Studio glamour & lingerie - DPChallenge Forums

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

02/07/2005 12:35:57 AM · #1

Looooooong weekend. 11 am 'til 11 pm Saturday and then almost that long Sunday but here are some photos from the 2 modeling sessions I did during that time.

EDIT: Ok. So the weekend wasn't all bad. From the standpoint of photography it was a super, kick-butt weekend.

BTW, to add insult to injury, I was only supposed to be shooting lingerie with the model in the black undergarments and she brought a friend along. About halfway through the shoot the friend was commenting and I jokingly said she better watch out or we'd get her dressed up in the pink set and put her out there with her friend and BAM she said she was ready to go. Hmmmm. OK, what the heck? Works for me. And voila.

Thanks for all the comments.

Kev

Message edited by author 2005-02-07 01:06:53.

parrothead

Canon EOS-40D

02/07/2005 12:38:58 AM · #2

Very nice Kev! I was just gonna hit the sack, but great shots!

rscorp

Nikon D70

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

02/07/2005 12:41:12 AM · #3

I'm expected to feel sorry for you somehow?? Wrong photos to show if you're looking for sympathy for putting in a long day.

David.C

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

02/07/2005 12:47:35 AM · #4

Very nice. Looks like your long, hard weekend was a lot of fun.

But just how do you keep the plexi from getting scratched with spikes like those -- not to mention the metal belts and jewelry?

David

TooCool

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

02/07/2005 12:57:54 AM · #5

I can feel your pain. I would just be devestated if I had to photograph beautiful women in their underwear for 12 or 13 hours a day each day on the weekend...

Sony 16-35mm f/4 Vario-Tessar T* FE ZA OSS Lens

02/07/2005 12:59:39 AM · #6

Originally posted by Britannica:

But just how do you keep the plexi from getting scratched with spikes like those -- not to mention the metal belts and jewelry?

David

Magic. ;)

Just kidding. It's all Photoshop work. I dupe the layer in PS, create a mask, mask out everything, paint in the crappy scratches in the mask and then switch from the mask to the layer and use the Healing Brush (J) to "erase" the scuff marks. I tried actually buffing the darned things out and lordamercy that was a pain. Maybe if a man had a buffer or something you could actually keep that plexi clean (I know one guy out in California who says he uses an elliptical buffer to do it) but I'm just too lazy. Yep. Paint 'em back out of the photo.

Kev

bryanbrazil

Sony Alpha a7R III

02/07/2005 01:02:23 AM · #7

The last one's my favorite. Very nice pose.

02/07/2005 07:10:07 AM · #8

Adding another from the shoot.

Kev

Message edited by author 2005-02-07 18:58:49.

Node

Tamron SP AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical IF for Nikon

02/07/2005 07:35:24 AM · #9

Jezz I feel sorry for ya...

As we say in Oz... Ya poor mongrel bastard! Wish I could be that bad off.

samtrundle

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/07/2005 07:38:05 AM · #10

The red shoes and ribbons is far and away the best of these images (that's not to say the other's aren't rock solid) but it is stunning. If you had it on DPC I'd add it as a favourite in a heartbeat!

cbeller

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

02/07/2005 07:54:58 AM · #11

Originally posted by samtrundle:

The red shoes and ribbons is far and away the best of these images (that's not to say the other's aren't rock solid) but it is stunning. If you had it on DPC I'd add it as a favourite in a heartbeat!

Yeah, what he said. This one is by far the best of the series, Kev. In the first one there is something about her feet that looks weird to me. Maybe she was trying to reposition herself when you took the shot or something.

Great work though.

Jinjit

02/07/2005 08:22:37 AM · #12

I agree about the red shoes picture. It is stunning!
I would also make it a fav if you get this one on DPC.

As for the others, the lighting it great and so is the lack of unwanted reflections (i.e. the post process). My fav is the one where they sit on that white reflecting floor.
I do feel a bit sorry for you for having to do all that hard work. After all, being a girl helps me ignore the fact that you were "forced" to stare those beautiful girls all weekend...
:-)
But it looks like the hard work payed off. Wonderful pictures!

