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Boudoir Photography eBook – Latest by Ed Verosky

Darkman — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:02:22 +0000

Boudoir Photography: The Quick-Start Guide For Professional Photographers, by Ed Verosky is now available!

This is a compilation (including new content) of his two previous boudoir eBooks, “10 Ways to Improve Your Boudoir Photography Now,” and “25 Amazing Boudoir Photography Techniques” and Much Much More!

This new book has it all, including advice from other professional boudoir photographers who were kind enough to share their working experience and tips. Even if you’ve already purchased one or both of those other guides, you’ll want to check this out. The content is updated, expanded, and formatted for your computer and looks amazing on your iPad or other reader. Now, everything’s in one place in this big 100+ page eBook! This one’s also printer-friendly so you can make your own cue cards or posing cheat sheet!

Great book that maps out the details on every page!

Boudoir Photography: The Quick-Start Guide For Professional Photographers

Ed Verosky Boudoir Photography eBook Sample

Ed Verosky Boudoir eBook Sample

Ed Verosky Boudoir Photography eBook Sample

Boudoir Photography eBook Cover

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Film Noir Lighting with Lighting Diagrams

Darkman — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:42:16 +0000

Film Noir, emphasizing low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions and literally translated means “Black Film”. Not just the colors of the film but the sub-currents or undertones of the movie moods and expression. Film Noir is a visual style who’s roots are in German Expressionist cinematography, and typically set in the early 1940′s to the late 1950′s.

Film Noir is typically thought of as being a crime drama, usually involving a Femme Fatale(a women of questionable virtue). The femme fatale usually thought of as a danger to the hero or underdog, sometimes being the one thing that can bring the hero down, or elevate him to hero status. The hero is usually a private eye, police detective or cop.

Most classic period film noir movies were low or modestly budgeted, and low on film company equipment such as lighting. The American Film Noir was said to have come about through the idea of making use with what one has, or didn’t have and the need to accentuate the moods of the plot and the emotion to be conveyed by the characters. Low budget or low resources for equipment usually meant they had to make due with what they had and therefore became very inventive, especially in terms with the lighting.

There are a couple great book on film noir, but for a film noir lighting book, there’s nothing like the film noir lighting bible entitled “Painting with Light” by John Alton. Another great reference for film noir movies and discussion of the style is the book “The Noir Style” by Alain Silver. More film noir books HERE.

Film Noir Lighting became the hallmark of the Film Noir movie, and is seen in many types of photography today. Sometimes being confused with Hollywood Glamour Photography, Film Noir is usually of a much darker natural.

Some hallmarks of the film noir shot, or film are low key, low light scenes and skewed angles or low-angle, wide angle or dutch tilt type shots. All are ways to give disorienting or disfiguring effects as are images in mirrors.

The lighting is sometimes either stark dark or light contrasts as are the dramatic shadowing effects known also as the chiaroscuro style. Chiaroscuro is a style of light and dark paterning that came from Renaissance painting. One typical cliche and always notable scene type is the shadows of venetian blinds on the wall or across the face of the characters in the movie or photo.

Some classic examples of film noir lighting come from movies such as The Third Man, with the long cast shadows on the walls of the dimly lit streets along with the dutch tilted angle of the scene.

The Third Man - Long Shadows, Dark Streets, Running Man

The Third Man - Long Shadows, Dark Streets, Balloon Peddler

Another great example of Film Noir lighting in a movie is High Sierra, in which the lighting was done to look as if lit by an oil lamp. The low lighting is low in this scene and gives away the feelings the two characters have for each other. The lighting is not as low as in criminal lighting where the light would be coming from the floor, but lower as in the height of the oil lamp itself to make it look realistic.

High Sierra with Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino

Another type of film noir imaging is silhouetting of the characters against a light background such as in the The Big Combo.

