Excerpt from my book, 10 Ways to Improve Your Boudoir Photography Now.  Note that the images shown here are of a client in her 60’s where tasteful retouching was used to bring out the best, yet stay well within the boundaries of reality:

A question that usually comes up early in consultations prior to a boudoir session is about retouching.  It only makes sense that your client would want to look her absolute best in her pictures.  I reassure my clients right away that retouching is part of the package when doing this kind of photography.  We’re trying to produce an idealized image of a woman, after all.  So, things like skin blemishes, pimples, wrinkles, dark circles under the eyes, and more are handled as a matter of course.  How much of this type of work you wish to take on is up to you, your client, and her budget, but there should be a minimum you are prepared to do.

There are, of course,  ways to get around most retouching.  You can use actions and filters that will simply obliterate skin detail.  Since I  prefer to show more dimension and texture in my images, I can’t rely on blowing detail out all the time.  That means I have to use more professional retouching tools to achieve my look.

I have found a few very simple tools and techniques work the best to keep my time in front of the computer at a minimum and still get great results.  It’s up to you to learn to use these tools, experiment, and build your own style of working, but these are good starting points:

The Most Important Tools in Adobe® Photoshop® for Skin:

The Patch Tool: Allows you to draw a selection around an area and replace it with a better patch of skin in a very seamless way.  This works great for pimples, smaller blemishes, and wrinkles.  Zoom into the area that you want to fix, and work in small patches.  This will give you more realistic looking areas of skin than trying to fix large areas in one swoop.

The Spot Healing Brush Tool: I use this to a lesser extent.  It’s better when you’re faced with lots of small bumps or spots that you need to get rid of, one at a time, very quickly.

The Clone Stamp Tool: Unlike the Patch and Spot Healing tools, the Clone Stamp won’t actually hold as much original texture, at least the way I use it.  This can be helpful.  For bags and circles under the eyes, set it to somewhere between 15% and 25% opacity and target a smooth area of skin as the sample area.  Clone out the rough spots under the eyes using a good sized brush and repetitive stamping.  Doing this in a separate layer (using the setting, Sample All Layers), will allow you to adjust the entire layer’s opacity and blending to achieve a believable  smoothness.  I also use the Clone Stamp tool to clone out distracting hairs, loose threads, unsightly veins in the eyeballs, and other small areas.

The Liquify Filter: Only use if absolutely necessary and near the final steps in your post work on the image.  This is the go-to tool for bringing in a less-than-flattering tummy, or taking a few inches off an arm or thigh.   You can create a composite image from all visible layers onto a new layer and apply the Liquify Filter to that.  I find the Forward Warp Tool to be the most used, with the Pucker Tool coming in a distant second.  Using the Freeze Mask Tool is useful to keep areas near the changes from warping.

The Surface Blur Filter: This is the main tool I use for overall skin smoothing.  Setup a composite layer so you can adjust the opacity (to what degree your changes affect the underlying skin texture) when done.  I like to start off with a radius of about 20 pixels, and a threshold of about 30 levels.  Since the filter will affect the entire image on that layer, you’ll need to add a layer mask with a black fill, then paint out the mask where you want the effect to show through (on large skin surfaces).  Again, adjust that layer’s opacity to bring down the effect as much as possible to attain a balance of real skin texture and the filter’s softening effect.

Simple suggestions, for sure.  But that’s the idea.  They work and will accomplish everything needed, most of the time.  There are a number of books and tutorials available if you would like to learn more about using image editing software to improve the look of your boudoir photos.

Over the last few months, my friend on the West Coast, JimmyD, has been working non-stop on a new eBook about Glamour Photography. He has taken his extensive knowledge and experience and finally put it into an awesome new book, Guerrilla Glamour!

Jimmy is the master of super-sexy commercial-quality glamour.   He’s been doing it for many years, and has seen it all.  He pulls no punches here as he covers a wide range of topics including how to find models, identify their strengths and experience levels, and work with what’s in front of you.   Sure, he tackles some of the technical material like different kinds of equipment, lighting theory, and composition. But he also offers perspective on topics that are more subjective like style, and post processing.

