out in every way imaginable!
The Concept of “Going NUTS”
One particular thing I’m using throughout this guide is the concept of “going nuts”. N.U.T.S. stands for
“not the usual tame stuff”. As I stated a couple of lines above, I want to encourage your creative expres-
sion and make all the process as interactive as it can get with reading a boudoir photography guide. Let
me explain the idea to you.
Despite being all about inspiration and originality, art is built on rules. It is important to learn them
and know how to apply them. However, it is even more important to bend these rules occasionally – or
downright break them.
When you have tried the lighting setups and the poses that I provide in this guide, it means the time has
come to put a twist on this material and see what happens. Just go with your gut feeling and see if you
produce something fresh and good. You might succeed – or maybe not.
Whatever result you end up with, don’t let it discourage you. Don’t be afraid to do something wrong.
When you are scared of being wrong, you deny your own right to be original. Fresh perspective is the
single most important thing that no education must take away from you!
Now do me a favor and go nuts!
Go NUTS!
You will find fun and practical advice (with
many more saucy pictures) on how to go nuts
and deliver crazy creative twists in colored
captions like these, scattered throughout the
guide. They are all over the place, so keep your
eyes open!
9
Bedroom Photo Setups Michael Zelbel
Step 1: Know Your Bedroom Basics
Once you master photography in the bedroom then there’s one thing which makes it all worthwhile, and
that’s flexibility. Wherever you go, there is always a bedroom of some sort. This basically means that you
will have “a studio” regardless of where you end up.
Whether you are visiting friends in order to take their pictures, or you are on holiday, or for any other rea-
son, there is always a bedroom. It can be a simple one (in a house or an apartment) or a fancy one (you
often get those in hotels, though kitsch costs extra!). You can produce awesome pictures in any bedroom,
humble or posh.
One significant drawback of bedrooms as compared to studios is their pretty confined space – I’m talking
both width and height. A full body image would often require a wide angle lens, and those can introduce
a lot of distortion to the photos, specifically – to your model’s body. Needless to say, you should use such
gear with caution; not everyone has keen artistic taste, but everybody can spot weird details in other
people’s anatomy!
Limited size of most bedrooms also makes it more difficult to set up the light; it tends to bounce off every
surface and illuminate the places you’d rather keep in shade. However, doing this correctly is quite easy
to learn. We will talk about the matter in the next chapter – as well as many other aspects of creating
beautiful bedroom lighting.
In order to create visual depth and add appropriate mood with lighting, you don’t need a lot of
equipment.
1