Pixiq

Glamour is a genre that has its roots in the pin-up and “cheesecake” photography of the 1940’s but over time evolved, I’m sure because of the influence of magazines such as Playboy, so that it now focuses on the depiction of a model with a strong emphasis on sensuality. In pursuit of that ultimate glamour image photographers use a combination of make-up, camera and lighting techniques, along digital darkroom methodology to produce an appealing, sometimes idealized, image of the model. While early glamour photography was studio bound and many photographers still prefer that that doesn’t mean your photograph can’t include some of the model’s surrounding environment and you’ll see many examples of that approach throughout these pages. Doing so sometime means you can end up dancing on the razor edge between portrait or even figure photography genres, but to quote Jerry Seinfeld “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Here are two different images of the same model that possibly wouldn’t necessarily be considered glamour photographs but fall into the twilight zone occupied by figure photography and sexy portraiture. This particular image is clearly a figure study with its focus on the nude and the environment. Many times photographs such as this are made in black and white because some photographers believe that it’s a more artistic medium for this kind of subject matter but my feeling is that it’s up to you to decide whether to photograph in color or monochrome. That entire topic will be discussed in detail in Chapter 6. This mage was made late in the day using only natural light using a Canon EOS D60 with an EF-28-105 f/2.8 lens and an exposure of 1/25 sec at f/3.6 and ISO 800.

Dawn Clifford is a talented, vivacious model that easily and comfortably moves from being a figure model to a coquettish Mae West-style glamour model when posing with this vintage Plymouth automobile. This photograph was made in the model’s front yard; the car belongs to a friend. Image was captured using an Olympus E-1 with a 14-45mm Digital Zuiko lens. Exposure was 1/160 at f/13 and ISO 200. Fill flash was used to add some light under the brim of Dawn’s hat. Is either of these two pictures a glamour photograph? Maybe not but both were fun to make, so don’t let genre labels pin you down. Have fun.

For Daily Photo Tips, Please Follow Joe Farace on Twitter and visit my How-to Blog Saving the World, One Pixel at a Time.