The Big Combo

Some examples of criminal lighting, I will use some of my own images for these. Typically low angle lighting pointing upwards, giving a stark evil feeling, along with a facial gesture can make all the difference in the world.

Guy Chapman, with Criminal Lighting and a Dutch Tilt

Film Noir Lighting Diagram for image of Guy #1

Long shadows on walls are a must in almost all film noir movies.

Guy Chapman with a long shadow on the wall

Film Noir Lighting Diagram for image of Guy #2

A tilted hat to create a shadow to hide the eyes can create a feeling of either mystery or sadness depending on the context.

A tilt of the head to shadow and hide the eyes

Film Noir Lighting Diagram for image of Guy #3

Sometimes a tilt of the camera can create a interesting or unusual effect. Used to disorient or convey disorientation, stress, dread or looming danger, the dutch tilt is a classic and simple to use technique.

Dutch Tilt to create weird, disorienting and grotesque mood

Of course there’s also got to be the seductive Femme Fatale.

Film Noir Moll

A smoking gun is always nice.

Smoking Gun backlit for effect

And then there’s the Hero or Protagonist, Me…Larry Darkman Clark.

Larry Darkman Clark, Film Noir Lighting

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post on film noir lighting with the diagrams. Film noir has always been a passion of mine and there’s so much to it, it is in many of the movies we see today.

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Fashion Glamour Photography – Lighting Diagram and Explaination

Darkman — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:06:22 +0000

Hey folks, this is one of my favorite shoots and favorite ways of doing a night shoot. With an small strobe and a long exposure. We know that Aperture is what controls the flash and that shutter speed controls the ambient light. Here’s the formula:

1. Expose the face for flash using aperture(size of the hole).
2. Expose for ambient background using Shutter(speed of the shutter, usually long).
3. Close aperture until face is correctly lit.
4. Increase strobe power until face is exposed correctly
5. Decrease shutter speed until background is correct.

Sometimes it takes a few minutes to get the background and foreground just right, because your using a tight aperture with a long exposure.

flash is controlled by aperture
shutter speed controls ambient light.

So how I did the shot below, the faux magazine ad for the eyelashes, I metered for the correct flash exposure on her face. Then I focused on the light in the background behind her with my camera and opened the shutter speed up(made it longer), until the background light was up as much as the strobe on her face.

The strobe is only “on” for so long in terms of milliseconds. After the strobe fires, the shutter is still open drawing in the background ambient light, exposing the “film” to the correct exposure of flash and ambient, until the perfect picture is achieved. Am I making any sense at all?

The end product:

Faux magazine Ad for Shu Uemera Eyelash Comany

The Lighting Diagram is here:

Glamour Photography Lighting Diagram, F/13, 1/3 sec., 800 ISO

The portable system I used for this shoot is HERE.

Glamour Photography Lighting Explaination

This shoot was done on the street corner in Pacific Beach, Ca., on a strip where there’s a lot of college kids bar hopping and partying. I wanted to get some people in the background and have it give an atmosphere of night out on the town, but the crowd wasn’t co-operating. So I just shot kali alone with the fashion area of the strip in the background.

The following two fashion glamour shots were done in downtown San Diego at a law office that was covered in ivy, I wanted to shoot Kali in front of the old door with ivy surrounding it. I used the same portable lighting setup as above but I only metered for the strobe since there was no background or ambient light I wanted to include.

Model: Kali, Location: Downtown San Diego, Ca.

Kali is a model I was directed to by my make-up artist Jenny. Kali had just returned from a modeling gig in Hong Kong where she was there for over a year. She said they love American Models over there. It was really cold that night and Kali is a true model in all the sense. When it came time for the shoot she took her coat off and posed like a real trooper, fighting of goose bumps from the cold. She’s a modeling machine.

Shu Uemura is an eyelash company based in Asia.

