Shoot: Posing and Mixed Lighting
Rachel Stephens
Lesson Info
14. Shoot: Posing and Mixed Lighting
Lessons
Empower Your Client, Empower Yourself
35:00 2Creating a Nuturing Experience for Your Clients
17:16 3Demo Shoot with a Client
45:14 4Shoot: Implied Nude
15:41 5Shoot: Maintaining a Connection with Your Client
29:03 6Retouching with Actions: Focus on Skin & Curves Part 1
38:19 7Retouching
19:24Retouching Using Photoshop Actions: Recap
25:03 9The Intimate Business of an Intimate Business
26:56 10Finding Your Client
34:14 11Why to Lose the Pre-Shoot Consultation
14:02 12Shoot: Shooting with a Vulnerable Client
44:04 13Shoot: Stripping Down Client Defenses
37:20 14Shoot: Posing and Mixed Lighting
47:57 15Retouching: Longhand vs Actions Part 1
28:19 16Retouching: Longhand vs Actions Part 2
19:57 17Retouching: Longhand vs Actions Part 3
23:49 18Retouching: Longhand vs Actions Part 4
20:25 19Tips for Male Boudoir Photographers
09:37 20Shoot: Creative Posing with Couples Part 1
24:00 21Shoot: Creative Posing with Couples Part 2
17:10 22Marketing: From Prospect to Client
39:42 23Business Practices: How We Do It
48:43 24Size Shaming & Pin Up Shoot
35:51 25Shoot: French Postcard
25:37 26Retouching: Pinup - Longhand vs Actions
34:16 27Retouching: French Postcard - Longhand vs Actions
41:01 28The Value of Failure
27:34Lesson Info
Shoot: Posing and Mixed Lighting
we're gonna talk about posing and mixed lighting and what I mean by mixed lighting. I touched on it earlier when I'm in a venue. Even though I have, like, my one main light, It's not daytime all the time. And I shoot from nine in the morning till 11 at night. Sometimes the venues are up against an alley or there's not very many windows. So I'm not getting any kind of outdoor ambience, streetlights or moonlight, and it's just very, very dark. So sometimes I have to bring in other kind of light to mix it up. And also how I work with sunlight as well. So let's get started. Hi. Come on in. I'm Rachel. I don't get a chance to meet you outside. Are you excited? Nervous? Yeah, it's okay to Okay, Sure. It we look like sisters. No, I'm not Filipino Filipinos. Okay. Free and Irish People always think I'm Filipino. Okay, so let's talk about why you're here really quickly. Or you here for you, For someone special. Both mostly for me. Okay. Um, from my hubby too, but mostly for me. Um, I've done a ...
shoot before in the past, but I've never really felt 100% comfortable with myself. And I'm so used to be on the other side of the camera I'm a photographer to Okay, so I feel very exposed right now, right? Yeah. And I know is a photographer. When you're in front of a camera and you don't have that creative control they usually have, it's like, you know, your own angles. Yeah, and you know, So I I've got your back. I believe it. I believe flattering stuff. I'm not going to do the wrong angles, so don't worry about that. And if there's any, um, poses that you had your heart set on, let me know, and we'll try to nail those. So let's get to it. They're moving things on me. Okay, So what are we wearing underneath today? I'm trying not to trip you. I don't mind if I trip myself bra and then high waisted oak. You'd like retro. Do you want to do something with robe first or you're not feeling the room? Okay. Cool. She really like, Okay, cool. It's beautiful. Let's lose this guy X. We know already in your face. I should have a tick tack. Okay, so what? I'm gonna have you deal. See where your part is. Come over here. Gonna have you sit on the edge there? Yeah. You're gonna sit your legs your feet out. You're gonna let him kind of drag forward just a little bit on the right side. You gotta be up nice and tall in that chair. You'll be on your toes on the side. This a little bit more is your for your heel. Your shoes gonna pop out, okay? And I'm just gonna kind of tease these off the shoulder. My sexy talk to use it off the shoulder. Valentine's Day. So yeah, Happy Valentine's Day Hitting myself in the face with my core. Don't mind me. Four. It's like the sun, huh? Do you shoot? Continues to So we're sunblock. That's from the my light. Yeah. Doing you a solid when you met, like, three minutes ago. Okay, so we're gonna keep this tucked underneath that strength, that I just want to keep those penned, and we want to show some leg. So the pose that I've got you into if it's feeling a little bit like off just off kilter, just go ahead and reposition your body to where you're feeling like you're solid. Come up with that. That little string. Let's get that sucker in there. There you go. There you go. On. Let's put the road behind the calf. I want to be nice and tall into that. And let's kind of come in this way with the hand. So we're gonna do, like, nice and tall, confident, shoulder down boobs forward booty back, You know, really bad posture right now. The hand here, let's drag that that foot forward on this side and that. That hand here, you're