mercredi 11 septembre 2013

Glamour Photography Techniques

By Amy Renfrey


Portrait photography is one of the most popular forms of photography for the domestic services market. Many of these include weddings, newborns and babies, celebration and events and glamour photography. Glamour photography is very popular today. What's the difference between fashion photography and glamour photography? And how can we create the best images for the job?

Glamour photography is a stylised portrait. Stylised means that someone is styled, had their hair and make up done to look a certain way. It also uses props such as furniture, clothing and beauty to make someone look a certain way. Fashion photography is very similar but it's not quite the same as glamour. Glamour photography is created for the domestic market and fashion is created for advertising.

I will share some glamour photography techniques with you about how to get the best from your photography. First, lets look at how to use the correct lighting and shooting techniques to bring out the very best in people.

In this glamour photography tutorial I will be discussing how we, as photographers, can use lighting and shooting techniques to bring out the very best in people. To begin with, lets look at how people want to be represented. It's a good idea to ask the client how they want the photo to look.

Colour is really important in glamour photography. Usually, glamour photography relied on strong colour with soft skin tones. Sensuality is one of the keys to this type of photography. It's kept respectful to the client and they must never do anything you or they are uncomfortable with. Always remain highly professional at all times before, during and after the shoot.

Colour matching is essential in glamour photography. They usually have a sensual feel to them, with striking colour and feminine make up styles. One of the best and most effective ways to get your colours looking real and true to life is to do a custom white balance. Why is this so necessary? For skin tone mainly. There's nothing worse than skin tones looking a little yellow or green because the white balance is wrong. Always, always use custom white balance with a grey card.

Once you have done that you can create striking and vibrant colour using bright clothing or material. In the recent glamour shoot I did, I used nothing but a long piece of vibrant red chiffon. Chiffon is a beautifully light, semi-transparent material. It hangs in straight lines that work well for the body. It has a delicate and feminine feel to it. I folded it over itself a few times to remove transparency.

Next, lets look at some glamour photography tips to get you started. Once you have a solid understanding of how your friend wants to look, set up your lighting. Usually glamour photography is done in a studio using what we call modelling lamps, or key lights as they are known, and fill lights. The key light is your main light source and your fill lights are the lights that help reduce some of the shadow. Usually your key light is brighter than the fill lights. This is how you know which is which.

How do I shoot glamour photography? Most of the time I use a pure black background. A long piece of black cardboard is attached to a roller that is fastened to the back ceiling of the studio. This is fine if you have a studio set up, but what if you don't? If a lounge room is all you have then don't despair, you just need to think creatively and technically.

Once you have your lighting set up, think about your background. If you do not have a suitable background then don't use a background at all. It's better to use no background than a background that isn't suited to the glamour effect you are trying to capture and create. Try tightly cropping the photo by photographing a head and shoulders shot.

Posing is really important too. By getting your friend to take on the correct poses you can create some really flattering angles. For photographing a female, it's important to create angles by leaning and tilting. She can have one side of her head tilted or one shoulder leaning back or forward. If you are short on ideas use these photos as examples for inspiration.

You have your lighting and background set up, which is great. Lastly, lets look at some glamour photography poses. These are usually done by creating lot of angles of the body. A flattering glamour photo of a woman is not one where she is standing front-on. It looks flattering to have one shoulder higher than the other or her head slightly titled away from or towards the camera. For ideas of posing, have a look at glamour photography websites. See how other photographers have asked their models to pose. If you get stuck for ideas use these photos as examples for inspiration.

Try to shoot from different angles. I shot my model from up above, from floor level as she lay in front of the camera and then at normal standing height as she sat on a chair. You can get really creative. Make sure you have the background to support this. If you don't try some closer angles that crop the background out.

Always remember your lighting. It is one of the most important things in glamour photography. Use flattering poses and opt for no background if you can't find a suitable background. And most of all have fun!




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