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How to Photograph Nudes Like a Professional by Ashley Karyl – eBook Review

Darkman — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:48:32 +0000

How to Photograph Nudes Like a Professional by Ashley Karyl – eBook Review

20% Discount on eBook, Use code: darkman

Ashley Karyl is a professional photographer who’s been shooting nudes for upwards of 25 years now. His eBook “How to Photographer Nudes Like a Professional” is a culmination of all his experience during this period of time, and is one of, if not the biggest resource on the subject of Professional Nude Photography.

While there are tons of books out there you can buy for lighting with specific layouts for achieving exact copies of images, or step-by-step lighting procedures, this is not exactly a lighting book, per se’. It is a book on just about everything you would need to know on the subject of Nude Photography. From enhancing your images to getting better and better models for your assignments or sessions, how to act around nude models and avoid the creep factor to interacting with a nude model and making her feel comfortable around you. We all know that great images start with a great model, for without a great model we would have nothing.

Ashley’s book is a conversation between the reader and the writer, as if in a coffee shop, the reader picking the mind of the writer on topics of photography, model selection, lighting, and post production editing. This isn’t for the occasional photographer, it’s for the serious photographer who is looking to better his craft and art of nude photography, with the experience gleaned from Ashley Karyl’s 25 years of experience shooting for some of the biggest names in the industry. That experience would take most of us just as long to put together, if not longer, and is given freely in this eBook.

I myself have implemented some of the techniques and suggestions immediately and noticed a marked improvement in not only my images, but the pleasure I have, when I have a shoot with a great model, models who make the images much, much better. I’ve been working with models for almost 10 years now and there have been quite a few let downs in the past few years. With Ashley’s tips and techniques, finding a competent model is easier than one would expect and the disappointments fewer and fewer. Tips for weeding out the amateurs, who will waste your time, and pulling from the crowd the ones who will show up on time, work, get the job done and do a great job while working with you.

The book also has a nice library of images to look at, with examples of how things are done. Ashley also goes into equipment, and why he uses what he uses, the benefits and differences between different pieces of equipment, besides what he uses, and explains a bit about light color temperature and effects on the images in editing and results.

He talks about where to find good models, what to look for, and gives a list of suggestions to give to the model a few weeks before the shoot and then again a few days before the shoot. Suggestions like drinking plenty of water the day before, and not wearing constrictive clothing, so as not to leave impressions on the body like a bra would leave. No one likes unsightly clothing marks and no one I know likes to edit them out, why make more work for yourself?

The book is full of diagrams and screen shots of lighting and editing screens, and goes well into detail about each aspect of each point he is trying to make, and why. Not many photography books I have read go into detail about why they do certain things, but Ashley does, and usually relating to a certain situation he has had in the past, that he himself had to learn from. Here again passing along to us, the readers, valuable information that can save us countless hours of frustration or dead, unusable shoots.

This book is so full of good information, the list continues to go on into locations for shoots, idea for different locations, poses for shots, hair and makeup tips and ideas, and a check list of things to make sure your model is feeling comfortable and easy. He also gives a list of visible clues to look for, and what those clues can tell you, the photographer what you are actually seeing with the model you are working with. I mean this guy is good.

The book itself is 328 pages long. It took me a while to get through the whole book. Ashley told me to skim through and jump to parts that interested me, but I told him I just couldn’t do that. I found the whole book interesting, extremely informative and well thought out.

I can really appreciate Ashley’s own personal stories he tells in the process of teaching us. I found the stories something I could totally relate to. Each story had a reason for being there, from the inappropriate assistant to the model who wasn’t as thin as she was in her photographs, and how he dealt with each and every adverse situation.

Overall, the book is a gem of a resource, to be gone over and over again. The Only thing I found to be something I would change, was how long the book was, and how many different topics were thoroughly covered. I felt the book could have been broken up into several books covering each subject on it’s own. It took me a while to get through the whole book, but I was able to eventually get through the book.

