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The Adventures of Beyond Boudoir!
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Summer in the Columbia River Gorge
Summer in the Columbia River Gorge
NSFW
My favorite place to shoot outdoors is the Columbia River Gorge. It's beautiful, it's close to where I live, and I know several spots that have enough privacy for nude photoshoots, at least on weekdays. On the weekends, hikers and tourists overrun the Gorge, so you need to go elsewhere.
This photoshoot was done over a year ago and as you can see it was Summer. The outdoor nude shooting season here is roughly from May through September. The lovely model can be found on Model Mayhem if you'd like to work with her. Although many of my blog posts involve some pretty nice lenses, this shoot was conducted with three inexpensive Canon lenses. When I'm not getting paid to do a shoot for someone, half the fun for me is playing around with different photo gear.
These first two photos look a bit like amateur snapshots, because I was experimenting with on-camera flash. I really don't like on-camera flash, but I wanted to try it under these conditions. Notice the shadow, indicating that I held the camera vertically, with the speedlight hanging off to the left side.
Switching back to available light, I had the model move to an area of photogenic rocks for various poses.
Fortunately, this was late in the day, so there was no direct sunlight. Each spot that I use in the Gorge has it's own sunlight schedule. The trickiest part is getting the color balance right, since the model is illuminated by the blue sky above and sometimes by reflected light from green vegetation.
The photos up to this point were taken with my Canon 5D Mark III and a Canon EF 24-105 F/4 L IS used wide open to create some moderate background blur without obliterating the scenic background. This lens is a real workhorse and not very expensive. You can often find it for around $600. A Mark II is just out from Canon, but early reports say it doesn't offer much improvement over the already great Mark I.
Just for fun, I switched to a radically different lens, the Canon EF 40mm F/2.8 "pancake" lens. I was shooting at F/4, so the background blur was still moderate.
After some full body portraits, I wanted to do some upper body shots and switched to the Canon EF 85mm F/1.8 USM lens. This is a wonderful and inexpensive portrait lens, usable on both full frame and crop-sensor cameras. As you can see in the shot below, I was using a wide aperture for shallow depth of field in order to focus attention on the flowers. This was at F/2 - the sweet spot for this lens when doing outdoor portraits is between F/2 and F/2.8 in my opinion. It loses sharpness at F/1.8 and if you go beyond F/2.8 you don't get the nice background blur.
Now I can't wait for Summer to come back! If you'd like to see a gallery with more pix from this shoot, just click here.
Thanks for reading.
Rope Bondage Photoshoot With Pure Rebel at Catalyst in Portland Oregon
Pure Rebel in Rope at Catalyst
a Rope Bondage Photoshoot
NSFW
As most of my readers know by now, the photos I take of paying clients are strictly private and you won't see them on this site. To get the photos you see here, I either do trade shoots with friends or pay professional models to pose for your pleasure. In this case the model is the lovely Pure Rebel, a fantastic pro model who travels around the world doing sexy photoshoots. I don't mind paying her fee, because I always get a huge number of fantastic shots. A good pro model knows how to pose herself and has a collection of facial expressions to fit any situation. It's money well spent, in my opinion. And isn't she adorable in her warm robe? This was supposed to be a test shot, but I thought it helped tell the story of this photoshoot.
Our location for this shoot was "Catalyst - a sex positive place." Located in Portland, Oregon, Catalyst is a venue for parties, meetings, art shows and of course photoshoots. We used the main dungeon or playroom for this shoot. It has a number "hard points" overhead for safe suspension scenes.
The rigger (rope artist) for this shoot was a friend of mine who is known online as MrOldSchool. He lives to tie up beautiful women and was happy to offer his services in exchange for photos. Actually, I think he'd be willing to do it even without the photos!
MrOldSchool has a thing for old sound equipment and he just happened to have a Rebel amplifier handy to use as a backdrop for our friend Pure Rebel.
The most technical shot of this photoshoot was the suspension scene below. Getting the shadow just right in the available wall space was tricky and it took quite a bit of photoshop work to remove distractions from the background. Electrical outlets, cords, and signs tend to detract from the artistic effect!
Equipment for this shoot included three Alien Bees studio flash units, two with umbrellas and one with a reflector and a 40 degree grid that was used to create the shadows. The camera was my trusty Canon 5D Mark III with the amazing EF 24-70 F/2.8 L II lens.
If you'd like to see a gallery of images from this photoshoot, please click here.
Comments are welcome!
