It’s official. The #corsetmonday series that I started last year has finished. In it’s place on this and subsequent Mondays will be the #seethough series that will feature models wearing lingerie or any kind of see-through clothing. I hope you like it. Let’s kick the series off with Erin Valakari.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
When it comes to lingerie, I know what I’m doing.—Mariah Carey
PS: As you can see in today’s post, I think Erin Valakari knows what she’s doing as well—me
Lingerie is a category of women’s clothing that includes undergarments, sleepwear and lightweight robes. The word implies the garments are alluring and fashionable. Lingerie can be made of lightweight, stretchy, smooth, sheer or decorative fabrics such as silk, satin, Lycra, charmeuse, chiffon, or lace.
See-through clothing is considered to be any garment that’s made with lace, mesh or sheer fabric that allows the wearer’s body or undergarments to be seen through its fabric. See-through or sheer fabric, particularly in skin tone colors, is sometimes called illusion, as in ‘illusion bodice’ due to giving the impression of exposed flesh. This concept is nothing new. See-through fabrics were fashionable in Europe during the eighteenth century and the use of see-through fabrics as a common element in designer clothing resulted in the “sheer fashion trend” that’s been predominant in fashion circles since 2008.
About the Model: I first photographed Erin Valakari on October 28, 2017 having found her on an on-line modeling site. We had thirteen shoots together before a break caused by COVID and her moving 150 miles (round trip) from Daisy Hill. We were recently reunited for two shoots and today’s featured image is from that second shoot..She was just as vivacious, beautiful and talented during these shoots as when she was during our first shoot together. While we still have the logistics of our locations working against us, I’m really hoping that we get to work together soon,
How I Made this Portrait:: I photographed Erin in my home studio using a Lumix GH4 with a Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (at 45mm) and an exposure of 1/125 sec at f/10 and ISO 200. Lighting was provided by a Paul C. Buff DigiBee with Plume Ltd Wafer softbox attached that was placed at camera right. Another DigiBee with an 18-inch OMNI reflector was placed behind a 42 x72-inch Scrim Jim with white translucent cover. In the back (camera left) of my studio, I placed a Paul C Buff Alien Bee with 16 x 30-inch Westcott Apollo Strip soft box. The background was one of Savage’s useful two-sided Monsoon collapsible backdrops.
Bonus: You can see Erin wearing this outfit, as together we make this very photograph, in my video “Behind the Scenes at a Glamour Shoot 2” on my YouTube channel Joe Farace’s Videos. The rest of the video is, I think pretty good and it runs just 2:48.
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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 $33.62, as I write this. Used copies start around twenty-three bucks. The Kindle version available at $19.99 for those who prefer a digital format.