I will say this for the length and all the topics covered, Ashley does a great job of flowing from one subject to the next, making the flow of the book one of ease. I was glad that I had the whole book, because when one subject was ending, it flowed into the next. This is where I was glad I didn’t have to go buy another book to continue.

Great Book! Highly Recommended!

20% Discount on eBook, Use code: darkman

For more information, including an in-depth list of contents, go to Ashley’s Site itself Located HERE.

Here’s a few of my own…

Ripe with Morning Dew

Desert Wild Flowers

Body Scaping

Midnight Morning Shower

Bianca Malise

Better in Blue Jeans

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Check out the list of recommended
Hollywood Glamour Photography
Books and Videos Here

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Hollywood Glamour Photography, Behind the Scenes with Daisy Devine

Darkman — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:48:21 +0000

I thought I would post some behind the scenes shots from a shoot I did a while back, in fact several years ago, with one of my favorite models, Daisy Devine. In this shoot we were going for a Joan Crawford Hollywood Glamour type shoot. We had planned it out and chose Daisy for the shoot as we felt she would portray Joan Crawford best.

In this Hollywood Glamour photo shoot, you can see me messing with the lights and snapping a couple pictures. The in the resulting images you can see what the camera is seeing. Hollywood glamour photography really isn’t as hard as people make it seem. It is a technique, but it is also a feeling, an art and a painting of sorts with light. Not painting with light like they mean in today’s terminology, but more of an artists painting as he places his lights and shadows here and there.

One secret I always tell people is to create drama with shadows, rather than flood it with light. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the resulting images, can you tell or remember which Hurrell shots these are imitating?

Enjoy…

Hollywood Glamour Photography, Behind the Scenes

Hollywood Glamour Photography, Behind the Scenes w/Daisy Devine

Hollywood Glamour Photography w/Daisy Devine

I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts and comments. I’d also like to know what you would like me to write about. Got a question, ask me, and I’ll try to answer it to the best of my ability.

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Model – Bianca Malise, Nude plus Glamour Lighting Diagram

Darkman — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:09:02 +0000

I did this nude/boudoir shoot with Bianca Malise a while back at her San Diego residence. Done in her upstairs bathroom to give a feeling of intimacy, and set in place that makes the subject feel naturally relaxed and at home.

This image in particular receives many questions as to the lighting and how it was shot. It’s actually pretty simple and mainly with existing light, with the exception of one additional light acting as both fill and key light.

The existing light was metered to be approximately 1+ stop higher than the key and fill light, to give a nice rim light on her hair and her left side. It was also set this way to illuminate the scene with the existing lights in the bathroom, to make it look as natural as possible.

The Key and Fill Light, was a 200 watt Fresnel, with a diffuser on the barn doors. The diffuser was homemade, with a round embroidery frame from Walmart with a piece of white, sheer fabric, like synthetic silk to diffuse the light and make it a bit softer. I then hung this round frame on the barn doors of the Fresnel.

The shutter speed was set at 1/20th sec. and ISO 800, to allow the low wattage lights to take hold and register. The Key and Fill light were placed a ways back from the subject so as not to overpower the existing lights and to allow them to be brighter for rim lighting. The Key and Fill light also give a nice little catch light in the eye. The catch light brings the eye to life and gives a sense of realness to the image.

Bianca is sitting on the counter top of the sink with her back to the mirror and leaning toward the camera. The resulting shot was a really warm toned image of a really pretty model with a nice figure. Capturing forever, the image of youth and vitality, which is a selling point for all boudoir photography.

Enjoy…

Bianca Malise, Nude Boudoir

Bianca Malise Nude Boudoir

Bianca Malise, Glamour Lighting Diagram

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The Illustrative Look – Band Photography

Darkman — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:32:16 +0000

I love band photography, it gives me a chance to seek out a bands presence, or their vibe and create something original. This band was a band that had been broken up for a few years and recently gotten back together and needed a photo for their press package.

