Photography in a Time of Contagion

Being an intimate photographer during the pandemic kinda sucks, as you can imagine.  Most people are afraid to travel and many are facing money problems.  It's been a couple of months since the last private shoot I did for a paying client.  I'm still available and not worried about virus transmission during a photoshoot, so drop me a note if you like.

Last month, I did an urban guerrilla shoot with a great model I have worked with twice before, Gemini Rose.  She's a proud and brave nude model who hasn't been getting any work lately.  I paid her to pose for me in order to create one of my photosets that I sell on Bentbox.

It was a beautiful spring day and we felt sorry for all the people who were locked down in their homes while we were enjoying delicious freedom.  We went to a couple of sites in downtown Portland that I've used before.  The streets were nearly deserted, so it made a guerrilla shoot quite easy.  Here are some shots in front of the famous statue of Portlandia.

Our next stop was a deserted parking garage.  We could look out at the streets of Portland and Gemini Rose could flaunt her beauty to the city.  It was very therapeutic for her.

I wanted to make sure we got some mask photos so that future viewers would know this was a pandemic photoshoot.

Leaving the parking garage, we drove to a building that used to be a dairy processing plant.  About a year ago, it was first painted white, then artists came in to cover the entire structure in creative artwork.  It's going to be torn down to build apartments eventually, so I am trying to make good use of it while it's available.

Since Portland is famous for pot shops, we had to make one last stop in front of this one that had some great exterior art.

That's it for this post.  If you'd like to buy this photoset on Bentbox, here is the link:  https://bentbox.co/buybox_verotel?UAb8rfE7

Thanks for your support!
 

Should I have my erotic photoshoot in the photo studio or in a hotel room?

That is the question I am frequently asked by out-of-town couples who are seeking an erotic couple's photoshot.

In order to answer that question, I often have to exchange a few emails with potential private clients.  So to save time I've created this blog post to help you decide for yourself.  You can still ask me questions, of course!

Before we start, let me remind those who live in the Portland region that I do make house calls.  If you have a nice bedroom at your place and a few hours of privacy, that may be your best option.   Now, on to the main question.

My studio offers a number of advantages, so let's discuss that first.  

The studio allows us to control the light and the background which allows us greater freedom to create many artistic looks that affect the feel of the photos.   For example, we can use strong lighting and a white backdrop to create what is called a "high key" image, like this one:

I like using the high key technique for models with dark skin.  Pale models tend to look a bit lost, so I will often pose them against a black backdrop like this:

There are many lighting options in the studio, such as backlighting to highlight the smoke in this photo:

Some people don't like photos posed in front of fabric backdrops.  They'd rather see the model (or themselves) in a real room, so the photo seems more real to them.  In that case, I just don't put up a fabric backdrop at all.  The end of my studio often has interesting objects which are rendered slightly out of focus to help give a sense of depth and reality.

My studio strobe units give me lots of control and many options for how I light my subjects.  One of the fun techniques is a stop-motion style that was popular in the 1960's when photographers first gained access to electronic strobes.  Quite a few celebrities were caught in mid-air, as if they were floating.  I don't recall any of them being nude, but I thought that was a logical next step.  Don't you agree?

My studio has another window in addition to the one you see above.  This one faces South, which gives us a number of fun options with natural sunlight.  If the day is sunny, the blinds can be adjusted to give interesting striped shadows like this:

If the angle of the sun is right, you can do some fun techniques like this.  The white background is a big piece of foam core board that I also use as a reflector.

I can also pose my subject very close to the window to take advantage of the very soft natural daylight.  This works best on cloudy days.

I could go on forever about this, but I think it's time to point out the most important thing the studio lacks -  a bed!   I get around that to a degree by posing models on the floor with satin sheets and pillows like this:

It's not bad, but it really isn't quite the same as a real bed, especially for couples who might want to have some adult fun and prefer a softer surface.  That's why I've gotten very good at shooting in vacation rental homes and hotel rooms.  These two shots used portable strobe units with soft light diffusers.

I also highly recommend finding a vacation rental for your shoot.  Avoid the little apartments and single rooms, you want a full size house.  Here are a few examples:

I really can't get that exact look in my studio.   But there is something that can be done in the studio that you can't do in a hotel room.  My studio has what are called "hard points" that allow you to suspend heavy objects from a ceiling beam like this:

So the choice is yours!  It depends on what activities you wish to do in front of the camera and what kind of look you want.  Whatever you choose, I will make sure you get great photos to give to your lover or to create archival evidence of your passion for each other.  Use the contact form or email me at:  BeyondBoudo[email protected]  to schedule your own private photoshoot.

Down By The River

Sorry I haven't been posting to the blog lately.  I've been doing some private shoots for clients, but mostly I'm creating photosets to sell on Bentbox.  Yesterday, I did a private shoot for a client who needed some tame, but sexy photos for social media marketing.   There is a river about a mile from my house that can be pretty photogenic at certain times of year.   Yesterday was one of those uniformly cloudy, but fairly bright days that we get in May and June. 

The soft light is almost perfect for portraits, but you have to remember that the sun is still up there in a specific location.  It's important to keep your subject looking toward the sun to get even lighting on the face, even if it takes you a minute to figure out where the sun is.

These shots were all taken with my usual Canon 5D Mark 4 using a Tamron 85mm F/1.8 lens at F/2 to blur the background.  I liked that lens so much that I bought its little brother, the Tamron 45mm F/1.8.

