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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Beauty Photography is expanding fast due to being popular and in high demand, and so is the lingerie photography – for the sake of making money and satisfying the numerous audience. Sexy garment is just as much an attribute of glamour images as a pretty girl on the picture – this association has become very strong in the minds of the viewers. Most of the glamour images are shot with the model in lingerie showing off her skin. This is exactly why such models earn so much working for enterprises like Victoria’s Secret.

Glamour Photos with lingerie come from both studios and open locations, demanding much inventiveness from an artist. By no means does it require pornography or explicit sexuality – I’d rather say you need some aesthetic touch and sensuality. The essence of such images should be promoting or selling the brand or lingerie in hand and not the model. Being a good photographer, you will need to exactly know what is required from this particular shot and what your priority is. Your client may want the image to show simple the strap of the bra, or the lace, or the whole model with the lingerie on, and at times, you may be required to create a feeling of romance or excitement via the glamour image that you create, therefore, such things should be considered while shooting lingerie images.

The style is growing, so you have to keep up in order to stay up-to-date: learn from already established works featuring lingerie pictures and become professional. There are plenty of glamour images for you to perceive that are exposed in advertising – e.g. the already mentioned Victoria’s Secret. Models like Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima earn much by representing famous brands, and their glamour images featuring lingerie are truly appealing and sensual. Although being partially nude on some of them, they manage to bring some romantic and touching atmosphere onto those glamour pictures. The shots in such glamour images showing off the lingerie brand are shot with so good lighting and such a good composure that you as an aspiring glamour image photographer can always learn new things, like lighting, pose, composition, and the feeling.

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When we deal with Glamour Pictures, the subject is the model as we will be showing the model’s stunning face or part of the body to wow the audience, therefore, the term “skin” is very important in glamour images. One of the points to mind is how much of her body the model would like to expose, and the other one is her skin tone and its impact on exposure, because artistic glamour images need the best exposure possible.

A simple nude portrait is not necessarily a glamour image – it needs to be aesthetically beautiful and artistic. A glamour image should be striking without being vulgar, and moreover, as a photographer, you have to make the model comfortable on how much of skin she wants to show off. Some models are ready to bare all for glamour shots while some are comfortable with bras, panties, and thongs; there are models who are willing to do nude but the private parts to be covered by shadows so that they don’t feel embarrassed by the final glamour image result. You will have to be mindful about such delicate subjects.

The other important thing is the skin tone that the model has. Some models are fair, and some are dark. Racial and ethnic diversity gave us a splendid palette of skin tones and complexions: black, white, yellow, brown and others. If you are new to Glamour Photography, you may be inclined to use the same exposure for depicting all this variety. But you will not get good result if you do not keep the skin tone in mind. If you wish to produce some perfectly exposed pictures, you will need to bear in mind that fair and dark tones of skin require somewhat different camera adjustment.

Light skin usually calls for narrowing the diaphragm slightly (½ stop), as fair complexion tends to reflect light and lose details on the photo; if your model has darker skin tone, it would be wise to open the diaphragm more – again, by somewhat ½ stop. In addition, the region of your exposure also influences the result. When the face is your primary focus, you should measure the exposure based upon its tonal characteristics – it’s the same with other body zones. Therefore, you have to decide on what part of the body to expose and what color the skin it is, so that you can come with perfect glamour images.

Technorati Tags: Artistic Nudes, glamour images, nude

I’m in between an installation artist, video artist and photographer.
And when you work with nude bodies, you’re immediately
called a pornographer or a fashion photographer.
Spencer Tunick

Glamour photos get extra life when the communication with the model is really good.

The beauty of a nude body has immense artistic potential, that’s for sure. But how does one make it look artistic rather than vulgar? Let us see in which way glamour photography can make it happen.

Nude portraits are not about our physical desires – they are all about art. They may be rather bold or provoking or sexual, yet they provoke thoughts rather than carnal excitement and raise emotions much subtler than plain loathing. This is all theory though – to hell with it, it’s high time to see how it is done in practice!

I offer you 7 useful tips that will help you take off into the world of nude glamour portraits with some knowledge of the subject and, hopefully, great motivation.

Think simple. One light from the side, one neclace and a nice window in the background.

• Balancing artistry and vulgarity is a must: you don’t want the latter, you want the former. Make emphasis on body shapes and texture. Avoid showing too intimate details e.g. genitals if you don’t know how to make them look beautiful rather than embarrassing. Let your sense of taste take flight – if you’ve got one (and you must have, otherwise why in the world would you take interest in glamour photography), nothing can go wrong;
• Don’t overload your model with trinkets and jewelry – when it comes to nude photography, human body must dominate the shot. Think small, sophisticated and well-balanced items that could add some glamorous and beguiling touch to your concept;
• Don’t use hot lights for lighting if you don’t want your model to melt down like a snowwoman. It’s always better to use cold lights – they are more economizing, they don’t make everyone in a studio sweat and they are very powerful tools to make a great photo. You would also want to obtain some soft-boxes to get more diffused light. Actually, always try to make light as soft as possible – it creates a proper mood;
• Watch out for the proportions: shooting from too high or too low might make your model look either a long-legged giraffe or a humpty-dumpty. You don’t want any of that, do you?
• Be creative. Different poses, lighting angles or backdrops and accessories will certainly deliver you several great variations on the same motif;

Be simple with your props and closing. An oversized panty hoase is more than enough.

• Shoot, shoot, shoot and did I mention shoot? Seriously, you want as many photos as possible, in order to be able to choose from a vast selection of captions. Even hardcore glamour photographers make some several thousand pictures in one studio session – so they could later pick really astounding images;
• Communicate with your model, make her feel at ease. She is not just an element within the frame – she is your vital partner and your very best friend when it concerns working in a studio. She is not simply posing nude but co-creating. If your model feels uncomfortable, you won’t get anywhere – even if you’re Helmut Newton!

Nude photography is not easy – nor is glamour photography in general. Yet you can achieve a lot if you keep practicing and pushing on. Remember – a journey of thousand miles begins with one step! Or, in our glamour photographers’ case – with one flash.

Good light!

– Michael

Technorati Tags: Artistic Nudes, glamour images, nude portraits