Photographing Maree in the daylight studio
Photographing Maree in the Daylight Studio
Most readers know that I do private photoshoots for women and couples who need a discrete photographer. But I also do model portfolio shoots for aspiring models who are entering the world of nude and erotic modeling. These are often trade shoots, which means that I can share the images with you here. The model for this shoot is Maree from Model Mayhem.
This shoot took place in a great rental studio we have here in Portland called Beast Daylight Studio, formerly Buck East Studio. It's in an old industrial building and has huge windows on the South side of the room. The whole room is painted white, with other backdrop colors on movable panels.
I have a nice studio in my home that gets a lot of use during the rainy Pacific Northwest Winters. After a couple of months, I start getting anxious to shoot elsewhere. I'm perfectly happy doing private shoots for clients in their own homes, in hotel rooms or vacation rental homes, but when I do a trade shoot with a model, I want to indulge my inner artist with some lovely daylight.
You can see the results in this gallery. The photos are NSFW, 18+, etc.... Enjoy!
Tech details: all photos taken with a Canon 5D Mark III. All but one were done with the Canon EF 24-70 F/2.8 L II and mostly at ISO 100.
Your comments are welcome!
Nikki Maternity Photoshoot - NSFW
Nikki Nude at 7 Months
A Maternity Photoshoot
NSFW
Before I get to Nikki, I just wanted to say that I'm viewing this on a new 34 inch, curved screen, LG monitor. This is a big upgrade for me and I'm really impressed. One very important thing any serious photographer should do is calibrate their monitor for brightness and color. I use an automatic calibration device called Color Munki, but there are less expensive ones that will do the job well. If you don't calibrate your monitor, you have no idea how your images will look to the folks who view them on their own devices. Even if you do calibrate, remember that your viewers rarely calibrate their own monitors, so you still don't really know how they are seeing your work. But at least you did your part, right? So let's move on to the lovely Nikki!
Nikki is a stunning local model who just happens to be seven months pregnant. We agreed to do a shoot in my studio so that you, my loyal readers, could see a great example of a sexy, nude, maternity photoshoot.
We started out with my two big 5-foot long strip lights, powered by Alien Bees, providing front illumination. There were two more Alien Bees with grids behind the model to act as hair or rim lights. I like to have the model sit on a simple stool for the first photos, while I have her move her head in different directions. I call this "learning the face" since everyone has good and bad angles. Whatever I learn by doing this, I apply to the rest of the photoshoot.
As I always do for studio shoots, I'm using my trusty Canon 5D Mark 3 at ISO 100. I'd like to say that I was using some exotic prime lens, but this entire shoot was done with an old Canon 24-105 F/4 L IS lens. Since I planned to shoot at F/5.6, there was little reason to use anything more sophisticated. Most of these shots were done between 35mm and 60mm. Too bad nobody makes a zoom like that, I'd buy one immediately!
We moved on to some more revealing standing and posed positions. You can see the boudoir/glamour photography influence. Notice the prominent rim lighting in the next photo.
I decided to try some high key photography with the white backdrop. At first, I used no front illumination, in an attempt to create a silhouette effect. There were only two Alien Bees in operation, both aimed at the white backdrop. After looking at the resulting images, I decided to lighten them up in post processing, which gave them an interesting soft look. I also reduced the "clarity" which is a wonderful option in Adobe Lightroom. Not the silhouette look I had envisioned, but still attractive.
Next, I switched on the two soft boxes to provide front illumination, which is my normal high-key look.
If you would like to see more photos from this shoot, click here for a gallery of select images. I did very little retouching on these, so you can tell more about how they were created.
If you are a potential client and would like to talk to me about doing a private shoot for you, please take a look at my FAQ.
Thanks for dropping in! If you'd like to thank Nikki for posing for us, you can find her Model Mayhem profile here.
Anna, August, 2016
Anna - August, 2016
NSFW
Well, that was a fast and busy Summer! I fell behind on my blogging schedule, but I don't mind since I was busy with fun photoshoots. Plenty of paying clients, I'm happy to say. Of course those images are protected by my strict privacy policy so you will never see them.
Fortunately, I made time for some shoots that I can share. This one was with my model friend Anna Sereno. Not only is she athletically gorgeous, she happens to be a pretty highly trained firearms enthusiast. We decided to do an outdoor shoot in the hot August sun at a secluded home where she could display both her charms and her arms.
I brought along my photographer friend, Jeremy, who had some creative ideas of his own, one of which was to play around with a large gold reflector. Anna is also quite a good photographer, so there were three of us mixing and amplifying our creative ideas.
