My Sunday Series on Available Light Portraiture continues today with a outdoor portrait of Anna Lieb. After I posted an image of her on Instagram, I got a lot of positive responses so I thought you might want to see some other images of Ms. Lieb from that same session.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“Glamour only radiates if there is a sublime courage & bravery within: Glamour is like the moon; it only shines because the sun is there.–C. JoyBell C
Shooting glamour photographs outdoors gives a photographer the opportunity to be creative about where and when to shoot but I think you’ll find that the best results are achieved by selecting a location where the model is physically comfortable. That’s why you should look for places that not only accommodate you photographically but with the model’s comfort in mind as well.
Posing In the Great Outdoors
One of the positive aspects of making glamour portraits outdoor is that there’s always something for the subject to interact with. In this case, there was a wall she could lean on.
Sometimes the location and the subject’s clothing, or lack thereof, dictate a pose. The right location can provide a natural-looking place where the subject can pose and be comfy at the same time. as the image of Anna at right suggests.
The goal of any pose, especially in glamour photography, it to start with a concept, make a suggestion to the subject, then watch what happens. Then you should offer her a few suggestions that, hopefully, improve the pose she ultimately gives the photographer. This is an approach I call Shooting Through a Pose and the linked post contains my thoughts and ideas on this concept.
When driving, even on errands, I’m always on the lookout for interesting locations where I could make a outdoor glamour portrait. The ideal location is somewhere that’s private and where the subject can be relaxed and away from looky-loos. That location could be as simple as the model’s back yard or a friend’s property, if there’s enough trees and foliage to provide privacy. You can read my post Tuesday Thoughts: Shooting Glamour on-Location about a humorous incident that occurred when photographing Maria Cedar outdoors in a public park.
How I Made this Portrait: I made this outdoor portrait of the incredible Ann Lieb at a group model shoot in Phoenix, Arizona. You can see more of the outdoor location where I made the portrait at above right but that shot was made from the opposite angle of the image at left that’s closer to being a headshot. You can see by simply shooting from the opposite angle, I was able backlight Anna’s hair producing a more dramatic effect.
The portrait was made using a Canon EOS D60 with an EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM lens at 102mm with an available light exposure of 1/40 sec at f/4.5 and ISO 200 with a plus one stop exposure compensation, yet the image was slightly underexposed. To correct it, I used a modified approach similar to what’s explained in my post How to Correct Underexposed Portraits, this time using dodging layers from PhotoKit 2
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My book Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography and includes information on all of the cameras and lenses used as well as complete exposure data for each image. Used copies are available from Amazon for $28.94. as I write this. The Kindle version is $19.99 for those preferring a digital format.