Glamour practice.

[FocalFrenzy]

Here's a shot of the wife. The EXIF data on Flickr says that the flash was "Off" and did not fire. I was using 2 flashes with umbrellas and Cactus triggers. Both fired, but the info didn't synch with the image data. I didn't use a tripod due to cramped quarters, so I upped the shutterspeed to 1/250th of a second, resulting in a narrow black band on the right side of the images. I had forgotten that my cameras' "Flash Synch" is set to 1/200th of a second and slower. Anyway, that's why I applied the vignette. My question is; does the vignette hurt the overall composition? Also any comments on my skin-smoothing (too much, or not enough), would be greatly appreciated. This is only my second attempt at "Boudior type shots, and I'm still trying to get it right. Thanks in advance for any helpful criticism.

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 84 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[FocalFrenzy]

Well, after 42 views and no comments, I decided to show the original shot, so people would have a better idea of the amount of work I put into this edit. I would welcome your comments, even if it's to say "I don't care for it". Thanks for looking.

[Benji]

Good white balance, focus, exposure and expression and a beautiful woman.

I have never used flash with a shutter speed even somewhat close to sync. I use 1/100 100% of the time in the camera room. Why use a faster one?

Some tips on photographing the big beautiful woman.

Nearly every woman I have ever photographed that was over 30 has wanted to look thinner, prettier, sexier and younger, so ANYTHING you as the photographer can do with any of the above will make you the hero.

Posing a woman on a soft bed, soft couch, soft love seat or plush easy chair will make her look heavier because she sinks into it making stretching out her body and neck nearly impossible.

Using flat or broad lighting will make any face appear wider. Short lighting thins out the face. Wide things are usually thought of as heavy and heavy things are usually thought of as fat.

A square to the camera body angle will make even a thin woman look heavier. A 45° turn of the torso will do wonders.

You will find that boudoir images are VERY challenging on the BBW because they usually have more skin showing than other type of images, so there is less clothing to hide problem areas.

Benji

[FocalFrenzy]

Benji, thanks for the advice. I'll try to put it to the test on our next practice session. She doesn't think she is as beautiful as she actually is. I think she's gorgeous, and didn't even consider posing her to look thinner. Shame on me and my love-blinded eyes. I'll try to be more considerate in the future. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Nicole]

The one thing that stood out to me on this, and I'm not sure whether it really matters or not since it might be a personal preference / natural expression sort of thing is that it actually looks like you caught her mid-sentence with the way that her mouth is posed. Sometimes it seems like it's incredibly hard to get a natural looking expression (not to mention it's hard to judge natural expression if you don't know the person ).

I think that the skin smoothing looks ok-ish on the top. It looks fine on her face, and it brightens it up nicely. But it looks a little off in the neck / chest area, probably because of various shadow.

The other kind of random thing is the red item behind her that's right at head level seems to distract a little. Less noticeable with the vignette, but still.

[FocalFrenzy]

Nicole, the red on her chest and neck area is sunburn. I couldn't seem to get that to blend in right. I've only had PS-CS4 for a couple of weeks now, and I'm still trying to figure things out. All of my previous edits were done in GIMP. The red thing behind her is a pillow. You can see it better on my Flickr page. I would have uploaded that image, but I thought it might be too mature, so I posted it in the "Nudes" forum, where it will probably be considered too overdressed. Thanks for your comments. I hadn't thought about the pillow looking out of place, since I knew what it was. I really should use more forethought.

[CiiVii]

Originally Posted by Nicole

The one thing that stood out to me on this, and I'm not sure whether it really matters or not since it might be a personal preference / natural expression sort of thing is that it actually looks like you caught her mid-sentence with the way that her mouth is posed.

That's what it is! Something didn't look right for the glamour style, and I think this is it. It sways the photo a little towards real estate agent headshot. She has absolutely beautiful eyes and the gentle skin treatment is flattering. I would think a photo showing more of her body would have more of the boudoir look.