We started out on the deck of the country home with the sun directly behind Anna. I was using my Canon 135mm F/2 L lens on my 5D Mark 3 from almost 20 feet away. Jeremy was just to the right of Anna aiming the gold reflector at her to fill in the shadows. I'm including this screwed up example to show what can go wrong in a tricky situation like this.
The most obvious problem is that the gold reflector is not large enough to cover our lovely model. Another problem is that I forgot to bring a lens hood for my 135mm lens and I'm getting a bunch of hazy lens flare at the bottom of the image. Fortunately, I could crop most of it out.
Anna suggested that she sit down so that the reflector could cover more of her body. Great idea! We can also see the pretty flowers behind her now.
You may not agree, but I thought the orange skin was too much. Anna's late Summer tan combined with the gold reflector was too much of a good thing.
I reduced the orange saturation in Lightroom to make her skin look just about like it did in reality. Isn't that better?
I quickly got tired of shooting into the sun and looked for a different spot. Anna wanted to pose with a handgun and an amazing leather strap outfit. This was gonzo photography at it's best!
Jeremy was standing to Anna's right, holding the gold reflector to fill in the shady side of her body. At this angle, the gold color was not so overwhelming. No color adjustment was done in Lightroom.
For these shots with the strappy outfit, I used a Tamron 85mm F/1.8 IS wide open to blur the background.
This last image was taken with the Canon 50mm F/1.2 L at F/2. If you are a gun person, you will have noticed by now that there are no visible safety violations in any of these photos. I watched her like a proverbial hawk the entire time we were working and she never once broke a safety rule. We triple checked the weapons to confirm that they were clear. It's so nice to work with someone who knows what they're doing!
So that's one of the things I did during the Summer of 2016. Things are slowing down now as the Portland rainy season sets in. I will try to post some more of my adventures in the coming weeks.
If you are a photographer near Portland, be sure to work with Anna Sereno if you can. She's amazing!
Nora at the Waterfall June 2016
Nora at the Waterfall
NSFW
A lovely actress named Nora asked me to create some sexy images of her in front of a waterfall. I just happen to know of a private spot not far from Portland that provides enough privacy for nude photoshoots.
The location is actually quite tricky, because of the quirky lighting. There is a lot of green foliage that casts a green light on the model and a small open, grassy slope that gives off a lot of yellow light when the sun is on it. There is also some exposure to the blue sky as well as whatever electronic flash illumination you care to add. The result is that your model will have the top of her head look blue, the part of her face and body facing the flash look normal, and some parts, like the legs or sides of the torso, looking green!
I've used this location several times, so I have learned how to adapt. Sometimes, I try to make the flash overwhelm the ambient light. At other times, I will use only ambient and color correct in Lightroom. It makes for a challenging post-processing session!
This first shot is a 50/50 mix of flash and ambient:
The next five photos use more flash than ambient. Notice the moving water behind the model, that will give you a clue to the slow shutter speed.
The next three images were all done with available light only. The waterfall was behind me and acted as a large, diffuse light source. If you have never used a waterfall as a giant softbox, you don't know what you're missing!
As we moved away from the waterfall, the green ambient light became more dominant and made it harder to maintain good skin tones. I didn't really mind, as the result is rather artistic looking.
It's really up to you how red or green you wish to make the final image. BTW, the beautiful bokeh behind the model was produced by the Tamron 85mm F/1.8 lens used wide open.
For this final shot, Nora wanted to pose with her swimsuit in front of the waterfall. Illumination was provided by an Alien Bees 400 with a large umbrella. I use the excellent Vagabond Mini for power.
I'm not sure what Hugh Hefner would think of these photos, but I like how they show my style. I'm not trying to duplicate the style of the Playboy photography team. Sure, you could bring ten people to this waterfall and carry in a dozen studio lights and powerpacks, but it's so much more satisfying to say you did it yourself! With the aid of the lovely Nora, of course!
Will you photograph my tattoo session?
Will You Photograph My Tattoo Session?
NSFW
Tattoos are extremely popular in Portland these days. You can find a tattoo parlor on every block, next to the coffee shop and the microbrewery. They say we have some of the best tattoo artists in the nation here.
Getting a tattoo can be a big event in one's life. We typically hire photographers to record other events like weddings, engagements, graduation and more. But how many people hire a photographer to shoot their tattoo session? Not very many, I'd say.
If you did want a photographer, how would you find one who would be willing to take on the job? Most photographers wouldn't be interested, especially if there was nudity involved. Fortunately, that's why Portland has Beyond Boudoir Photo!
