In album Glamour Portfolio (117 photos)
Sorry I hate to re-share stuff I have already done but the scrapbook shots are not easily re-shared and I have had some requests to make it available…
So here it is – if you like it feel free to re-share it and one more call this weekend for Glamour Photographers that want to get added to the Glamour Photographer List or Models that want to get added to the models list:
Glamour Photographer List:
http://blackdiamondproductions.net/tips-and-tricks/googleplus-glamour-photographer-list/
Glamour Model List:
http://blackdiamondproductions.net/tips-and-tricks/glamour-model-list/
awesome
+Pawel Tomaszewicz thanks… it is one of my favorite shots from a few years back…..
One of the things I would love to get into doing is glamour photography, but the retouching goes against every fiver of my photojournalist being. Is there such as thing as glamour photoJ?
I do not think so….. Does not mean you cannot shoot models thou… Just in my mind glamour usually requires some retouching,….
She's very distracting. Third time I've looked at this picture today.
My job is done here 🙂
Brent, serious question here that I've been pondering. With the type of photography you do, and the subject matter, how are you able to maintain professionalism?
Just browsing your portfolio is enough to make almost anyones mind wander, and I can imagine you get flooded with 'where can I find models like that to shoot' question by people who are more interested in being in the same room with scantily clad women than they are in the 'art' aspect. But still, even strictly as an artist, how do you cope with your subject matter?
+Dave Rich This is a great a very valid question.. I will happily reply but it will probably be over the weekend… I also have a pro level friend of mine that will probably have something to say on this topic…. Especially since he does it everyday… thou I find it even more important for those that are part time shooters…
I will bookmark this and reply when I can sit down for a few minutes and type out how I handle it…
Dave, In my experience, I had to take photos of some scantily clad women for a company I worked for a while ago. You'd be surprised how little it is about anything but the photography. They are there to do a job and so are you. It's one thing if you are taking a photo of your girlfriend or wife in a romantic situation. It is another story when it comes down to business and you need to provide you client or the subject with good art. I noticed their beauty and sensuality, but my mind was generally on the camera settings, what my lights were doing, the background, is that too much skin showing for publication, etc. And in addition there was either a big bouncer, the store owner, a boyfriend, makeup people, or someone else they brought with them in the room. It's a professional situation and though your mind may wonder for 2 seconds you have to snap it back into business mode and get the job done.
+Dave Rich +Tim Norman Tim brings up some very good points – Let me see if I can add a few….
#1 – There are two types of Glamour style photographers – Professional one's and Creeps with some "professionals" that creep me out but girls still shoot with because of the money tossed in…. Sad state of affairs but for many it’s about being in the room with a hot naked model….not about the photos etc…
#2 – There is a difference between glamour shoots and porn shoots – and you need to know what those differences are as it will affect both you, your shoot and your models. There are also porn models and Glamour Models and both of them are different in many ways.
#3 – Professionals look at nudity in general as a job, strictly business and nothing more.. just like a garbage guy takes out the garbage some of us that try to be pros or are pros are just taking out the trash at these shoots… they are planned out, they are used to tell a story or illicit a sexual or non sexual reaction but it should not be that way on set…..ever… as in this is all acting.
(Great side story here – If you ever have watched a true behind the scenes for the making of a mainstream porno – you will be truly amazed how non sexual it really is… it is somewhat eye opening and dream breaking all at once)
A shoot for me when I actually have time anymore (economic times = Brent does not get to shoot as much as he would like) goes like this:
Before the model shows up she knows what she will be paid, what she will be wearing, what she will be doing, what I plan on trying to get out of the shoot and might or might not have a copy of all of this on paper that she has already signed. If I pay money they get to sign stuff to say they will actually do what we have discussed or not get paid… that's just business.
When she shows up – She has a private changing area, I do not want her nude and wandering around, I want her nude if that is the shoot when we are shooting… Modesty is important but sometimes hard to enforce as I have had models that really do not care and others that thank me for supplying a robe… she is there to do a job and leave… she is not there for me to hit on or try to date or solicit sex from etc…. I am also a guy and there is always part of the mind that equates hot girl with sex (it’s in our genes) but you have to be able to lock that away….If you cannot then this type of work is not for you….
I always try to have someone else there, if there is not I usually will not shoot nudes unless I have worked with the model several times before… I do not like jail or lawyers… and accusations are free to make and hard to fight without witnesses. I always pay money for nude work – no options… even if its 1 buck there will be an exchange of money for modeling fees…
I cover my butt six ways to sunday – my photo release is 4 pages long with 2 forms of ID and I make them read it all….ask questions and sign it.
We then shoot
We Finish
She gets paid, gets a copy of the paperwork and cya….
I will not lie to you I have taken a model or two to dinner on the company dime thanking them for coming from far away or a job well done – but that’s a business dinner to say thanks for the hard work and not a date..
So let’s get back to how to lock out the super hotty standing naked in front of you…….
