My Sunday Series on Outdoor Portraits is on a bit of a hiatus as I consider changing that day’s theme to Available Light Portraiture, which is what today’s post is about. This post takes a look at a special model whose name was Zoe but who for a while called herself Ashley.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Several movies have featured the name “Zoe” in their titles including the film My Dead Friend Zoe (2025,) Saving Zoe (2109,)”Killing Zoe” (1993) about a bank robbery, and there even more…
How I Met and Photographed Zoe
When she was searching for photographers specializing in glamour photography, six-foot tall (1.8m) in her bare feet Zoe found me through my old website’s Model page. I was the second photographer she contacted (she didn’t like the first guy) when she wanted to update not just her on-line portfolio but she was also inquiring for some of her friend’s whose portfolios needed updating as well. So this one contact with one model introduced me to two other models but, to tell the truth, Zoe was the best.
If you’re interested in glamour photography and don’t already have a model search page on your website, you might want to give it a try. If you don’t have a website, maybe you should try that too. Don’t count on Facebook as your only source for marketing your photography. Its algorithm is constantly changing and you can get lost in the cacophony. It’s not all that expensive to have your own website and owning a domain that features your name makes you easy to find for potential clients (and models) on-line and keeps you from getting lost in the social media maze.
How I Made This Portrait: This window light photograph of Zoe was made during our second shoot together and was made in the loft area outside the office of my former home, using natural light from a large North-facing window in front of the house (and behind her.) Some fill light was provided by a Canon 420EX speedlite with a Sto-Fen Omni Bounce diffuser in place to soften the light.
The portrait was shot using a 6.3-megapixel Canon EOS D60—not a 60D—and an EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM lens that I made the mistake of selling a few years ago. You can pick up one of the useful lenses from all the used camera sources, including KEH and Used Photo Pro. The Program mode exposure was 1/13 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 400 with a plus one-stop exposure compensation.
I started editing using a technique I call Cut and Paste Portraiture that combines two different RAW files into a single image. In this case is was the same, single image file. You can read about this technique as well as my rationale for using it in the linked post. The image file was color corrected with PictoColor’s iCorrect Portrait and tweaked in Color Efex Pro with the Glamour Glow filter.
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 $30.54, as I write this. Used copies start around ten bucks and the Kindle version is only $19.99 for those who prefer a digital format.