gonna come back like this and then just kind of like anchor that poem on top of your thigh so that shoulder can come up like this. Exactly. So you kind of feel that little sass right there? Exactly. So we wanna Yeah, Exactly. You just it. So this way in like that more. There it is. Perfect. It's camp on my toes. Just a tiny bit more. And the robe on that side. Let's move it all behind you in your knee. There you go. Put that hand up here. I want to see your fingers on top. There you go. There it is. beautiful. Let's reach down towards your foot like this. And let's lift up eyes to me. Don't this way this way. Are you always jockeying for position with your light to like this? Bring your chin and towards your Children Beautiful part your lips for me. Your makeup and hair look awesome. Might have blinked on that. That's OK. I like I look like Forest Gump in, like, every picture. Every time shot that's taken toe, everyone looks awesome. But I'm like this the irony of being a photographer, right? This beautiful. Okay, I'm gonna have you swivel around. We're gonna step stroh stir rattle this. So since I don't have access to an actual real plain wall, I'm just gonna use my, um gobo on this backdrop for you guys. Is it okay if I pull that the robe off your off your shoulder to see how this looks? Words like almost off. Has that feel good? I'm gonna mess up your hair. OK, so when I do that, I get my fingers right into their scalp and scratch. That really gives that volume in the back of the hair. Sometimes you're kind of doing this. That just falls flat again. You want to have to keep messing with their hair every three minutes, you're gonna slide your hands down like this and hold the side of the chair. Perfect. So this is a focusing light. You put these little slides inside like this, so different. Sometimes they're shaped like windows or, ah, plants like you can get all different stuff. I like this kind of, um, crazy pattern. Because when I'm retouching, if it's behind the client, I need to retouch in something and kind of slim something out. I don't have to worry about a straight line, like with a window. The I can make this any shape doesn't matter. It doesn't. I don't need to preserve the shape of these shadows. So there's already a texture on this backdrop, so it's not as noticeable. Um, but you guys can see it right when it's dark in the room. It's really just like like, if now suddenly there's interest on the back wall, it's really dramatic. All right, So you're gonna pull in like this, you're gonna bring what the back foot out's gonna come out a little forward. This one's gonna come back like this. You really gonna pull in and you're gonna kind of stagger your shoulders in towards me a little with your chin. Let's go ahead. And let's kind of, like, push that road behind Jeb. It like the bottom. Like getting out from underneath. Try again. There you go. You're gonna pull in like this. Gets yet saucy. Saucy. You like you're smiling, huh? Your smiley person. That's good. That's good. Smile if we wanted, We want to capture what you're feeling. Not everyone's like, You know, if your smiley person let's smile. That's good. It's something you like your opposite day person. Got it. All right. Cross your your arms like this on top. Kind of push up? Yep. Like this Cleavage. So let's can you your booty go back a little bit more that way? Like this across your wrist? I kind of pull in a little calling the So you're pulling in here, but pulling back in your shoulders? Does that make sense? Perfect. I'm gonna look down this way and let's make a little bit of space between your right here and right here. But you can still, so you can do it with an angle There. You go perfect highballs to me Part your lips Let's go ahead and lose The robe Looked out. I just throw it that way. Soas faras what we want Teoh showcase And what we want to down planes in terms of body. What are we, everything section of OK, but the curves or we want to focus on the curves, right? Sure. So nothing like straight on front, kind of more angled a yield off? Yeah. Do you want the brawl on top for this on top? Ok, so, Rachel, when you hear that someone wants to accentuate those curves. What? What are the poses that you immediately think of? That you immediately go to the things that I'm immediately thinking of is sideways. I'm thinking of laying back on their back and I'm thinking, laying on the belly. So mainly, like, kind of getting them from the side. Or if I'm getting them straight on like this, we'll have them kneeling Or maybe kind of like leaning like this. So definitely nothing straight on. Typically, if they have issues here, they're not gonna want like, ah, full body back either, you know? So I'll do more detail work, maybe like the hands like right here. I tried to do a detail shot, but it's getting distracted so you can also achieve that with cropping. So as I'm shooting, I'm shooting images. So