They wanted something original, and cool looking, as well as something they called “Urban Grunge”. So I put them in front of a garage, and used strobe to overpower the sunlight, and when I edited the photo I used photoshop to paint a “Tag” of their band name “Wild Hare”.

I used a blend of high contract, layering and desaturation, to get that illustrative look of the picture. The only thing I would have done differently is to set the lights differently. I had the lights coming from either side of them, thus creating a criss cross shadow, which for some people can be a bit distracting. If I could do it differently, I would put one light to camera right and one light to camera center instead of camera left and right.

The Illustrative Look with Band Photography

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10 Top Photography eBooks for $5, Spend Less Money, Improve Your Photography

Darkman — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:04:49 +0000

10 Top Photography eBooks to help improve your craft without spending money! These Photography eBooks from David duChemin, Andrew S. Gibson, Corwin Hiebert and Dave Delnea are meant to help the photographer improve their photography skills without spending money. The photographers use a minimal amount of gear on many shoots and they are sharing their photography secrets with all of us, and all for only $5 each.

I highly Recommend these eBook if you are looking for the easiest way to improve your photography without spending a ton of money on new equipment. They talk about Light Theory, Editing, Black and White and Color. If you are seriously looking for an inexpensive way to learn more about photography and some experienced guys who weigh in as champs, these are the guys.

These books are produced by Craft and Vision

#1 The Magic of Black and White – Part I – Vision – $5

Andrew S. Gibson

The Magic of Black and White Part1

Black and white photographs are a different medium than colour and require an ability to see in monochrome. Becoming aware of the differences between black and white and colour images, in both how they are seen and what makes a great black and white image, is the first step to capturing images that will work powerfully in monochrome.

The first in a planned two-volume set, Part One discusses what makes a great black and white photograph, what to look for when learning to see in monochrome, elements of a black and white image, and potential subjects for black and white photographs. Part Two will examine the means of creating the black and white image in the digital darkroom.

#2 The Magic of Black and White - Part II – Craft – $5

Andrew S. Gibson

The Magic of Black and White Part 2

Part two of Andrew S. Gibson’s, The Magic of Black and White series is about the craft of converting the captured image into black and white in the digital darkroom. Where Part One – Vision, looked at the process of seeing and capturing in monochrome, Part Two – Craft, looks at the tools needed to turn a colour digital negative into a spectacular-looking black and white image using the software of the digital darkroom, specifically Adobe Photoshop.

The Magic of Black and White, Part Two – Craft is a 51 page downloadable PDF. We’ve forced the layout into a landscape format to make viewing on the iPad even better. Using a good PDF reader like GoodReader, these PDF eBooks retain the rich layouts we’ve always created, as well as allowing non-iPad users the same great experience they’ve always had.

#3 Below the Horizon - Understanding Light at the Edges of Day – $5

Dave Delnea

Below The Horizon

BELOW THE HORIZON was written by a photographer whose commercial work includes some of the finest resort properties in the world. Dave Delnea’s ability to see and capture the mood present in light at the edges of day have garnered him some exceptional clients and produced some amazing images. His secret is no secret at all; simply to understand and capture the light that is uniquely present when the sun is below the horizon and other photographers have put their cameras away.

Editor’s Note: I am really excited about this book, not because it’s full of secrets, it really isn’t, but because it was reading the rough drafts for this book that inspired me on a recent trip to Kenya to shoot images I am more excited about than I have been in a long time. The inspiration to go out and shoot in the exceptional edge of day light has re-ignited an excitement I’d lost in the busyness of being a working photographer. Highly recommended! (David duChemin, Vancouver 2010)

#4 Growing The VisionMonger

10 Things a Manager Can Teach You About Running & Growing Your Business – $5

Corwin Hiebert

Growing The Vision Monger

Corwin Hiebert is David duChemin’s secret weapon these days. A powerhouse of practical advice and know-how, he’s been managing David’s nuts and bolts so well we asked him to put some of it in writing. It’s not sexy stuff, it’s down and dirty day-to-day make-yer-business run better kind of stuff.

