Please critique first lingerie/nude/boudoir shoot

<p><a href="http://www.kuehlphoto.com/myevent/yuli/yuli.html">http://www.kuehlphoto.com/myevent/yuli/yuli.html</a><br>

I just shot my first lingerie/nude shoot with a very talented model yesterday. I did it all with speedlights and white/black backdrops. I would love to hear thoughts on everything from lighting to composition.<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>i always wanted to know what 'a talented model' really mean. is this an ability to stay still?<br>

i think your exposures are spot on. there are a lot of pictures and i would have prefered a small selection to critique.</p>

<p>Thanks. Here is a set of just the "good ones":<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=908515">http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=908515</a><br>

The original gallery was full of both the hits and misses, so I would be interested in hearing how I could have improved on some of the other ones.<br>

<br />Matt</p>

<p>Matthew, not to put a bummer in your work but it is all "unProtected".. Copyright or not, the shots can be stolen and show up on the web under another name from someone in South Africa and you wont be able to do a damn thing about it.. Protect your web site or post the photos in such small rez that they can only be used in 2" or smaller.. I was surprised to see a printer icon above all your prints, and sure nuff, I clicked on it and out come shots of your nude model is full 8x10s... The shots are nice, my suggestion is to pick up a mag on famous models and copy the poses they are in.. And dont forget the TV and that new reality show concerning models... you can learn alot from the work of others.. And some of the best shots of nudes I've ever seen did not show any compromized position.. They were posed in such an angle that they were covered by a twist in the body or by an arm in the right place. Shooting Nudes is probably one of the hardest things to do as the body nude is not a pretty subject until you put it in the right position..</p>

<blockquote>

<p>i always wanted to know what 'a talented model' really mean. is this an ability to stay still?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Oh, it's so much more than that. A talented model:</p>

<ul>

<li>Is part actor: told to look sad, angry, enthusiastic, etc., they do it convincingly.</li>

<li>Knows how to move to convey ideas, to emphasize aspects of clothing. They have a repetior of moves. They know automatically to avoid "broken bones" positions. </li>

<li>Is not shy when the studio is suddenly crowded with a photographer and two assistants, an art director with two assistants and three functionless sycophants, a make up artist, a hair stylist, a fashion designer with a dresser and two assistants.</li>

<li>Shows up on time, rested, and sober.</li>

<li>Maintains their cool when the art director or fashion designer says "no, no, no, she's all wrong!" or calls the model "elephant legs".</li>

<li>Greets you with some words other than "see my new tattoo!"</li>

<li>Maintains their body carefully, like any professional maintains their assets.</li>

</ul>

<p>I've seen models that just seem to have all of this by natural talent, and others who can't get it after years of shooting, classes, etc.</p>

<p>I'm surprised 2012 (x20090427yuli_DSC_2012_jpg, but I'll just use the 2012, because the rest seems to be common to the whole shoot) didn't make your "best" list. I found the whole "window light"part the most interesting, as far as lighting that wraps around the form interestingly. The only clothing a nude model has is the light: it's your responsibility to clother her properly. The strobes, so small, hard, and straight on enough to be "flat", just don't do it for me, especially in a boudior, lingere shoot. Hard can work wonderfully for nudes, if you control it.1972 is a big step in the right direction, the light is wrapping and highlighting the form a bit.</p>

<p>I know, when you've got an experienced model who can move through a routine, it's tempting to fire a lot of shots. It's "what they do in the movies", after all...</p>

<p>Don't do it. Stop, look, think more. You have a model with a lot of fluffy hair, and you worked dozens of shilhouettes and backlit shots. Let's pick on 2081. The hair on either side of the neck enlarges the neck. Now, I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm betting this particular model is not an NFL quarterback in her day job. Other "stray" hair forms a strangely low armpit "tuft". In 2073, dang, she's a girl! (why isn't 2073 in your "best" list?) Picture 2073 if she had raised her chin and you saw a chin and neck.</p>

<p>I like to do a "perimeter check" on every shot. Takes forever when you're starting out, and 2 seconds when you're used to it. Run your eyes around the figure, trace the outline. 2036 has an arm mergeded into the body: picture how it would look if that arm were free like the other one. Back to 2012: it's right on the edge of "great". All it needed was forthe model to turn her head an inch, either way. Yes, it doesn't matter which way, but right where it is, you've got partial nose, partial lips, partial eye sockets making a "bumpy" edge on the face. A little farther from the camera, and it's smooth anonymity. A little more towards the camera, and it's a face. Right where it it, it just doesn't work for me.</p>

<p>2102 is fun, another I'd put on the best list. Good now, but could be better if you got the hair under control.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Matthew it is not a bad first effort, but I do see some areas to improve.<br>