02/07/2005 09:04:26 AM · #13

Wow. Thanks.

I'll add it when I get home tonight.

Kev

02/07/2005 09:26:52 AM · #14

If you have difficulty viewing the lingerie photos it is because I've disabled those pending a discussion with the wife. She was under the impression they would only be posted to my OMP portfolio as work I do for hire and I may have made an injudicious choice in seeking comment/critique on those photos.

Its one thing when its for money and another when its for public "consumption".

Mea culpa but thanks for the helpful comments and critiques so far.

Kev

02/07/2005 07:01:47 PM · #15

I added the photo in question to DPC, favorite away you brave souls.

;)

Kev

There it is.

Message edited by author 2005-02-07 19:12:05.

LindaLee

Canon EOS-40D

02/07/2005 07:07:07 PM · #16

Originally posted by samtrundle:

What he said!! What a shot, I totally love that.

cbeller

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

02/07/2005 07:15:54 PM · #17

Originally posted by KevinRiggs:

Oopsie!

Ah, but by getting critiques and improving, you increase your chances of getting hired for that work.

Plus, you posted on DPC and not GGW. :-)

Alecia

Canon EOS-10D

02/07/2005 07:17:49 PM · #18

awesome shoot kevin! i think the 5th down, and then the newest one you added are my faves...but i feel compelled to mention, that as much as i really like your shots--the hose with the open-toed shoes thing is killing me! ;)

Natator

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/07/2005 08:32:20 PM · #19

Sensational Kevin, as always. Excellent break getting that other lovely model to join in as well :)

Question for you on the black background .....

I know how you got the, excellent, reflection, but how do you manage to get the background so nicely black? Do you know what exposure you aim for, or more importantly the difference between the model and the back?

I am having real problems getting the backgrounds in my shots really black, without resorting to levels and risking stuffing up the model, or cutting her out in PS.

Was there a lot of PS work involved there ... or just very clever lighting ... and if so any tips?

kyebosh

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 80-200mm f/2.8L

02/07/2005 08:37:05 PM · #20

I didn't see it mentioned... what was the lighting used? I'm really curious cause I just bought a cheap strobe and i'm not sure how to really use it or what I can do yet.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/07/2005 09:40:21 PM · #21

Originally posted by Natator:

how do you manage to get the background so nicely black?

I used directional lighting more than anything else to achieve this effect.

For the shot with the model lying on her back:
I placed my key light at position #1. The key light used a 7-inch silver field reflector (no other modifiers). It was raised up high and turned down towards the model to get the most light onto the model and the reflective surface. To mitigate the harder shadows that the bare bulb can create I used my fill light at position 2. The fill light had a large softbox (48"x36") with the inner baffle and the outer diffusion panel installed so it had to be turned up as high as the key light (I was losing 2 stops with the layers installed. Still, it was too close to the subject given her white pants so they catch a lot of light off the fill but at least the fill took care of the shadows for me. To finish off the setup I used the kicker at position 3. It was turned back towards the model and had barndoors attached to keep the light from spilling over onto the seamless paper as well as keeping the light from coming directly into the lens. The kicker was turned down from the key light by about 3 stops if I remember correctly. I'm afraid I still got the light too high off the kicker and caught the subject's pants more than her face/hair which is what I really wanted to put more highlights in.
With this setup the model and the area immediately surrounding her are lit and the background is a good 3 or 4 stops lower in light so when you apply a little Contrast (Brightness & Contrast or the Contrast slider in RAW) you start to get solid blacks. If I were to shoot this again I think a 20-30 degree comb on the key light and aiming it more to her hair/face would help alleviate a little of the stress on the white pants. Dropping off the fill by just a touch (not even a half-stop) would probably produce some noticeable differences, too.