Whether your running a studio business or looking down the pipe at becoming a working photographer, it pays to learn management details not from a photographer, but from an accomplished manager who really gets it.

#5 The Inspired Eye I – Notes on Creativity for Photographers, Vol.I – $5

David duChemin

The INspired Eye Part 1

Understanding and nurturing our creativity is the first step in breaking out of our ruts. The Inspired Eye, Vol.I, is the first of a two-part discussion about the nature of inspiration and the creative process as it relates to photographers. A vital creative life and an understanding of how our own process work is the greatest asset a photographer can have and precedes any of our work with the camera or in the digital darkroom.

#6 The Inspired Eye II – Notes on Creativity for Photographers, Vol.II – $5

David duChemin

The Inspired Eye Part 2

The follow-up to the popular The Inspired Eye, Vol I, Volume 2 picks up where the first book left off and continues to explore the creative process for photographers. While less sexy than a new lens, understanding and working with your creative process is the core of what we do and will make your images more uniquely expressive. This is where vision begins.Volume 2 includes an interview about the creative process with Chris Orwig, author of Visual Poetry. All illustrations are from David’s own work chasing his muse, with film for the first time in 10 years.

#7 Chasing The Look – 10 Ways to Improve The Aesthetics of Your Photographs – $5

David duChemin

Chasing The Look

CHASING THE LOOK is about making intentional choices about the use of our gear and the settings on our cameras based on their aesthetic effect. It begins to answer the question we all ask at some point while looking at the images of others – “How come my photographs don’t look like that?” While part of that question is answered simply, that we all have different vision and therefore different images, part of it must also be that we are not paying enough attention to the look each decision brings to the final image. Chasing The Look walks you through those elements and encourages you to begin thinking aesthetically and not merely technically.

#8 Drawing The Eye – Creating Stronger Images Through Visual Mass – $5

David duChemin

Drawing The Eye

Drawing The Eye is about understanding and using the ways in which the eye reads a photograph in order to create more powerful images, and it’ll change the way you look at your craft. Broken into 4 parts, Drawing The Eye looks at this concept of visual mass, or visual pull, in concept, in camera, in post-processing, and then through creative exercises related to each of these sections.

Don’t let the egghead title fool you, this is not academia; it’s a real-world discussion about making images that are more powerful because they’re made with a fuller understanding of where the eye moves in an image, and how that understanding can change the way you shoot and process your images.

#9 TEN – Ten Ways To Improve Your Craft. None of Them Involves Buying Gear – $5

David duChemin

Ten

TEN was David duChemin’s first eBook and still the most popular by a landslide. The premise is simple, if photographers could cut through the noise and work on their craft without being bombarded with the need to buy more gear, and the newest and shiniest, we’d become better at our craft and create more compelling images. TEN is exactly what it says it is, an exploration of ten techniques and ideas that can improve any photographer’s work.

TEN was written in response to the question, “so where do I go from here, once I’ve learned how to use my camera?” TEN responds to that and gives you ten solid steps to take on your photographic journey, each with accompanying creative exercises, and none of them asking you to buy new gear.

#10 TEN MORE – Ten More Ways To Improve Your Craft – $5

David duChemin

Ten More

TEN MORE is the follow-up to TEN and picks up where TEN left off. The question it addresses is still the same—how can I improve my photography without spending a pile of cash on big lenses and the latest must-have widget? This is a short-course in taking your photography and can be read as a companion book to TEN, or on it’s own.

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Jean Harlow and the Bear Skin Rug for Vanity Fair

Darkman — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:28:58 +0000

The classic Iconic image by George Hurrell of Jean Harlow on the Bearskin rug, is a classic that many photographers equate to the quintessential Hollywood Glamour. It’s really not that hard to reproduce if you know where the lights are coming from. All you need is a Polar Bear Skin rug(good luck). The lighting is the easy part.