a lot of times I don't I'm not worried about getting things in frame. I know that I'm shooting rhyme, shooting really large files. So if I don't if I don't totally love the image I just shot, I just could crop that image a little bit and change the orientation. And then it's a whole new image. So I'm I don't tweak out on that too much. But I do know if someone has issues like a lot going on where they don't really I don't like anything from my boobs down. And I get that sometimes, you know, So you can you kind of like Philip a gallery with some detail shots, Dio Okay, so let's have you stand. I'm gonna have you see lights this way. Let's have you sit here on the floor. So let's one of the things I wanted to do. And now we're not going to do after we spoke. So we're switching it up. So you're gonna sit on the floor in your hip and you're gonna put your elbow here? Yes. So you have, like, two something to anger onto with it. Would you feel more comfortable if the chair was kind of behind you? More? Do you like it? Like in front? Like us? Okay, cool. Soas faras the legs go. We're gonna have you. So you like this wouldn't have you stack So we don't want this. We're gonna have you kind of stuck like this a little bit more. You're gonna point the toe, so it's gonna keep all these muscles engaged all in here. And even though we're doing that, it's good that stretch. Even though we're doing this, you still want boobies? Forward booty back. So another thing you can do once you haven't a light like the global late. If you wanted Teoh, you could pull out this and you could just bring it back a little bit, and you could use it like a hair light if you're into that. Look, um so you can see I'm not a giant fan of that myself. I'm not gonna actually shoot it. Just demonstrating what you guys, how What you can you can Dio if you have a focusing light like this, I prefer to use it for background stuff so this might fall out while I'm shooting. It's OK. You lost a screw on the way here. Let's have this hand come this way unless you're gonna arching kind of like, turn your chest towards the chair just a bit in an arch back like that and turn Look that way again. How about it? Would you feel more comfortable with hand down in front of you like maybe on your thigh? Okay, let's do that one. And then maybe bring your elbow just a little bit forward. So as imposing her, I'm reading her face. So a lot of times, when you have a client, you get them into a position and you can kind of tell that maybe they're uncomfortable. But you can also tell when you're when you're looking at them and you're reading their expression and in body language that they don't like that. They don't look, that doesn't uncomfortable. You want to be able to put them in a position that feels comfortable. Then you can recompose the pose. Okay, point that toe for me. You want to put the hand back there. I like the hand here. Bring it for we're just a little bit more. It's send your down there. Let's have the knee. The bottom me kind of angle up just a little bit. Kind of kicked the hit. And let's bring that are hand for we're just a little bit. So let's get you really uncomfortable. Now, tell your head this way. How about this? Lean into that a little. Let's bring that hand in here a little bit more. There it is. Beautiful. Tilt the head this way. Little part lips. Yeah, hot as I am. But you look way better. I'm like, sweating all the makeup off. Okay, so I'm gonna have you just sit or Neal's. Fine. Yeah. Asher. So you gonna have knees apart, feet together, hands on top of your thighs. So one thing you can do if you wanna have more of, like, the old Hollywood movie look, but you don't have, like, a You don't have one of those lights like a mole Richardson's. You could pull your diffuser off your life, which will create a more harsh shadow. So you want to be you want to be kneeling, but you don't want me sitting, so you'll be up. You gonna bring those knees apart just a little bit more. You're gonna bring this shoulder in like, this, perfect and stuff up. Just forward. There it is. So I'm shooting. I should all prime and I shoot all wide open. Um, if you're paying attention to the, uh, set my camera settings on the monitor, I like this a lot. Let's have this hand come here like this. I don't want your eyes to gaze up here like that. You could bring this shoulder in this way a little bit more. Your eyes up here, part your lips. So it's gonna be a little higher Shudders through the normal cause. I took the diffusion panel off. Relax, but I really like that harsh light. Um, it's looking a little darker in my camera than it is on the screen. But I am not worried too much about that, cause, as I said, I'm shooting Ron. I know I can take care of those little things I would rather under expose a little bit, which I normally dio, um, with the one seated with her legs that you could see it was a little darker than these, Um, because