I recently did a shoot for a friend who was getting her first really nice tattoo. She agreed to let me share the photos with you. The artist was also interested in having photos of herself at work to help promote her business.
If you are interesting in planning a tattoo photoshoot, you must talk it over with your artist first and get permission to have me there in the studio with my gear. It may help to tell them I'm happy to provide some images to the artist that they can use for self promotion. Usually I try to crop out my client's face on those, but it's up to them.
One good thing about photographing tattoo sessions is that it doesn't really take too long. Unlike a wedding, you don't have to photograph the whole thing. The two subjects aren't moving around much and there are only so many angles you can shoot from in a typical tattoo parlor. I'd say an hour is plenty. I typically charge $150.
After the tattoo has healed, I recommend scheduling a second photoshoot in my studio to document the new tat in all it's colorful glory.
Studio Shoot With Adryana and the Tamron 85mm F/1.8 VC
Studio Shoot With Adryana and the
Tamron 85mm F/1.8 VC
NSFW
This edition of An Adventurous Photographer in Portland includes three elements. The first is our lovely model Adryana, who recently moved to Portland and is available for paid work with local photographers. You can find out more about Adryana on Model Mayhem, Tumblr or Facebook. She's great to work with and very professional.
The second element is the location. We shot these images in a very cool rental studio called Buck East Studio in Southeast Portland. It's on the second floor of an old two story industrial building. It is quite a large room, with tall windows running almost the complete length of the South facing wall. There is also a very effective skylight if you want the light to come from above. There are several movable panels that act either as white reflectors or darker neutral backgrounds. The walls and floors are mostly white, so you are going to get soft light whether you want it or not!
There are two Alien Bees if you want to use them, but I go there for the amazing available light. All the photos in this post were taken using natural late afternoon daylight on a partly cloudy Portland day.
The third element is the new Tamron 85mm F/1.8 Di VC USD lens which I received an hour before I was scheduled to head for the studio. I did a quick focus calibration on my Canon 5D Mark III, like I always do with a new lens, and headed for the studio to meet up with Adryana.
Since 85mm lenses are considered portrait lenses, and that is certainly how I intend to use it, I started with a fairly standard portrait. The very soft light is good for portraits, but makes it a bit difficult for a lens to show off its inherent sharpness. Here is the full frame image of our first pose.
You may notice some darkening in the corners of the image. That is called vignetting, which from a purely technical standpoint, may be considered an undesirable lens aberration. In actual practice however, portrait photographers generally like vignetting as a style element. If it isn't present, I often add it in post processing. Let's crop this image down to more of a typical headshot and see how it looks.
Not bad for an available light headshot with minimal makeup and no retouching. This was taken at ISO 200, F/2 and 1/125th. With my old Canon EF 85mm F/1.8 lens, the fine details would probably not be too sharp at this aperture and shutter speed. Let's zoom in on the eyelashes and see how sharp they are. My apologies to Adryana for not doing any retouching, but lens test shots should be unretouched.
We moved to a spot underneath the large skylight and I placed some white reflectors in front of the model to both the right and left of the camera to avoid the lit-from-above look. This shot is cropped to about half the original size.
After working with the skylight for a while, we went back to the area illuminated with window light. Here's another shot with the 85mm lens.
I moved back as far as I could and just barely managed to capture a full body portrait. Generally, the 85mm focal length is not your best bet for full body shots, but I have to say this lens really is quite sharp, even near the corners.
Still using the window light, I used a satin-like gold backdrop and switched to a lens I really like for full body portraits, the Canon EF 35mm F/2 IS. All of the following images were taken with this lens wide open for a shallow depth of field.
At this point, I decided to try shooting directly at the windows. There are at various ways to make this work. The simplest way is what you see in the first photo. It is exposed properly for the model, while the windows are allowed to exceed the camera's dynamic range and go completely white.
Another fun option is HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. Without going into great detail, this involves shooting multiple images, in this case only two. One was exposed for the model and one for the windows. The images are combined with image processing software. I used Photomatix Pro for this one, but I will often do this within Lightroom. Note that I did not use a tripod. The software is now so good that it will combine hand held photos quite nicely. Photomatix tends to give you a pretty artistic or surreal effect compared to what you get with Lightroom.
The new 85mm Tamron is definitely a keeper and so is Adryana if you need a great model in Portland. That's all for this episode of "Tales of an Adventurous Photographer in Portland, Oregon." See you next time!