There comes a time when every beauty photographer faces a real dilemma. Contrary to what many photographers think, it is awfully difficult to decide on this matter. This dilemma lies in choosing between color and monochrome photography.

It was simple back when photography only existed in grayscale – nobody would be concerned about the issues of colors, shades and how they match. Glamour Photos were all black and white, still being distinguishable and artistic.

It all changed when film started capturing more than mere light and shadows, but also color. With the help of digital photography anyone with little effort is able to reproduce all the abundance of colors, which seems a strong enough argument to stand by “colorful glamour”.

That’s why I consider it right to look into the question more thoroughly and reckon the advantages and downsides of both methods. There is no point advising about which of the ways fits best for you – Glamorous Photography prefers freedom instead of concrete rules.

For a start – remember, there is no aspect in which black and white glamour photography can be less difficult than the colorful one – or vice versa. If you think that, for example, shooting in black and white is going to make your photographer’s job easier, think again.

Light is crucial in both color and old school black and white photography. Without the proper lighting the mood will be spoiled and the photograph would be flat. There is no way around it. No matter if you prefer to create colorful photos or position yourself as a conservative fan of black and white, you need to mind the lighting at all times.

What is really different though, is the impression those two different photographic dimensions make upon the viewer. These are sometimes too important to ignore:

* Colors are excellent for placing accents you want your viewers to concentrate on. A colorful image draws both glances and thoughts to it; it is considerably simpler to compose the elements withing the frame by tones and shades; various colors unveil different mood to them, creating atmosphere your viewers can perceive.
* Black and white puts more stock in texture and forms rather than different tones and shades. It also makes the game of light and shadow more visible, and therefore more comprehensive. Classic black and white helps the artist to create an ethereal, enigmatic and very atmospheric image – this is the beauty of it. Black and white can as well remove tone defects which never do any good to a glamour photograph – if you got somewhat…strange colors on the image, gray-scale is a life-saver.
* Of course, your photo doesn’t have to be strictly black and white to make an impression of a well-performed artistic work. For instance, many artists use sepia as a worthy alternative. A number of other methods can be used in glamour photography. There are many tutorials on the Web, so nothing really limits your creativity.
* Another thing to do is combining monochrome and colors within one image – though this approach is considered unoriginal, it still can be used in a refreshing manner, can’t it? Even the most trivial technique can be used in an unusual way, so it really is entirely up to you. Colorful spots on black and white background can attract viewer’s attention and create certain mood; gray-scale areas among the abundance of colors can also be useful for producing atmospheric work.

As in most cases, no way is really preferable or less challenging – both color and black and white glamour photography have their fans who never cease to discuss the advantages and downsides. In fact, you don’t need to choose – if something serves your purpose best of all, corresponds to the mood of your photo and delivers your message efficiently, you should have no doubts about what you do. It isn’t methods and schools that create masterpieces – it’s people, their vision and their talents.

Nowadays Glamour Photography world is driven by tough rivalry and apparently craves for some fresh air. It is a rather odd and bitter feeling – to observe how the Internet becomes stuffed with low-quality, flat and meager Glamorous Photography “creations”, while really talented artists strive to gain renown and get noticed.

The ones who succeed, actually, widen the borders of beauty photography and end up working in their own unique manner. If you ever wanted to join these ranks, improving your artistic skills and enhancing creative aspirations is essential. So, in this article I would like to tip you on the matter of making your glamour photographs exclusive and distinguishable.

First of all, creative approach must become your credo, your tool and your way of life. It sounds vague yet how much simpler could one get in defining this mysterious substance of inspiration? Duplicating the method of someone renowned is great for sharpening your technical prowess, but how distinguishable will your glamour pictures be out there with plenty of similar ones fighting for audience’s attention? That is why don’t mind violating the rules and canons if it does deliver results. There is not a single rule that hasn’t been violated at least once, is there? If there were, we wouldn’t ever move any further than the Stone Age, let alone glamour pictures.

Then, never disregard the emotional impact of your beauty photographs. In particular, that created by your model. In glamour photography, a model is the co-creator – this is how it works. Showing the curves of your model is not really art, more like just a picture with a woman in it. Emotional emphasis and emotional imprint, to the contrary, can bring life to even the crappiest photograph. They create mood, engage the viewer and provoke thoughts – and therefore are very desirable, if not necessary.

Next, become inspired – from everywhere. People never really knew how attractive and majestic a black and white landscape may appear – Ansel Adams was the first one to show it to them. People like Jorg Grűndler showed the world a whole new concept of nude portraits, shooting them with a lightbrush. Photography and fine arts have many examples of widening the limits and breaking the bounds. It doesn’t even know what “bounds” are. The most breathtaking and fruitful results are often achieved on the very crossover of genres and approaches.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to rely on your intuition. A person without taste wouldn’t even think about such thinks as beauty photography. So it is probably a more reliable compass than just an article written by someone like me. However, do not mistake your own ego for the above mentioned artistic taste – failing to tell these two apart is very easy. Learn through critics, discussions and, most importantly, practice! Yes, it really works just like that. Those who say otherwise either pretend to be real artists or simply don’t want any competition.