I really like the way these two Tamron lenses render the background, while the subject is extremely sharp.  It's almost a 3D effect.   I call that subject/background separation and it's something you can do with expensive, large aperture lenses that you can't do as well with consumer grade lenses.  These Tamrons are also stabilized for sharper hand held shooting which helps with that subject/background separation, in my opinion.

Collecting lenses is fun, but my collection of lenses for my Canon EF mount cameras is pretty much complete and I haven't purchased one in many months.  Canon recently created a new lens mount for their new line of mirrorless cameras.  I suppose in a few years my current lenses will be obsolete.  So until I switch to a mirrorless camera, I think my lens collecting days are about over.  We shall see.

Thanks for reading!

PDXScene Magazine

As you can see, I haven't been posting a lot here on my blog lately.  Not only am I staying busy doing private photoshoots,  I recently started a new gig that I'm rather proud of.  I'm a staff photographer at PDXScene Magazine.  It's a great place to find information about the complex sexuality scene in Portland.  If you are planning to visit, PDXScene is a great place to start your research.

I did the photography for the November cover and the related article that features a person from the Portland sexuality communities.  My friend Sgt. Miles got to be featured this month.  The publisher wanted to use a term like playmate or pet, but those were taken.  So the eye candy person is called the Temptation of the month. 

Don't worry, I still do private shoots for women, men and couples who need intimate photos and absolute discretion.  

Here is the November cover.  I hope this is the first of many!

Erotic Photoshoots in Hotel Rooms

It's been a long time since I talked about hotel room shoots on this blog.  One reason I don't discuss it very often is that I generally do hotel shoots with private clients, so I can't share those pix with you.  Recently, I did a hotel shoot with a professional model, Mimsey, at a nice hotel in downtown Portland.  That means there are lots of sexy images to post here on my blog!

Hotel room shoots are great fun for me.  To start with, I get to play undercover photographer as I walk past the front desk with my photo gear in nondescript bags.  I try to dress like a businessman and act like I belong there, so I've never been questioned.

Once in the hotel room, I find that my clients are usually pretty relaxed.  They are in their own space and didn't have to drive across town to my studio, so they have less reason to be nervous.

The technical aspects of a hotel shoot are quite interesting.  Not only do you have to work in a limited space, but you often have a fair amount of daylight coming in from one end of the room.  You can pose the model(s) next to the window for some great soft portraits, or pose on the bed and have directional light from just one side.  After that, things get a bit more complex, because you start adding in artificial light.  In my case, I bring a couple of Alien Bees studio strobes with umbrellas to spread and soften the light.  Then you have to decide how to deal with the fact that the daylight and the strobe light are different colors.  In this shoot, it didn't seem to make much difference, which was nice.

This particular hotel had great semi-private balconies and the sky that morning was a uniform light gray.  That's like having the world's largest softbox to bathe your lovely model in the softest light.

I did this shoot with my trusty Canon 5D Mark IV.  The lens I used most was the EF 24-70 F/2.8 L Mark 2, which is an amazingly sharp zoom lens.   A few shots were taken with the Canon EF 35mm F/2 IS lens, which isn't as sharp as the 24-70, but has image stabilization - a handy feature for shooting in dim available light.

The strobes are great too, especially when you want to stop action.

Believe it or not, Mimsey and I created over 1,000 usable images in about 90 minutes.  The purpose of this shoot was to create two photosets to offer for sale on Bentbox.co, where I've been selling photos I've shot with professional models.  It helps offset the model fees and hopefully some of my equipment costs, so I can keep my rates for private clients low.  If you'd like to consider purchasing these photos, you can find the first of two Mimsey photosets at this link.

The Arizona Shootout

April, 2018  NSFW

The Arizona Shootout is a very large group photography event that's been going on for over 20 years.  It brings professional models and photographers together in a sunny desert setting near Wickenburg, Arizona.  In most years it's held in both the Spring and Fall, when the desert weather is ideal.

I attend for three main reasons:  First, it's good to get out of the rainy Pacific Northwest and soak up some desert sun.  Second, I get some great images that I can share with you or sell to collectors on Bentbox.  The third reason is the amazing desert light.

Most of my AZSO photos are taken indoors with window light, or outdoors in the shade.  The sun is reflected off the sandy desert surface and reaches into shady areas to provide a soft, warm light that is ideal for portrait photography.

The models are great to work with, but I have to pay them to pose for me and of course photographers pay a substantial fee to attend, so it can be an expensive event.  That's why I'm happy that I can sell my images on Bentbox.  If you click on the model's name below each photo, the link will take you to the high-resolution photoset of that model which you can purchase if you wish.  Your support is much appreciated and will help me create more sexy images for your future enjoyment!

Celeste Rasmussen

There are roughly a dozen old buildings available for photography, as well as the open desert itself.  The buildings are filled with old machinery and general antiques.  It's like doing a nude photoshoot in a museum for three days.  

Corrine Carrie

Tori Nikitin

Sara Gramm

Ivy Lee

0S2A1243

Nicole Rose

JWP_00650

Raven Lynette

All but one of these photos were taken using available light and they were all done with my trusty Canon 5D Mark IV.  Mostly, I used the Canon EF 24-70 F/2.8 Mark II as my lens of choice.  I love prime lenses, but this zoom is so amazingly sharp that I tend to just leave it on the camera unless I have a creative idea that needs a telephoto or a large aperture prime.

Want to see more?  Here is a free gallery with some more photos from the 2018 AZSO.

Thanks for dropping in to visit the Beyond Boudoir Photo Blog!