Today’s Post by Joe Farace
A great figure or physique is nice, but it’s self-confidence that makes someone really sexy. — Vivica A. Fox
If you’re interested in glamour photography you might want to follow the Instagram feed of Dita Von Teese (@ditavonteese) because she posts some inspirational images. Each Monday one of her Instagram fan sites publishes glamour portraits of her wearing a corset, which is where I came up with (stole) the idea of #corsetmonday.
For a long time I’ve asked models to wear a corset during every shoot we did together—at least for some of the shots we made together. For instance, at a recent shoot with Scarlet Ana, she posed wearing two different corsets. Look for those images to appear in upcoming Corset Monday posts.
I also tried to include a shot of a model wearing a corset for the lighting equipment reviews I wrote for the former print edition of Shutterbug. I photographed Amber Nicholson six times, mostly for Shutterbug’s lighting equipment reviews. And it’s possible that one of the images from the corset portion of our shoots may have appeared in the magazine! This might be the most PG-rated corset photographs I ever made and featured the then-popular mixed black and white/color style that now looks trés dated. Apologies.
I submitted the image at above right but don’t remember if they actually published it. When Shutterbug ceased publication of the print edition, I tried giving away 35 years worth of the magazine but when there were no takers, I recycled them.
One of my guiding principles in photographing models is that I want them to be comfortable during the shoot. Some models project a sexy vibe that shows in the outfits they choose to wear and the poses they come up with, while others have their own style, like Amber and that’s what shows in these photographs.
How I Made this Portrait: I photographed Amber when testing a Broncolor power pack and head system. To produce this pseudo-high key look, I used a 28-inch square Broncolor head with softbox mounted as the main light that was placed it at camera left. Fill light was provided by a second Broncolor head that had a twenty buck 32-inch Westcott Optical White umbrella mounted. The Senso power pack set to give me a 3:1 lighting ratio between the two Litos light heads, something I typically don’t concern myself with. The portrait was made with a Canon EOS 50D and EF 85mm f/1.8 lens with an exposure of 1/100 sec at f/16 and ISO 100.
Special Note: To keep #corsetmonday alive through 2023, I’m looking for women to pose wearing corsets for photographs to appear in this series. After signing a simple model release, they’ll receive their choice of a CD or flash drive containing all the approx 200 photographs we’ll make during a session—to take home the day of the shoot. The model will receive full rights to use the images however they like. If you’re interested, click CONTACT and let’s talk.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to buy Joe a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), click here. And if you do, thanks so much.
My book Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography with new copies available from Amazon for $33.56, as I write this. Used copies start at around twenty-three bucks and the Kindle version is only $19.99 for those who prefer a digital format.