A New Corset Series: Special Muse Edition

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

I’m one of those strange beasts who really likes a corset.–Cate Blanchett

Once upon a time during every model shoot, I tried to make images of each of the women wearing a corset. That was true even for lighting equipment reviews that I wrote for the former print edition of Shutterbug. You may or may not be surprised to learn that the editorial staff never published even one photograph of models wearing corsets in the magazine. Since they wouldn’t let you see those images, from time to time I’m going to bring back my 2022 corset series and publish some new images of models wearing corsets here and in my password protected posts.

Some of the models appearing in this potentially new series may be underrepresented on this blog for several reasons, mostly related to how many shoots I did with them. Other models, like the featured portrait of Tia Stoneman have appeared on this site many times, including some images from this session but most of those photographs were made with available light, unlike this one that was shot in a tiny makeshift studio in the basement of my former home. Every time I look at images from this session I get nostalgic about working with Ms. Stoneman. If she ever decides to come back to modeling, it would make me incredibly happy.

How I made this Photograph

You can see the before image, at right with Tia looking just as she walked in the door that day, without makeup or hair styling. This image was made using the same camera, lens and lighting setup as the finished image at below left.

These portraits of Tia was made in an 8×9-foot space in the unfinished basement of my former home. The lighting was provided by two inexpensive Flashpoint monolights but you could probably accomplish the same kind of lighting with speedlights. She was photographed in front of one of Savage’s Focus Grey seamless paper backdrops that was hung from JTL background stands.The only amenities this basement studio offered was a stool and a 4×5 foot rug that came from Target. It wasn’t even a real photographer’s posing stool; It was just one I sat on to run my model trains on the layout that was at camera right from where Tia was sitting. This set-up wasn’t fancy but it worked proving that not much is really needed to create your own in-home studio.

The camera I used to photograph Tia was a Canon EOS 5D Mark I with my workhorse EF 85mm f/1.8 lens.that was the first prime lens I purchased after buying the camera The manual mode exposure for this particular sequence of images, according to the EXIF data, was 1/50 sec at f/13 and ISO 200. The JPEG image, made before my current RAW+JPEG regimen, was converted to monochrome using Silver Efex’s High Structure (smooth) preset that was lightly tweaked using the plug-in’s sliders. The Glamour Glow filter from Color Efex was layered onto the final image.

When it come to posing, I seldom ask a model to move into some predetermined pose the she would not normally find herself in, preferring to let her be herself. I watch what she does normally and then we work together to refine her natural pose using a technique I call Shooting Through a Pose to polish it making it better, That why I never use a tripod during portrait or glamour sessions because a handheld camera gives me the freedom to move around and lets me put myself into whatever position is necessary to get the picture I think is best.

What’s next for this series? I think my next attempt at reviving the Corset Series will be a special post for my Patreon subscribers and will feature Zoe but who knows…

Right now, I looking for a new muse. You can see and read about my previous muse, Erin Valakari here and my original muse, Tia Stoneman, here. If you would like to be the new Tia Stoneman, that would make me incredibly happy. No experience is necessary. If you’re interested, click CONTACT and let’s talk.