(1) The quality of light. You are using some very harsh lighting. You really need difuse it and soften it. With umbrellas or softboxes to get a softer texture to the skin without the harsh shadows.<br>

I would suggest you do a lighting setup like<a href="http://www.geocities.com/stalker+of+the+web/butterfly.html" target="_blank"> Butterfly (Paramount) Lighting</a> which tends to be more flattering on female features.<br>

<a title="cindiBW by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr" href=" title="cindiBW by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/3059367050_19c671417f_o.jpg" alt="cindiBW" width="590" height="700" /> </a></p>

<p><a title="Paramount lighting Ring by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr" href=" title="Paramount lighting Ring by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/3065265816_69f27948ef.jpg" alt="Paramount lighting Ring" width="500" height="259" /> </a><br>

(2) On the white backgrounds you need a background light to lighten them up.<br>

(3) Add a hairlight when shooting people with dark hair against a black background.<br>

<a title="GlamShoot99121608 by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr" href=" title="GlamShoot99121608 by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr"><br /> </a></p>

<p><a title="GlamShoot99121608 by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr" href=" title="GlamShoot99121608 by FullMetalPhotographer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3176835182_bc1bb9c0b6.jpg" alt="GlamShoot99121608" width="357" height="500" /> </a><br>

Also think about showing of the different textures of the models skin clothing and the environment. There are also a few tricks yo can do to remove skin blemishes and <a href="http://www.geocities.com/stalker+of+the+web/skinsmoothing.html" target="_blank">Skin Smoothing</a> techniques. Here are some of the things I learned from my recent <a href="http://www.geocities.com/stalker+of+the+web/glampart2.html" target="_blank">Glamour shoot</a> .</p>

<p>Thank you all for your contributions and help. I usually post my wedding/event work on Smugmug, but they won't let me post this type of material, so I put it on my personal site. I guess I need to figure out how to protect it. </p>

<p>She was very good at developing her own poses, so I guess I was lax about setting up each shot the right way. I was probably overshooting.</p>

<p>I was softening the light with shoot-through umbrellas. I didn't realize the lighting looked so harsh. Next time I'll go ahead and use some monolights with larger umbrellas. Space was very limited here because it was my apartment.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Oh my god, please..dont tell me that the plastic looking barbie is well retouched?...come on! She look like a comic book hero..</p>

<p>As for the light, a 3 flash setup is good, but not always suitable, as 1 big softbox could also work really well. The good thing is the ligth work well in the example, the bad thing is the model need some retouching on her hand, hair, arm..basically a good example for the light, but not good for the retouching : )<br>

______</p>

<p>Matthew, it is a OK first shoot as a personal project..nothing more. You need to concentrate your effort on better ligthing, better framing..and the shot are kind of *rough* i could say..i mean lack of good editing, or good retouching, but i was there when i start at shcool also..so i understand what you could achieve when you start.</p>

<p>Some angle you use make the model look too small and that doestn help her at all.</p>

<p>I could give you more info, but i have to catch a plane : )..be back around may 11th if you want more details.</p>

<p>Thanks again. I've only done general Lightroom corrections so far. No local adjustments.</p>

<p>The thing that jumped out at me was you shooting her standing from a relatively high position. I prefer shooting models from below when they are standing - that way the model legs dont look short like here: <a href="http://www.kuehlphoto.com/myevent/yuli/88-x20090427yuli_DSC_1861_jpg.html">http://www.kuehlphoto.com/myevent/yuli/88-x20090427yuli_DSC_1861_jpg.html</a><br>

And here is an example of shooting from below from my site:<br>

<a href="http://www.andrebelmont.com/images/_MG_4138">http://www.andrebelmont.com/images/_MG_4138</a>-</p>

<p>Good point Andre, and nice shot. Thanks.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=2403095">Starvy Goodfellows</a> ... Do you work with models sometimes ? I am a model and I can assure you that to find a great model is not that easy at all, knowing how to move in front of the camera, understanding what the photographer wants and wich mood to show in front of the camera are some of the many things that you require to be a good model, and it's harder than it seems... I now do photography myself and I understand so much why some amazingly looking people cannot get a jobb because they just don't get the thing...<br>

Matthew Kuehl <br>

I like some of the pictures but on must of them I think that the expressions of the model are a little bit cheesy, and also some " bad lines of the face" should be erased by photoshop or hidden with a better light .<br>

Sorry for my english , it;s not my first language ... :)<br>

Cheers !</p>

<p>Hi...<br>

Apologies if this is not the right area... We are a married couple Lisa 39 Mark 59 in Las Vegas. Hubby wants me to do a boudoir shoot and I want to too! Can you please help us fin a photographer for this?<br>

Thank you!<br>

Lisa</p>