Posted by David
A thousand pardons for taking so long to get this one up. Miss TM was a little tentative about showing her sexy side. Once you see how her photographs turned out I'm sure you'll be wondering why she was concerned at all. She's gorgeous.
Straight to our studio after work, we got her set up with Amy who once again did an amazing job with makeup. We took a few portraits outside before the sun went down and then moved inside for the fun part of the shoot.
We'll share only enough of this frame to tease. :)
Mel catches great little detail moments that can imply so much without ever really showing anything.
A portrait styled shot with a very tight beam of light that illuminates only what we want to highlight. That's one of the benefits of working with off camera flash, greater control over your scene.
Posted by David
Mrs. R was a great deal of fun to work with. She was loose, carefree, and filled with laughter. Unfortunately, I can't show you any of it. Well, I can show you a little taste, but that's all.
I have to say, I do love the portrait shots. Painted Chic Makeup Artistry's makeup is to die for and Mrs. R's highlights create such a wonderful chiaroscuro effect.
While I can't share much more, I couldn't help but throw in a small detail shot of this corset. A woman walks into a bedroom with this corset on and you KNOW she means business.
Once again, a special thank you to Painted Chic Makeup Artistry.
Posted by David
As a new feature to the blog, I'll be offering up some self critiques on images, explaining why I love the images that I do and things that I wish I could have changed or made better. It's a process that I try to go through with every shoot. Once we're all done and it's my turn to go through images, I like to make a short list of things that I need to work on heading into the next shoot. It's a holdover from my days at the Academy of Arts and it plays a big part in why I've progressed so quickly with photography.
Let's lead into this shoot with my favorite shot of the day.
The light in this image wrapped around Chelsea so beautifully, leaving a gorgeous little shadow that defines the edge of her cheek bone and then ends in a little point on her chin. It's that interplay between dark and light that I love so much about off camera lighting. That shift from dark to light, otherwise known as chiaroscuro, continues throughout the image. Light on the arm, dark shadow, light on the jaw, shadow, light on the plane of the face, dark blouse where the curve of the face ends, light on the right shoulder.
The one thing that really kills me about this shot is the lack of a catch-light in her eyes. That little extra glimmer would have really made this image pop. That said, there's so much going for this shot, including Chelsea's natural beauty, that I can't complain too much.
Here we have Chels in a stunning business suit that shows just enough to tantalize.
Time to move to the bed. One of the nice things about having a husband and wife shooting team is that glances like these come across as entirely genuine because more than likely Chels was looking at me while Mel caught this shot.
Chelsea is great at the 'come hither' look.
A little implied can go a long way.
I wish we could take credit for this concept, but it was all Chelsea. She saw our cyc wall and said, "There's this shot that I've always wanted to do." It wasn't something we were set up to do, and it was a shot I'd never tried before with the lights but I'm always willing to give a concept a try, especially if the model is willing to be patient with me while I fiddle with f-stops.
As it turns out, Chelsea has some other outfits that she'd like to play with some time in the future, so if we're all lucky, we'll get to see her again.
Makeup By: Painted Chic Makeup Artistry
Posted by David
In the beginning there was Becky. One of our very first shoots that I'm just now getting around to posting. There was so much involved with her shoot that it was hard sorting through and picking out just what to show. What was amazing was the range of shots possible with Becky. Some girls just want light and airy, others want dominant, still others want the classic pinup, Becky pulled them ALL off. What a day. But I'll let the shots (and some small commentary) tell the rest of it.
The above shot is actually a composite of two shots. Becky really liked her expression in one shot that was taken vertically, but really wanted to get more of the car in, as shown in this vertical shot. It took a little time and effort, but the end result is a seamless merging of the two photographs. I wish we'd have had more time for car shots, but as you'll see, there was a LOT to do that day.
Becky in an insanely sexy mechanic's outfit. I don't know about you, but I'd be taking my car to the shop a lot if she were waiting out front in this outfit. Notice the name tag? It originally said "Betty's Garage" but a little manipulation changes it to "Becky's Garage."
Here we brought Becky in for some fun on the cyc wall. She's a big fan of classic pinup, so we thought we'd try replicating some of her favorite poses. We loved this one so much that it was the first thing we posted to FaceBook. Those curves are perfect for the classic look.
As if the shoot weren't already hot enough, we decided to turn it up a notch and brought out Becky's dominant side. What Becky wants, Becky gets.
Implied is more than enough to make a man's heart start to race. The image itself leads one to think that we were frolicking about. In reality, Becky stayed robed the entire time until we found the right light and position. Drop the robe, click click click, get the shot and then get that robe back on. Of course you'd never know it looking at this shot.
Love this final shot. Matter of fact, we love a lot of Becky's shots. Believe it or not, but there are actually outfits that we didn't have room for in this post. It was a long day of shooting but what we got out of it pushed the limits of sexy. A great big thank you to Stefanie Baker Mekeup Design for doing such an amazing job with hair and makeup. It was a long day and she was right there with us through it all.