In the 2nd photo (the Librarian/Teacher pose) I decide to try some more dramatic lighting effects so I changed the use of the lights. I decided to make the light to my right the key light (the light at position #2). I took it off the stand and laid it on its side in the floor. The back edge of the light was propped up and the light was laying horizontally on its long axis. It was pointed slightly up but you can see the effects when you notice how much light is shown on the subject's legs, the pedestal. Notice how the subject's left leg (closest to the key light) has almost no shadows but the right leg is catching some shade from her left leg. Also worth noting is how much less of a reflection you see from the model's shoes & legs. This is caused by the angle of the light. It isn't coming down from up above and driving the reflection off the legs into the plexi; instead it is coming pretty much straight across. Now compare how much of a reflection you get from the pedestal. Wonder why? It's just that much more reflective when shot straight on with the light (compared with the skintone of the model's leg). You should also be able to notice the lightening effect on the black seamless paper directly behind the model. This is because the softbox really spreads the light around and since the only object the light has to contend with is the model's legs it lightens up the background. Of course as the light starts to move up the curved space of the backdrop it has less ability to fill that space because of the increasing distance and the angle of the paper as it tilts away from the light up toward the bar. Next light is light #1 which has now become our fill light (since it's turned down and only used to fill in the shadows. You'll notice that while this light is a bare strobe in the 7-inch silver reflector it has little effect due to the disparity between the key light and the fill. To add to this effect I left the kicker at the same intensity but opened the doors out a little. The door on the right (as you face the bulb) was opened a little to allow light to spill out onto the backdrop a little more. This also give some tone to the black seamless; it now appears that there is a line of light that flows behind the model from the upper left side of the black seamless down toward the bottom right. Since the fill light (at position #1) was turned down a lot from the first shot you'll notice that the kicker was able to create more shadows on the model's face. See the hotspot over the subject's right eye and the shadows that play across her face from the interplay of the kicker and the fill light. You can also see the effects of the bare strobe kicker versus the softboxed key light by looking at the shadow that the column casts back towards the key light. You'd expect that the light that's turned up would keep that from happening but because of the baffle and diffuser spreading the light around and cutting down on the effective output you can discern (in my version anyway) the shadow flowing back towards the key light.

That's probably a LOT more than you were asking for but I really have enjoyed playing with the lighting in the studio. I'm seriously considering ordering a couple more lights as I'd like to do a 5 or 6 light setup and see what I can produce.

Kev

Natator

Canon EOS-5D

02/08/2005 03:12:45 AM · #22

Originally posted by KevinRiggs:

That's probably a LOT more than you were asking for but I really have enjoyed playing with the lighting in the studio. I'm seriously considering ordering a couple more lights as I'd like to do a 5 or 6 light setup and see what I can produce.

Kev

Hi Kev

As always, you are an absolute wealth of information ... and that was not too much in any sense :)

I am working basically with a 2 monobloc system and a large reflector (am still having troubles with getting the speedlights to work, thanks to what turned out to be completely duff information from B&H *sigh*).

I was interested in your comment that your softbox light is your fill light.

I have automatically been using my softbox light as my main light, and then the second light (if not using the reflector) with a white umbrella as a fill light.

From what you are saying I should try with the softbox for fill.

I have also to yet really work out the whole silver umbrella thing as well *laugh*

Imagineer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

02/08/2005 04:33:15 AM · #23

I'll stick my neck out here a bit and say that the only one I like in your original post is the top shot (lying on her back). This has a richer set of tones and is lit in a more interesting way.

I have to ask, what is your intention with these images? Is it to emulate lads' mag girlie shoots or to portray the model's character in some way, or just to to titillate?

I feel that the other shots lack soul and do none of the above. They simply present the model as she stood in the studio and make me feel nothing towards her, leaving me conscious of a photographic set-up. Personally, I think there has to be an element of good humour with shots such as these, or all-out sensuality and sexyness.

The reason I question this is becasue I've been approached to do some glamour/modelling shots myself, but I won't until I can find some purpose and a good 'angle' on the theme.

dacrazyrn

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

02/08/2005 05:05:51 AM · #24

Kevin-Are you using a lightmeter also? I got the gist of this (the stopping the light up and down), and how to basically do it without one (set up what looks right and then a little trial and error here and there), to get what I want. If you do, whatcha using? What to look for in one. Reflective and incident both? One better than the other?
Thanks