Heavenly Lit

When I have a curvy model, I sometimes like to light her with a softbox directly above her. Fortunately, I have a tall ceiling in my living room, so there is a good amount of space above the model. That's important because the soft box itself takes up some space, and you need to position it some distance away from the model. I don't do it often, because setting up the lighting involves putting a boom arm on a heavy duty light stand, balancing the strobe head & softbox so that the stand doesn't tip over, managing the cables that wind up in the way all the time, and hoping that the whole thing doesn't come down on the model during the sitting. I used to have a boom arm that attaches to the wall, but I am loath to put something like that up in my living room.

Boom! The very first image from this setup is one of the best! I love the sense of space in this image, and like I said earlier, it's never a mistake to ask a model to stretch & twist.

I realize that I haven't hosted a fetish or an erotic sitting for quite some time, and somehow, this image makes me think about some light bondage -- it would be a subtle addition, but this image might be even more interesting if Savannah's wrists were handcuffed together. (Savannah does do fetish posing -- I just didn't think about it at the time, and bondage is something that is difficult for me to ask for when working with a model for the first time).

I like this image, too. Savannah does a lot of posing with her head tilted back, and under normal lighting (e.g. lit from the side), that can produce disturbing shadows on her face, but here, with the light coming down from above, it works well.

I also like the light that bounces up onto the undersides of her breasts.

Finally, her legs look yummy.

I think I need to work with this kind of lighting setup more often. I do enjoy it. There's some experimenting I can do:

What size softbox is best?
Should I add a little fill light?
Should I add a back light?
What poses work best?

I'll have to file that away for future consideration. I'm open to suggestions, but it is clear that I like this lighting setup a lot.

Many models don't like "curled into a ball" poses because the compression sometimes makes it look like they have a belly, but this image above works well. Savannah has a lovely lean figure, but any trouble spot (that is, if any exists) is covered by her elbow. As a result, we can appreciate the curve of her back (lovely!). Further, Savannah's fine legs are well displayed, and finally, I like that her hands are well involved with the pose.

Here's a sitting favorite. Love those twisting, stretching poses!

Again, I like the sense of space this image has. Also, there is a lovely, peaceful expression on Savannah's face.

I'm also a big fan of excellent posture, as demonstrated by Savannah in this pose.

Doesn't it make you wonder what music was playing when we made this exposure?

I know I repeat some points often, from sitting to sitting, but I never know whether the viewer has seen the point before.

Anyhow, a pet peeve of mine is poses where a limb is pointing directly at the camera. Look at Savannah's left thigh -- it's almost pointing directly at the lens, and her other thigh isn't far off line. Savannah has lovely legs, but this pose + camera position makes her thighs look distorted (and not in a good or fun way).

So, pretty soon, we adjust her posing -- these issues are easily addressed.

See? A minor change to her pose, and her legs look much better, don't you think?

(Again, here's another image that makes me want to think about doing some more fetish photography).

I am very respectful of the models who pose for me -- I know that modeling is not always easy, and it is particularly challenging to trust a stranger enough to get nude in front of him. (To her credit, Savannah did check my references -- that's something I wish more models would do).

Normally, I keep my distance from the models, and I warn them if I "invade" their space. Normally, there isn't any touching, but on some occasions, a little is needed, but I always ask permission first. I never do anything more than touch a model's wrist or ankle (with permission).

The challenge is moving the camera close to the model (especially when making those fun wide angle distortion images).

Here, I brave girl cooties by moving in close to Savannah. I'm glad I did -- I like this image a lot. There's something intimate about it. Maybe it's the messed up hair?

Also note -- the low camera angle contributes a great deal to this photo.

(Here's another image that makes me think about doing some light bondage photography).

Something I notice when watching other photographer work: we all have different tolerances for setup. It is not unusual for me to think that a photographer has milked a setup for all it's worth, and yet the photographer keeps working. Here on the other side, I am liking what I'm seeing, and although I'm not making improvements, I continue to make exposures. I should be moving on to the next setup, but I wait.

Still, I like this pose -- I always like seeing a peek of the underside of a breast.

One thing about this lighting setup -- you have to ask the model to cheat her face upwards a little -- otherwise, her face becomes lost in shadow.

In this pose, Savannah looks especially stately & dignified. I like this a lot. It's subtle, and I think it's incredibly sexy.

Here's what happens if the model doesn't "cheat" her face upwards. It just doesn't work, but I'm including this "near miss" for educational purposes.

Another "near miss" -- I tried to create a different sense of space by including more of the foreground. It doesn't quite work.

Also note that the camera height has been creeping up -- I'm becoming a big, big advocate of lowering the camera perspective.

Okay -- maybe we stuck with lighting setup a tiny bit too long, but who cares? I enjoyed the setup, and there are plenty of lovely images to enjoy.

Still, working with a model for the first time is always a challenge for me. Despite having seen lots of images of a model, I really don't get a sense of what she looks like until I photograph her. That's because I only get a limited sense of the model's personality & style, and I don't typically get a sense of how she moves. After working with a model a few times, I start to devise setups designed specifically for our chemistry, but when I'm working with a model for the first time, I typically just plan a handful to generic ideas & concentrate on getting acquainted.

So, for a final setup, I strive to photograph Savannah in the living room, using the living room furniture.

This sitting concludes with Living Room Lounge