The first nude shoot I ever did was about 6 years ago… I was so worried about camera, lighting and making sure I framed the photo right I almost forgot there was a naked model in front of me…
Now that I have been shooting more and more stuff I still tend to concern myself with the content I need to get out of the shoot. Models are usually paid by the hour, you will be amazed how fast an hour goes when trying to get something specific for your portfolio or a client or the model. You will run out of time if you do not concern yourself with the shoot, getting the shots and making sure every detail is taken care of… hairs out of place, set falling apart, model safety, lighting, camera, settings, make up, clothing or what she should be doing with it for the next shot….
I concern myself highly that at the end of the only person happy with the photos is not just me…I want the model to leave knowing we did what we set out to do, she will look amazing and it’s a win win. Well technically it’s a win, win, win because she will go tell her model friends to come shoot with me… and that I am not a creepy dude, and that benefits me greatly.
The biggest mistake you will ever make in the nude photography arena is to get earmarked as the creepy photo dude… it will spread like wildfire and it will ruin your career.
Professionalism is key…
Don’t touch the models…..they do not want to touch you…. Etc etc…
As Tim said it needs to be a very different experience than taking photos of a girlfriend or significant other ……. One is hands off and one is hands on and shooting models is hands off…
I look at it in a pretty simple way in the end….. I really respect the models and the work they do. Whether they be nude, topless, lingerie, clothed, bikini etc.. I would not stand in front of a camera butt naked to then have my photos available to everyone in the world. In modeling you make a decision to do just that, and I know that by me being professional I will provide them with photos they and I are proud to have all over the internet.
We will soon be starting up our podcast again… http://www.glamourphotopodcast.com – We will be interviewing models and getting the other side of the coin in some of those podcasts. The stories you will hear will amaze you and make you want to not be “that photographer”.
On the other side of this – starting out, you want to start small and work up. Get your basics of posing and model interaction first. If you are not a people person you will want to become one, becase silence as a landscape photographer works, silence as a model photographer will be awkward and will not get you the results either person wants…
I was watching a seminar on http://www.creativelive.com this past weekend… Mark Wallace put it on, I highly recommend the investment to see it. He said in the middle of the seminar, “I do not know how to pose models, I hire models that can pose”, he is right and he was also sort of lying, because he clearly knows how to get what he needs to get out of a model. That said he is also right in the fact that hiring a pro model will get you much better results than just about anything you can do…
But when starting out if I had not worked with the 15 or so new models that never shot before and opted to hire a pro for a few shoots, I would have learned faster and had much better results early on.
Also if you are looking into doing any portrait style work I suggest grabbing the DVD seminars from +mark daughn here on G+ or from his site http://www.markdaughn.com. He shoots and teaches and his techniques translate to any shoot. That said if I need to spend money and time learning I rather buy a DVD set where there are beautiful models in it vs. hairy guys let’s say..
That said thou you need to tailor your lighting setups to what you want to do with your photography… so you need to research your specific needs for the work you want to do and adapt them to what you can afford and what you need to get out of the shoot.
Even better, find a local pro you can work with or sweep up for, you will learn more in that time than you will reading books.
Or just ask here – we are all full of ideas, both bad and good 🙂
Feel free to hit me up anytime to ask questions, it is why I am on G+……
I hope G+ dont' put down artistic nude in this site
+Mario Aguila As in remove them because they are technically nudes?
I hope you don't have any problem at all. I am against any censorship. That is the reason to have a flickr account until now. But the guidelines in G+ are very restricted about nudes. I have put some of them but only for some circle.
+Mario Aguila I also have read them and I think we all if asked would and can interpret them diferentaly, which is the problem with rules that are not clear cut.
I have posted quite a few posts now about this here and we have had quite a few good discussions….
Its an interesting issue based on the fact I know many of my followers would not mind nude images in their stream yet others I cannot speak for.. that said I like my Google services and do not want to rick my account being shut down.
Plus there are ways to share nudes etc without G+ hosting the images ……
I hope that they accept artistic nudes in private circles.
+Mario Aguila I hope they allow all of us to make our own decisions on what we want to see in general. Be that Artistic nudes or porn… as you say censorship on all levels is not a good thing…..
I can opt out of things I do not want to see I do not need someone to think they know what I want to see… I am an adult and can make my own good choices… Sadly many are not the same….
Brent, sorry I asked a question that took a book to answer. 🙂 Thank you for the very informative reply. Lot of good information there to digest, even if my main goal is not that type of glamour photography. 🙂
It's already nice to know that the people who have the knowhow and experience are willing to share with those of us who don't. 🙂
+Dave Rich Not an issues hopefully others can learn from it also…. I know I had a ton of learning to do….and misconceptions to get rid of…
There is no secrets to what I do …. and in most cases as long as a person knows what and how to make good decisions they will come out ok…. that said many make terrible decisions all the time and it ruins their career.
this one is beauti