An especially big thank you to Becky who came all the way out for the shoot. Boudoir and pinup is a physically taxing form of photography for the model but Becky kept not just her energy level up but also her spirits through it all. It was a pleasure working with her.
Posted by David
Something you'll see from time to time here on the blog is a Before and After post. We feel that it is important for clients to understand that they are in capable hands and that in the digital age capturing the picture is only the first step in a long process.
For those who would argue that digital manipulation is a lie and should be avoided, I offer up the simple truth that we are creating art. The very essence of art is the notion of an idealized state. The more control the artist has over the medium the more it becomes art.
I would argue that the less control one has over the medium, the closer it is to documenting. This relates to all aspects of photography. If you use flash you are taking control of the medium. Even if you remove as much technology as possible and simply direct your subject into a well lit area and pose them, you are still taking control of the medium.
Now, I know I've posted this image already with a before and after, but this time I've figured out the HTML coding to make this image a rollover. Simply roll your cursor on and off of the image below and you'll switch between a before and after comparison. I've found that when photo manipulation is done well it is very difficult to see all the subtle changes when compared side to side. It is not until the eye can flip back and forth in and instant that we truly appreciate what has been done.
Note: Be sure to give your browser a moment to load up the new picture once you've moused over. Shouldn't take but a few seconds.
Brittany is a rare find when it comes to shooting. She’s a lengthy 5’10” without the killer heels. It makes it a little difficult when trying to follow the “always shoot down on women” photography rule, especially when you are 5'2" like Mel. But rules are made to be broken and Brittany sure does break them. She’s also up for just about anything. As we were outside warming up with some portraits before the boudoir, she mentioned that she saw my dad’s '67 mustang on her way in.
“I’ve always wanted to take pictures with a car.”
Always accommodating, I tracked down the old man and procured us some keys. Later that day he mentioned that he was thinking about selling it. “But maybe I should hold onto it for your photography,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Seeing the rusty cogs and gears of husbandly scheming whirring away, I cut him short, “That’s an awfully expensive prop. And after you’ve used it a few times, a prop becomes common place and not worth using anymore. I think it’d probably be best to just sell it.” Mind you, this car has been in the process of getting sold since I was in high school, so it’ll likely be around for many more shoots just in case someone else sees it and says, “I’ve always wanted to take a picture with a car.”
Every once in a while I like to provide a before and after example. Digital photography is so much more than the craft of the original photograph; these days you have to be skilled at post processing as well.
The original shot is aided by an off-camera flash shot through a small soft box. It's set to high speed sync so that I could pull the color of the sky in without losing Brittany in the shadows of the grass. This in and of itself is a trick, but then comes the post processing.
The post pretty much speaks for itself. Complexion is cleared up, fly away hairs are erased, a little snugging of clothing. It doesn't look like much was done, but it amounts to over an hour of careful attention to details, working and reworking different areas of the photo to pull them in line with a vision without making it look like a photo of someone else. And of course the trickiest part of all is making sure that you can't tell, when looking at the end product, that any work was done.
Posted by David
A new brand, a new blog, a new studio and a new logo. As summer comes to an end and school gets ready to start back up, Melody and I find ourselves at the trailhead of new beginnings. Exciting times are ahead, and with a brand like this you can take that more than one way.
Does this mean we’re leaving the old trail? Why the separate images? Is M&D going away?
First of all, no. M&D Photography is still going strong and staying right where it’s at. As any bride that meets with us and sees the delight Melody takes in simply talking about a wedding can attest to, we love capturing weddings and seniors.
It’s simple really, weddings and seniors don’t belong in the same place as boudoir and pinup. There are parents out there that would rather not explain to their high school student what the sexy pictures on the website are all about. More importantly, there are moms who would like to take pictures for dad and who might not mind sharing them with other women looking to shoot boudoir, but definitely do not want their high school senior or other family members coming across them while searching for their family photos online. There are also brides who would love to give their betrothed a real surprise on their wedding day but who don’t want to give away what they might be doing. For all of these reasons M&D will be kept completely separate from Properly Exposed.
With that said, let’s get right into it with Sarah. The general perception is that women only have boudoir shots done for someone else. This could not be further from the truth. More and more women want the pictures simply for themselves and Sarah was no exception. These photos were for her and to share with her friends, proving that the most important opinion a person can have is about themselves.
From the moment she arrived we knew that it was going to be a fun, relaxed shoot. She’s just that personable. There was even a point when her makeup artist, Angela from Foxy Face, received a call from her husband during the makeup. “Hi, honey,” Sarah announced towards the phone. And when it was time for Angela to leave, Sarah made sure to ask that when she got home she say hi to her husband for her.
What a great woman to kick off Properly Exposed with. But don’t you worry; there are still three others that will be coming soon, so stay tuned.