it's easier to bring it up your exposure up in your post for light room or camera raw that it is to bring it down, because if you blow out your highlights, you can't get that texture back in that area. It's gone. But if you under expose a little, that's okay assed faras. My camera settings go. I keep my eye eso at 3 20 shooting White Open That keeps my shutter speed high. And the reason I like doing that. When you have a high shutter speed, it's gonna freeze the shot. So if I have a client, we're having a moment. She throws her head back and starts to laugh, and I take it really quickly. If I If my shutter speeds too low, it's just gonna be a blur. Sometimes that's cool. Some you can grain it out, and it could be like a cool, blurry, grainy shot. Most the time clients will be like, I love that picture but is blurry. So you know what you may want to do artistically, the clients not always gonna understand or appreciate, you can always do, you know, make it more of a treatment in post to. But when you have a high shutter, speed it, it locks everything. Like if you have a client, throw her hair back. The hair isn't just one big blur trail. The hair freezes. You get all that even if you know you have them. Maybe with some water on the tips. And you have him do this. You know, if you're doing like a shower shot, then you have all those. Those little the strands. Nice and sharp. It looks really cool. You can see, like the water coming off of them. You can't do that with a low shutter speed. Think maybe in with flashy with strove you can, but with continuous light, you need a high shutter speed. Teoh, freeze that shot. Sorry. I should have turned the light off while I went on that little tirade. Okay, so come back here just a little bit. So I'm just going to show you really quickly. Um how Use sunlight to fill. Can we bring up one of the curtains? Blinds? Just a little bit. Um let's see that one where it goes. Yeah. Perfect. Yeah, That's good. Thank you. I was gonna put this diffusion panel back on. I'm like the worst with time, and I just don't have a car. Like I just don't feel how much like, what is, like, three minutes to me. It's like when you're getting into what you dio, you know, just everything else just freezes. Okay, Cool. So let's have I feel like the light is coming right where all the cords are. Maybe if we do the middle Okay. So I know the floors scuffed. Didn't ask you to lay on, is that OK? OK, so we're gonna have you lay on your back right here. That's good. Thank you. So you wanna lay at your feet this way, your head? This way. So a lot of times when you have, um, the sun coming in from a light, you know how it kind of gives that blue cast. I really, really like that. It doesn't bother me if the blue cast over the skin, I think it's cool. I've never had anybody complain about that or asked me to remove it. Um, so it's It's just a personal preference. Um, and of course, with your color balance. You could always adjustment. Brush that out anyway, when in your raw program. But here you can see the way that the sun's coming in and filling this area here on the floor. Can you guys see where it is? Let's bring your knees up. You're gonna bring this one halfway down and this one a little bit lower, and then you go pick him, You're gonna arch. So if I wanted to put my hand under your lower back here, I could There you go. And then you're gonna take your hands and go fluff your hair out that way. And would you put your hands feel comfortable up here? Would you want him down here to start? How about let's let's go to split the difference, switch the other way. Hence so you guys can see where the light here is from. The windows is filling this area of the floor, but there's nothing on this side. So when I turned my light on that kind of blocks it out, But it, um, it does that little bit of fill light does make a difference. Sorry. I'm having a difficult time with cords. Okay, I'm just gonna have to photoshopped the courts out. All right? You're gonna push the shoulders down this way, and then you're stretched the head back this way. Perfect. And then if your head's in, if your head's laying in my hand, I want you to come this way perfect. And then turn this way a little. Oh, I love that I like that's on your ring finger to let's get your bling. So I'm just looking here to see whether or not I want a harsh shadow under her chin or a softer shadow. Are you into the whole leg retro Hollywood movie? That's I'm feeling that with you, too. I'm gonna go with the heart, That harsher shadow under her chin. There we go. Okay, so we're gonna pop shoulders. There you go. Your turn your head towards the shoulder. And with this hand that's over here, let's put it here. You're gonna cut your face? Yep. And that's great cause you can use your your arms. You can push here on this side and use your arm to make to make cleavage, which your cleavage is awesome. Mind just