Portfolio Building with Mileah

I love when I have the opportunity to help a new model build her portfolio. Mileah is one such model. She had never modeled with a professional photographer before. She would have her boyfriend take a photograph, then look at it and decide yes or no and it could be several minutes from one photo to the next. This destroys the flow of poses and makes natural-looking poses much more difficult. It also has a negative impact on the model's confidence when she is picking apart everything about her expression, body, or pose.

 I prefer a much more consistent pace that allows for a natural rhythm of posing. The smallest turn or twist of the body can change a mediocre pose into something stunning. Expressions also change from moment to moment in ways the model isn't always aware of that can be shy, sensual, or seductive in a matter of moments.

Each item of her wardrobe here is from my prop kit. A lace fan and garter complimented by the lace body-wrap combine to form a truly sensual image. You might have noticed this is also the wardrobe for the Day of the Dead on Ice. Those images came just moments before the mask was put away to make way for this series.

Cherry Brandi - In Color - TBT

My previous post included an all black & white set of classic Hollywood inspired photos of Cherry Brandi and I couldn't be happier with how well they turned out. That session was photographed in color and later converted to black & white to achieve the vintage look. There are some subjects that look better in color, and some that are fantastic in black & white. I think you'll agree that Cherry Brandi is able to do both very well.

I have pulled together some of my favorite color images of Cherry Brandi from our latest photo shoot:

Hollywood Glamour featuring Cherry Brandi - TBT

 Cherry Brandi came to me with an idea for a photo shoot emulating classic Hollywood glamour. She had a few samples of the type of photos that she wanted, and after studying them for a short time, I was able to engineer a lighting setup to match the style she wanted. They looked good in color, but converting them to black & white changed them into the vintage shots she was after.

I have worked with Brandi twice before, and each time we have come out of our sessions with so many great photos, its hard to pick favorites. This session lasted only half as long as our previous meetings, but produced just as many fantastic shots. I have selected several favorites to share here, but there are even more that will have to wait for another time...

Head Shots and Boudoir in One Session for Becca - TBT

Last month, I held a "Random Like" contest on Facebook, and Rebecca was the lucky winner.
To celebrate my page's third birthday on Facebook, I posted a short message saying I would choose one "like" from that message to receive a FREE photo session. There were only a few people who replied, making it a short list of possible winners.

I met with Rebecca to discuss the type of photos she wanted, and we came up with a dozen ideas for poses and styles. We started off with formal head shots, and moved on to pinup and then boudoir.

While she was very shy about what to show and what to cover up, she warmed up to the camera rather quickly, and soon felt much more comfortable in my studio. By taking it slow, and starting with head shots, she got a feel for how I take photos and I was able to observe her mannerisms and incorporate her natural posture in the way I asked her to pose. Near the end of the session time, she was getting into my prop box and going through my wardrobe collection trying on different outfits and playing for the camera.

Below are a selection of images from our session:

Roxie - TBT

 If you could see through someone's clothes, would you be surprised to see a tattoo like this?

For this session, I had a very specific idea in mind:
To use a picture frame as if it were an x-ray, looking through her dress.

The trick to it all, is to photograph her in exactly the same pose, both with and without her dress. I explained to her, that to make it work, she couldn't move her feet between each photo. She had to change out of her dress without moving her feet from her original pose. We managed to match the angle of her body, the picture frame, and her arms for each reference photo. Creating the final image required blending three separate photographs. One image of her holding the picture frame and wearing the dress, the next of her in the same pose holding the picture frame nude, and the final of her without the frame focusing on the tattoo.

Find a few more edited shots from this session below:

Showing Off Your New Tattoo - TBT

Samantha and I met last spring while she was taking a digital photography course at San Juan College, where I assist with all the photography classes. She started this tattoo midway through the spring semester, and only just recently was able to complete all the coloring and shading on her arm. After several attempts to get together for a photo session, we were finally able to arrange to meet.

I wanted to get as many views of the tattoo as we could manage. Changing lighting, posing, and backgrounds several times through the session. The resulting images are fantastic, and show off her ink beautifully. I wish I could share more of them here, the entire session was a complete success.

Cherry Brandi - Glamorous on Location - TBT

I had the great fortune to work with Cherry Brandi for a second time. We wanted to create a different feel and a new look for her with this photo session. After deciding to shoot outdoors, I scouted several locations and decided on three where we could shoot. The first is literally in my backyard. Or rather the backyard space at my studio.

Introducing Cherry Brandy - A Burlesque Beauty - TBT

I recently had the good fortune to photograph a beautiful young woman who recently moved here from Chicago. She had been a burlesque dancer, and wanted to get new images for her portfolio and website. We spent two hours shooting, allowing her wardrobe changes and different lighting setups. At the conclusion of our session, we had nearly 700 images to choose from. It was quite a challenge to narrow it down from that, but I scaled it back to 250, and then again to 135. She was able to choose 24 from that set and will use those for her website.