My favorite parts of the book, however, are the ones that deal directly with the subjects of the pictures themselves.  Jimmy gives you the low-down on how to direct models effectively and still show them a level of respect and consideration they deserve.  An excellent book for anyone interested in the subject of glamour photography.

See what it’s all about.

If you’d like to order a copy for immediate download, HERE’S THE ORDER PAGE >>

Note that when you order from the links on my blog, part of the proceeds go to helping me maintain it.  So, thank you.

I’m giving away a Canon 580EX II Speedlite.  If you’d like to get your hands on it, just follow the simple instructions below:

1. Follow me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/edverosky
2. Tweet the following message EXACTLY as shown here:
   Canon 580EX II Speedlite Flash Giveaway by Ed Verosky!  Go to http://wp.me/pe5pw-q4 to enter.  Pls RT
   
3. Sign-up here for my free newsletter below where I’ll announce the winner.

That’s it.  That’s all you need to do.  Do not try to enter more than once, it won’t help your chances and will disqualify you.  I will compile the list of people who have sent the tweet above and randomly select one potential winner right around Sept 15, 2010.  Official rules are here.  Please do not write for more information, all that you need to know about the giveaway is here and at the official rules link.

Winners will be announced in my newsletter — Sign-up HERE!

A friend of mine was on her way out to celebrate her birthday when I asked her to pose for a quick portrait.  She sat on her bed and I used one of the techniques I detail in my ebook, 100% Reliable Flash Photography.  In just a couple of minutes we got a variety of expressive shots.

To get an idea of where to begin with a shot like this, I usually tell photographers to start with their standard indoor settings and go from there.  Standardization is a key strategy in the book.  It’s the magic that takes the guesswork (read:most of the thinking) out of what you’re doing technically, while still keeping you on the professional side of the “mode” dial.  If you’ve read the book, you already know what I’m talking about and won’t be surprised at my particular choice of settings here (see below).

And as I state in the book,

Working under a standard method doesn’t have to be an artistic constraint. As a matter of fact, it can be more freeing to your creativity than having too many choices and technical concerns to deal with. Giving yourself fewer options to worry about will keep your focus on the subject, and that’s always a good thing.

So, that’s what was going on here.  I basically used the Indoor Lighting technique, on page 35 of the book to full advantage.  It involves using only on-camera flash bounced off a wall to illuminate the subject at various angles.  Fill was provided by letting the light do its thing off the white walls in the room.

Gear/Settings: Canon 50mm 1.8 MK II, 580 EX II, f/4.0, 1/250, ISO 800.

My previous posts on nude photography talk about inspiration and influential photographers I’ve recognized from the past.   But I’ve never written about the process of nude photography from a logistical or technical standpoint.  It’s an idea I’ve had for an eBook, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.  Perhaps a few posts on the subject first.

The photo above is an example of the classic style I prefer.  It was commissioned by a client who wanted an artistic representation of her form that she and her husband wouldn’t mind hanging on the wall for others to see, without necessarily divulging the identity of the subject.  This is not an uncommon request.

I did come across an excellent e-book by Ashley Karyl the other day, How To Photograph Nudes Like A Professional.  It’s got lots of pages of info, diagrams, examples, etc.  From his site:

“This is the first book of its kind that really shows how to photograph nudes like a professional.

Written in an easy conversational manner, this PDF eBook has the kind of detailed information that can only be taught by a working professional like Ashley Karyl who has many years of experience photographing top glamour and nude models around the world.

Learn the right way to find models, work on a budget, organize a team, choose equipment and so much more; helping you to improve the quality of your images, while avoiding all those expensive and time consuming errors that happen so often in photography.”

If interested, please take a look at Mr. Karyl’s page about the book.  Part of the proceeds of your purchase go to supporting my site.