disappears in my armpits when I lay down so not fair. Nice and part your lips and look up at me. And let's bring that right knee up just a little bit right there. Stop, Squeeze, squeeze. So you're not handed the back your neck and then come back this way. Turn your head this way. Live from the elbow up forwards. Very hand like this. Tell your face like that. Beautiful. And relax the fingers on the cheek just a little bit. Close the eyes. Let's bring the pinky nail towards the mouth like you're gonna bite the pinky like this and turn your face to me To your face to me. Hand away for your hand here. Like this. So you have both hands like that? Yep. Perfect. You're gonna kind of pull the straps out. Just a little eyes to me. Eyes to me. Beautiful. Okay, let's do some. Let's do some bed stuff, Lucy. Roll into your belly. Let me see how it looks on, like the back of that. You want to a booty shot. Do you want one? I'm sure hubby wants one. Okay, Okay. Let me do a couple laying down a shots, and then we'll do the booty shot. Have you come this way. Stop the legs. Come this way. Little Yeah. Is it okay if I bring my light over here trying to not put it right in front of the cameras? That okay. And what are you looking for? Is your moving the life? What's the What's the effect you want? I'm looking for even light on her face and her torso, and I want a little bit of fall off light on her legs. So I don't want her legs completely lit because I kind of wanted to fall off into blur and shadow. Really romantic. Kind of like to make it look like it's nighttime. I'm really good at tangling, huh? Okay. So, um, instead of this, let's go ahead and do this. Let's do the ring hand on top. Perfect. Let's have you bring your lower body this way. Just a teensy bit. There you go. Perfect. Let's move that hair right here. We're about to reveal beautiful. Hold that right there. Point the toes like this, Gorgeous. Let's bring your shoulder and like this and then bring your face like this a little bit. Relax. Beautiful. Hold that and then look down like that again No, I was up to me. Is it going? You know, I'm trying really hard to me. You know, There's people here is I'm getting the giggles, Chicken head like this. It's pretty face this way a little bit. Oh, that's nice. Hold that. Tilt your head up a little. Do you have this wheel? All right, Susan nudes some nudes. Okay? Yeah. You want you want some bad shots? Yeah. Now, do you want Teoh have panties on for that or do you want I mean, let's put it this way. Do you want to shoot without the sheet and have panties on or do you want to shoot pushing the panties down and then we put the sheet over to make it look like you're OK. So I'm going to stay down here and I'm gonna have you hop up and face the head the back wall. I'm gonna do a quick booty shot, OK? You're going to stand and face that way, so I always, always, always, always, always shoot booty shots from the floor. Angling up like this rounds out where you want it round and spins out where you want it. Then come on back you're gonna stand with your feet apart. You're gonna face out that way for me, and you're going around. You're roll your hips back towards me. Roll it back. There you go. Perfect. You don't need to look at me. I actually do like the angle right now, So let's put your hands up like, like, back like this. Like that. Perfect. The ring hand and our char charge. Kick the hips to the right. And right now I'm focusing on her ring. Okay, let's go ahead and get get you on the bed. And normally I would do it from different angles, but we want to do some She really wants, um, bed shut. So I want to make sure I do that for her today. So do you have I think they're gonna take you off to get yeah that off, and then you're gonna come to me once. All right. So what? We've, uh, while we're while our model is changing. That's what I was trying to say. I used my words sometimes. Uh, Rachel, we would love to hear just Is this your real set up? Is this what you use regularly when you're on location? because you shoot on location all the time. So is this what you bring with you? Just the single life. Oh, my. There everything's my gear. Yeah, The only thing that I won't be shooting with this workshop that's mine is I'm gonna do a to strobe kit tomorrow for the pin up, just to demonstrate for the photographers that have strobing aren't interested in, uh, continuous light. I want to do something for them to. So we made it fun with the pin up tomorrow. It's fantastic. Thank you for doing that. It's gonna be I'm excited to do that. We have. Ah, well, let's check in with our studio audience here. Front row, yes. Colored jails as well. Anytime I don't use those anymore. If I want, Teoh adds any kind of like color treatment, and I always do it in post kind of like with light leak type effect. But gels or great, there are a lot of fun. I used to do a lot of them when I worked with the floodlights