It’s a common fact that a great glamour photo must also have perfect exposure. An image with bleak colors and flat light and shadow doesn’t draw much attention, so it is the primary task of an artist to make it look good. The bar is raised high in Artistic Glamour Photography.

This may seem pretty simple, yet in practice a perfect exposure is difficult to achieve. Our fellow beauty artists usually take about several thousand pictures only to pick 10 or 20 of them. The “surviving” pictures are normally quite well-shot and very attractive, possessing good light and flawless colors – ready and able for showing off.

If you would like to improve on your skills in getting great exposure for your Glamour Pictures, these 5 simple but effective tips may be just what you need.

1. Mind the light. Though it is a seemingly simple issue, but many photographers forget to consider the light first-hand – just to be unpleasantly surprised afterwards. It is always good to take several pictures in advance to see if the light is arranged correctly and if there are any problems. Don’t rush, as neither your model nor your equipment will run away – work scrupulously and thoughtfully on the light. Afterwards you will spend less time changing the lighting scheme and will be able to devote more to the process of picture-taking.

2. White balance – why it is important. To avoid unnatural colors and shades, adjust your white balance in advance. Your camera can be adjusted for perfect WB in the particular lighting conditions by using some menus and a sheet of paper as a sample. A manual that goes with your camera must have some step-by-step instructions to help you deal with this issue.

3. Soft light in softboxes. Softbox is a simple tool photographers use for more natural lighting: it only consists of a black body and a white screen. The light becomes more subtle and dispersed, which helps avoid deep shadows and make a photo “glow”. This tool is quite suitable for taking more appealing photographs, deprived of sharp shadows and other annoying stuff. If you are determined to get some soft light for your photos, a softbox is just the tool you need.

4. Aperture number. Along with the shutter speed, aperture number directly influences exposure. The narrower it is (which corresponds to high aperture number), the less light it admits into the camera body, but the more sharp image you get. Lower aperture numbers ensure more light gets in and create the so-called depth of field, blurring the picture’s background. You can freely adjust it as you like, so it would correspond to your artistic needs.

5. Post-production. Surely, real professionals don’t use graphic software – or simply don’t talk about it. However, doesn’t it feel a waste to discard a perfectly composed photo just because of minor flaw in its colors or lights? Some decent work with Photoshop could save such photographs. That’s why post-editing sometimes can save your hard day’s work from going right into the trash. Even though it doesn’t mean you don’t have to try and produce flawless images in the studio. Another practical advice would be to use RAW format. That way you will be able to revive your glamour photo with minimum quality loss.

Another factor to mind is the importance of simple yet effective decisions – you wouldn’t make a perfect shot with a ton of lighting equipment; you would more likely spoil it. A couple of them are normally sufficient for both quality and creativity. Finally, there’s something for a dessert – “PRACTICE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN”. You may overlook all the previous pieces of advise, but always remember this last one.

In my teenage years I used to be surprised at the enormous amount of magazines with Glamour Pictures on their front covers, which literally piled up in the aisles of stores. Not only did women-centered magazines like Vogue or Cosmopolitan or Maxim had such covers but I would be amazed to see glamorous ladies showing off their skins in magazines related to Men’s Health. I and my mates inevitably ended up looking at those attractive magazine covers and pondering why such images would decorate Men’s magazines. Later on I felt quite surprised at how quickly such periodicals would sell – they were literally creamed off by the customers. Having become more proficient in advertising matters and in glamour photography, I seem to have discovered the key to this popularity. It is quite simple – “sex sells”

For many soaring artists sexual context and motifs are a formula of success in Glamour Photography, as there is hardly a more influential stimulus to be used on the market. A magazine cover is critical for successful marketing, and it often happens that an irresistible crowning image draws multiple sales – men buy it because of their sheer desire to learn something that will help them conquer such a girl, and women succumb to the impeccably glamorous persona they would like to equal or better.

In the past, average women responded negatively to covers with extra glamorous images or with explicit sexual content. Later on, due to major achievements in the field of media and popular culture, many women embraced more enthusiastic attitude to glamour images. Therefore, as photographers, we need to give extra emphasis in trying to create glamour image while doing female shots. A magazine cover with an irresistible, seductive woman on it will definitely fall to liking with a number of people of all genders and ages, automatically becoming successful commercially. We all still remember how popular the cover of Vogue go when teenager Miley Cyrus bared almost everything for the shot of the infamous glamour image that caught the attention of the world. So as photographers, need to keep that in mind and try to create sensual glamour image because we know that “sex sells”.

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