This is a shot I do in about one-third of my boudoir sessions. I consider it to be a glamour/boudoir hybrid shot. Boudoir in the sense that the subject is presumably in a bed and in lingerie (sometimes topless), and Glamour because it’s essentially a broadly lighted beauty shot, rather than a more dramatically illuminated one. On first glance, there’s almost nothing special to the pose, framing, or lighting, yet it’s an intriguing shot and clients love it.

The trick here is to use a single broad light source directly above and pointing down toward the subject. You’ll avoid the typical ring flash look, but still benefit from flattering, near shadowless light. It’s a very natural kind of beauty lighting.

The entire technique to getting this shot right is explained in detail in my ebook, 25 Amazing Boudoir Photography Techniques. But, in general, just have your subject lie down and spread her hair out around her head in a very natural (not too symetrical) way. Position a 42″ shoot-thru umbrealla as close as possible to your camera position just above your subject. Shoot a little wide in order to have some creative cropping options in post.

For this shot: Canon 580 EX II flash unit at 1/8 power, 42” shoot-thru umbrella. 50mm, f/4.0, 1/250, ISO 100. Alternatively, can use a softbox or any other medium-size light source (2 – 4 ft. wide) at the same distance.

In 100% Reliable Flash Photography, the chapter “About Light” contains the following note: “Your flash unit produces a wide, but relatively directional, “beam” of light with rays that shoot out in a huge burst, and in many directions, including straight ahead. It doesn’t just come out in a nice clean beam, it scatters out wide from the moment it leaves the flash unit.”

I wanted to show some examples I shot of what this looks like coming out of the Canon 580 EX II. What might surprise you is that a good portion of the light is shooting out perpendicular to the lens of the flash unit. The images show the pattern of the light beam when the flash is zoomed at 14mm, 35mm, and 105mm. And even at 105mm, you can still see this happening. This is why, in the book, I talk about the option of using a small flag on the edge of your flash when bouncing. It can eliminate any direct flash from hitting the subject, if that’s what you want to do.

This originally appeared in a recent issue of my newsletter.  If you’d like to receive my free newsletter, just sign-up for it by using the form on the sidebar.

I’m proud to announce that my new eBook, 25 Amazing Boudoir Photography Techniques, is being released today! Check it out at the book link: http://www.veroskyphoto.com/boudoir-techniques-book.html

This is a natural followup to my eBook, 10 Ways to Improve Your Boudoir Photography Now.   In this book I’m presenting a quality list of 25 solid boudoir shot examples.  This isn’t just a sequence of poses to copy; I’ve designed it to serve as a very concise, flexible, and extensible set of real-world examples to learn from.  Each one details, in plain language, what the look is supposed to accomplish, the general setup/blocking of the elements, the technique I use to prepare and direct the subject, and the gear and settings I use to achieve each look.

Check out the book at: http://www.veroskyphoto.com/boudoir-techniques-book.html

I met up with my friend, Chris awhile back to talk about ideas for photos.  Over coffee, we just decided to meet back at her house and come up with something on-the-spot.  Our idea was a quick series of images depicting a “jilted” young woman.  Chris has got a great smile, but for these shots, we needed a very — how shall we say? — pissed-off look.  Luckily, she’s got a little acting experience which helped pull the “storyline” off.

While she was putting some makeup on and looking for a dress to work with, I took a few test shots with only the ambient lighting in the room.  I wanted to get a baseline for the ambient to see how I might combine the light with my on-camera flash.  As it turned out, I loved the way the light was working in there and wanted to capture the room the way it really looked.  I decided to bring out my 85mm 1.8 and shoot the whole series with just the couple of floor lamps and table lamp in the room.

The image above is one of my favorites from that evening.  As you can probably see, I had one lamp off a little behind Chris on camera left.  My “main” light is on camera right sitting about 45 degrees above and somewhat in front of her.  It’s a fairly traditional setup, just with light bulbs instead of expensive lighting gear.  f/1.8, 1/60 sec.,  ISO 800.  This is an example of one of the lighting techniques in my eBook, “100% Reliable Flash Photography,” where I cover not only using your basic on-camera and off-camera gear, but also NOT using it.  How cool is that?!