from Home Depot. You could buy them in all different colors, so I usedto play around with that all the time so that I don't travel with it. Like I said, because I travel, I have to keep my kit really, really small. So I don't want my gear, my gears, all in one case. And I have to keep that at £50. Good point way. Have a question from cat Marie. And what would Rachel do when she does not have the same amount of room between the subject and the subject And the light, for example, small space and furniture in the way. And of course, you talked about how that is. One of the things that you do is learn how to find every nook and cranny in the new spaces that Airbnb is that you go to so in those scenarios where you don't have a so much floor space, what are the different things you dio? I have, Ah, 35 millimeter 1.4 lens that I travel with, um, only for those conditions I don't ever busted out for anything else. But if I want to get 3/4 body shots, full body shots, and I've been in that happens a lot when you're out there. Like even hotels, I've been to a hope got to a hotel suite. It looked beautiful on the website and it was a triangle. And I was trying to figure out how to make that work because we're all where all the furniture was. It was actually one tight little area. And then there's like a big dining table behind it, Like, you know, it's hard to move around, so pulled my 35 millimeter on and it really, really helped. Great, Fantastic. Now, So when you're looking to mix light, do you use a lot of the light that you find in the rooms? Or do you primarily just use this toe being control of what you're doing? I definitely use this. If I if I find an awesome space that has natural light, I'm like, Yes. I mean, I love natural light, but you're not gonna always it happens maybe once or twice a year for me, where I'll goto aloft and the lights just just facing the right way. And it's, you know, beautiful diffused light in the room all day until you know it goes tonight. And then I best these out. But that's very rare. You ready? Okay, so we got the hippies on your own. Okay, let's that a look. Yeah, there were pretty much on. So as's faras, the bed stuff goes you want to just go for Were there any particular shots that you have your heart set on my mid sections cover and wait on the side beside too, so you don't Okay, Cool. Gotcha. So I'm gonna hold this up while you take that off. Then I'm gonna turn around towards me, and then I'm gonna wrap it around you while she pulls it off. You okay? Your party's so again, I'm looking for where her part is. That's gonna That's gonna determine which to what way I lay her on the bed. Since her part goes this way, I know that I'm gonna lay her on this side. So have you lay on your side right here. Your elbows about here, your feet going that way and you're gonna scoot your butt back. So it'll be stoked. Your hair. It's probably so proud of you though, huh? I mean, do you have Of course, they get stoked about a boudoir session, but the fact that you have the courage to do it here Oh, I know I totally get it. Let's bring this leg forward. There you go. And we just want to show some legs. You can go ahead and pull it the fabric upto where you're comfortable to show. And then here it's rolling a bit. So we just want to make it look a little bit more, Um, kind of casual, messy. So I'm going to tuck under here, okay? And when you're holding the sheet here, we want your elbow to go kind of behind your body in your hand to be out your hip, like in front of on top of the sheet. So we do want to see your hand. I always get whispery once people got on the bed, so you can't hear me. Just tell me to speak up. Okay? So, Bret, your elbow out a little. There we go. So we're just gonna we want to see some cleavage, so we're just gonna go ahead and, you know, we want to show those things off, girl. Perfect. Be nice and tall. Let's not let your next sink into the shoulder and let's bring this forward just a little bit. There you go. When you're gonna hook will bring the knee here to my hand. We're gonna hook this foot over the back leg and bring it forward here when your knee forward. There you go. How does that feel? So you're the other leg you brought with you. We want them to go back that way so you can bend it a little bit. So it's not straight. Perfect. And the hand we want to relax that elbow behind you. Let's just relax the body out. Totally relaxed. I feel more comfortable in front. Um, that's no one saw today. I've got you. Don't worry. Well, just pat that down a little Valentine's Day spanking. Okay, So let's do this because I think I saw your expression relax a little bit when we brought hand forward, but don't have to lean in too much. You're gonna push your shoulder that way. Yeah, and then here. You don't think you need to worry about holding it cause we can pin it under you, But just go ahead and make your get your elbow comfortable