The negative sold for about $57,000 recently in the largest auction of George Hurrells works by Epstein and Schwimer. I would love to have a copy of that negative.

So if you take a look at my diagram you can see where I have set the lights for the photograph, and in the second and third images I will point out to you why it is and how I know.

The hairlight which is on a boom and above Jean Harlow, this is easy to tell by the shadow direction of this light(fresnel) and how it falls onto Harlow in a tight pattern around her indicating it is a mid level tight focus, and above her.

The next light is a narrow focus photo flood light to the left of the camera at about 90 degrees from the subject, also indicated by the light shining on her left side of her body to camera right. Also see the bears nose for highlights. This lamp is low to the ground, pointing slightly up at Harlow.

The third light, called the Key light is also a flood, but set to wide, and more of a fill light than a key light. Take note of the catch lights in Harlows eyes, and the lightness of the shadows on her ribcage, the back of her right arm and let hand, and her face. This light is slightly higher than the second light, and set to wide to soften and lower the brightness, so as not to remove or blowout the shadows, but rather to open them up, so the camera can get that shadow detail.

This image is Hurrells signature dramatic lighting which is accomplished by painting or composing with light, rather than blast with light. A little here, and a little there. until the perfect balance is met. Some would say the brighter parts of the image are her hips and the left side of her face, drawing attention away from the face, but instead, it frames the face.

As with many of Hurrell’s works, he the broke rules. To him there were no rules. This is what made Hurrell different, stand out and noticed. Not just by clients but by other photographers as well.

The other reason I know where the lights go is in the book “The Hurrell Style: 50 Years of Photographing Hollywood“, it’s documented where the lights are, as Hurrell took extensive notes on his setups and layouts. That book is available here, at Amazon.Com.

Jean Harlow, Bearskin Rug Lighting Diagram

The light is shining on her left side to camera right, also see the bears nose for highlights.

Take note of the catch lights in Harlows eyes, and the lightness of the shadows on her ribcage, the back of her right arm and let hand, and her face.

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Check out the list of recommended
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Model – Mia Vixen, Hollywood Glamour and Film Noir

Darkman — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:17:04 +0000

Mia Vixen is a Southern California Model and Burlesque Dancer I had the pleasure of photographing a little while ago. This first shot Old Hollywood Glamour and reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe, with the second shot being more along the lines of Film Noir. Each shot was lit with Fresnel Studio Lamps, and each had a different number of lights used.

Can you tell how many lights were used? I’ll give you a hint: Look at the High Lights and the Shadows. That’s how I reverse engineer photos I like. Look at the shadows and the direction of the lights as well as with the high lights, there you will be able to tell where the light is coming from.

This is your typical Old Hollywood Glamour Style Photograph with a touch of Boudoir mixed in. The Lighting Diagram is below.

Mia Vixen Hollywood Glamour

If you guessed 3 lights you would have been right. One on her backside, one on her thigh and one on her face. The one on her face had a silk diffuser on it to soften the center but still give a hard-ish edge to the shadow on her cheek from her nose.

Mia Vixen, Hollywood Glamour Lighting Diagram

This next image could tell a story. A fine young lady is stranded at a bus stop late at night waiting for her bus. A single street light shines down on her. Her suitcase with all her worldly belongings props her legs up, in a recline. What’s a girl to do?

This would be a typical Film Noir type shot. How many lights?

Mia Vixen Film Noir

If you guessed 2 you would be right. On shining down on her like a single street light would, and a second one to camera left to open up the shadows a bit to keep her from disappearing int he shadows altogether. Hollywood Glamour Photography is often mixed up as or with Film Noir but there are some heavy distinctions, which I will go into at a later post. For now, enjoy the process.

Mia Vixen, Film Noir Lighting Diagram

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