underneath you. How about how about if we stretch out like that? Will that be That's gonna feel better. Okay, So if we stretch out like this Let's bring your hair forward. Let's bring this hand underneath like this. There you go. Yeah, Your expression just totally relaxed. So are we okay with side boob? That is the technical term side boob. And then we want to stop here with the sheet. Yes. Okay. So how about just, like, a little bit more of a tease than, like this house? That that's not that comfortable? So it's gonna hook that foot over the leg again. Feeling good case of this hand's gonna come under. And if you want, you could bring this hand under two. If you feel like you need a little bit more, let's get that hair in front, though. Okay? Perfect. So again, in a situation like this, if I didn't like, ah, lot of times, I'll get so venue. And I don't like the headboard or I don't really like where the bed is all kind of Just push the mattress off and push it against a wall, or I'll take the headboard off if it's easy to take off and then I'll throw my gobo pattern onto the wall. So then behind her, then there's some interest. It's not just a blank wall. Not all spaces are a school. Is this? I think I'd like to see the bottom arm out a little bit. Maybe. How about if you come up like this? Does that feel better? Beautiful. Yeah. I can see you just told you. Have us look at your face. Like what the hell? Okay, it's coming like this just a bit like I'm chemical tall, so we're not sinking down this way too much. Perfect. Beautiful. Let's bring the hand out from underneath and let's put it where it was. Let's put it back over the hair and behind the ear and kind of fluff the hair. That way, we have hair in front of you in front of your arm to frame your face. You're gonna put your hand here. There you go. Nice and tall. Perfect. Beautiful. Bring that shoulder in a little beautiful. And if you start to turn your light law times, I like to shoot evenly. That's how he usually shoot. If you kind of turn your light off to the side, you start to get kind of more like like like, um, sidel it. So where the shadows tighter start to fall. So you're still evenly lit here than the shadow start to fall off the side. The cheekbone off the side of the jaw, which is a slimming effect. Tilt your head this way. This way. Beautiful. And eyeballs that way. I just drag this up a little bit, and I'm gonna unhook the foot. You're gonna bring the knee like this out more and the foot back eyes to me. Nice long neck. Top your head up. Turn this week. Tell it to tilt her head. This way, guys, to me, Gorgeous eyeballs get in my AB workout today. Beautiful. All right. You want the upside down? E ones, I figure is a photographer. You're like, Yes. Okay. Flip over for me. Let's put your head here. Let's put your head here and swing around your legs that way. Well, we'll get this one for you real quick before we quit. Okay, I know. How about this? How about you put your hands underneath the sheet and cover the boobs, and then I'll rearrange cause you have panties on? Yes. So you want to cover here and then have the sheet lower? Right? Okay. So go ahead and cover, nipple. Not like a vampire like this. There you go. Perfect. A little higher on this side. There you go. A little higher on this side. A little lower. Took her hand this way, unblocking. So you want your fingers up this way more? Yes. I normally would not Karate chop their breast trying Teoh preserve her dignity on creativelive so about here. So just always communicate with your client and you could be going through your thing doing your thing. But remember, you're there for them. They're not there for you. So does communicate what they want through the whole thing. Let's switch knees left for May. Come down. Arrange all this gorgeous hair. Always wear it up. Do It's like a blanket, huh? My hair doesn't do this. Don't have the awesome thick Asian here. My speeder shirt. A shirt of yours. Really, Girl, I'm totally gonna block this camera. I'll move it quickly. Here we go. All right, So we're gonna do is arch So boobs up but back Papa shoulder chin towards that pop shoulder chin towards a pop shoulder But your heads in my hand on your slide it this way. There you go to face this way. Head this way. Little more. Right there. Perfect. Nice big art. Other leg up. Beautiful Texas. I'll oppose over the nipples. Who? The cover. Look at this. That way. I forgot. We're on creative life. Let's not do that One way. Things popping out. Okay, comes. Do this again. Get one more. You good? Ready? Yes. Perfect. Okay. Needs up. Squeezing together. Sorry about that little brain malfunction. You're gonna arch back like that. Beautiful. Oh, gorgeous. Until your head. This way. Other way it is. Hold that and arch back to look at me. Put your head this way. Okay, We're done. Thank you. You didn't. Awesome job. You bring your arms out. Your arms out. I got it.
Class Materials
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
Let me first start off by saying that Rachel puts her subject first. She has a passion for empowering the everyday woman, showing them that Boudoir photography by no means only belongs to the "supermodels". She shows them that they're amazing and beautiful, and it was so comforting and heartwarming to see this in action in her Creative Live course! When Rachel's shooting with a client it's almost like no-one's in the room but the two of them. Rachel gives her undivided attention to the client's safety and well-being and general comfort. I was so glad I tuned in for the course as I learnt countless tips and techniques about lighting, angles, posing, different settings for the different types of shots you'd want to grab. Another reason that watching the class was such a pleasure for me is that Rachel comes across as that awesome, down to earth, lovely friend you might have in your life, who just happens to be one of the BEST Boudoir photogs on the planet! This was an excellent workshop, top to bottom, and I'd recommend purchasing it to anyone who wants to learn everything about this type of photography, including the business side of things which her husband, Sean, explained thoroughly. I have absolutely no idea what a couple reviewers were "disappointed with" but take it from me - this is a STELLAR course and if you're looking to get into the business, or just even honing your skills on photographing the ladies, this is most definitely the course for you! Tons of info - great guidelines on how to handle your models, great info on lighting, lenses and settings! Rachel will make you fall in love with Boudoir photography like your life depended on it! She's just THAT good! So go on, purchase the course and have her invaluable instruction at your fingertips whenever you need it!
SunSoBright
I mainly photograph landscapes but I'm interested in learning other types of photography. Being introverted it's a challenge for me to photograph people but I it's a barrier I want to get over. I purchased this course and some others on portraiture and boudoir photography. While Rachel and her husband aren't polished speakers I thought they were honest and straightforward. The "clients" being photographed seemed a bit nervous but I imagine that had a lot to do with the fact they were doing the boudoir session live in front of thousands if not millions of viewers. Rachel also had to keep in mind she was tethered and the recording of the session while photographing her client so I don't think this was optimal and Rachel's back began to bother her so I'm sure she was in some physical pain. Regardless, the resulting pictures were beautiful so Rachel was able to make her clients feel "safe" enough to get through the session. Also it seems part of the audience were women who had been photographed by Rachael so it says something that they came to learn from and support Rachel. I appreciated Rachel was photographing real women, not models. What I liked most about this course is it made me feel like little 'ol ordinary me could be a boudoir photographer too If I am ever inclined to do so. Her style of photography isn't quite mine, but the session was still useful and instructive especially with regard to her lighting set up. I wish Rachel had talked a bit more about setting up the support team that goes around with her like her make up and hair artists, how she finds and decides on houses to rent and what cities she goes to, etc. but I guess you can't go over every single thing in a single course or maybe that can be a future course. Rachel and her husband seemed like a nice down to earth couple who put their family first and they were quite honest about some of the difficulties and their concerns over safety for themselves and their clients. I was touched that Rachel photographs women who have gone through cancer treatment for free as I do volunteer work in a hospital. I thought the bonus and included materials which had Rachel's Lightroom presets and her client info packet was very generous. Some of the other photographers charge for getting a copy of their client documents and presets. I purchased Rachel's eBook off Amazon and wanted to purchase Rachel's Photoshop actions but in searching for the purchase links I read Rachel is going through some health issues, I think it was spinal fusion, and it seems has suspended her business until she recovers. It looks like she plans to still make her "return" sessions starting with Hawaii during April 2017. I wish her and her family the best and will say a prayer for her quick and complete recovery. Thank you Rachel and Sean for coming to Creative Live and I hope you will teach another class or at least participate in a critique of boudoir photographs.
WellsWells
Warning: You are about to encounter a large number of exclamation points. ;-) This was such a great course! It was great to learn boudoir with such a caring, generous, and knowledgeable pair! Rachel really brought it with her posing, shooting, and building rapport with her clients. She even kept going while in intense pain! Also, the sections on retouching were EXCELLENT! I had trouble following the first retouching segment where she used her actions, but then she came back to retouching later and showed us how to do each step "longhand". Knowing what each action is designed for makes such a difference! I feel like Rachel read the audience and saw that we were floundering, and tailored her presentation to just what we needed! Sean was also very thorough in his presentation of the "business" side. It is hard, as an artist, for me to run my business like a business. Sean showed how it can be done. He also showed the need for a strong "why" to focus on when telling others about policies. "It's a business. I need to feed my kids." I need to reach down and find my "why" that will keep me strong enough to stand behind my policies and pricing. I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and go through all of the bonus materials yet, but I am so excited to see what's in there! I saw that Rachel had posted a longhand version of the "little hug," and I watched it, and I have been trying it out on some of my older images. Just that one little tweak makes such a difference! Thank you, Rachel and Sean, for giving us SO MUCH usable content! I'm so glad I decided to watch and then purchase this course! And I can't wait to see the two of you again for your next creativeLIVE!
Student Work
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