# my first boudoir shoot.



## 12sndsgood (Mar 13, 2012)

Just the first two ive gone thru from my friend Daniell's boudoir shoot from last week.  let me know what you think. how is the lighting? how is the shot in general? does it work? is it any good? only way i learn is by learning from my mistakes.


first was the wine glass shot. had hoped to get her a bit more out of focus and the wine and glass  a bit more in focus. let me know if you think the shot works. it was something i thought up and was excited totry . (though im sure this shot has been done by people before.)

1.)




Danielle0001 by JayC photography, on Flickr



2.)




Danielle000X by JayC photography, on Flickr


i have a bunch more to go thru and clean up. may get to post a few more up down the line. but it may be a bit because im going to use this set to work on my photoshopping skills and learn some new things.


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## Bossy (Mar 13, 2012)

#1, isn't flattering, and unless its a product shot for wine, isn't great as a b-shot. Her posture is almost head on to the camera and she looks very masculine. The color seems off. and the lighting is rather flat.

#2, her eyes look overprocessed. The lighting is nice enough though.

​


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## cgipson1 (Mar 13, 2012)

Bossy said:


> #1, isn't flattering, and unless its a product shot for wine, isn't great as a b-shot. Her posture is almost head on to the camera and she looks very masculine. The color seems off. and the lighting is rather flat.
> 
> #2, her eyes look overprocessed. The lighting is nice enough though.



+1


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## kundalini (Mar 13, 2012)

My first thought scrolling down the image was that the crop at the top seemed awfully odd just above her lip.  

Next was the cartoon fingers..... you know where they only draw three fingers?  

Then the way she was holding the bottle (with her 3 fringers) square to the camera.

Really?  Barefoot?  At least get a decent wine.

Some gentle play with the liquify tool would be something to consider.

The glass is in a very good power point in the frame.  Nice angle on the shoulders, however having one lower would have been better.




Bossy said:


> ...... Her posture is almost head on to the camera and she looks very masculine.


I'd say about 30° off lens axis.


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## Bossy (Mar 13, 2012)

Ok, my mistake, its about 30 degrees off axis, but squared enough where she looks like a man.​


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## Derrel (Mar 13, 2012)

In the first shot she doesn't look AT ALL like a man to me...red lacy bra, lipstick, nail polish, belly button jewelry, long blonde hair touching a hairless chest....uhhh...some people need to go back and review what a MAN looks like...seriously.

In the second photo, I wish the shadow-side eyeball had a bigger, better catchlight from the softbox.


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 14, 2012)

okay guys/girls thanks for the comments. heres's my responces.

on the first one i thought the focus on the glass and having her soft and out of focus would make for a nice starting point in the set. she just wasnt as soft and out of focus as i wanted. i didnt have much distance to work with. she is masculine as far as her body. she works out at the gym pretty much every day and is built. she had contemplated going into body building contests at one point but didnt have the time to devote to it fully. so working with her i really have to try and find ways to keep her body soft . were actually going to do some fitness muscle shots of her next time were together.

I wasnt sure where i wanted to crop. i wasnt nessicarily going to show her face. it was more about her middle body and the wine. but cutting her off at the neck to me didnt work , so i wanted to include some of her face. keeping the nose in didnt seem rigth either, so i chose to crop at her lips.  maybe i should have paid more attention to her fingers on the bottle. first few shots i didnt have her fingers in the shot and it just looked weird having the bottle sort of floating there.  

im not familiar with the liquify toold.  still learning my pp skills and havnt really gotten into any heavy editing. just the bare basics so far. hopefully with this set though im going to spend some more time and watch allot of videos to add a few more skills in that area.  

as for the wine choice. she likes the stuff. and i wasnt going to spend allot of money on what i felt was a test shot.


i agree i should probalby tone down her eyes a little in the second one. wanted to go in as well and clean up the line around her contacts so thats not noticable. and havee to clean up that little portion of her bra on the bottom right side as well.   

i was just excited to get these up because i liked how they turned out and compared to stuff i was doing 6 months ago i feel im really improving.


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## slackercruster (Mar 14, 2012)

OK - but tell her to take that crap out her belly button. 

Otherwise, nice work! Keep it up!


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 14, 2012)

she is real self concious about her stomach because she has had a kid she thinks the belly ring kind of distracts people from it.  ive told her i think it draws peoples eyes to it. we just decided to agree to disagree about that lol.


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## MReid (Mar 14, 2012)

1 you could crop it below her collar bone and just into her arm on the right...that lets you get away with clipping the fingers a little bit. I kind of like that shot....look like a guy, not so much ha.

2 looks good, crop above the material on the bottom, eye looks overcooked but that may be due to the extreme light angle.

Not bad.


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## shortpants (Mar 14, 2012)

It's a boudoir shoot, why isn't she in a bed? I agree with most of the comments so far. Your lighting isn't bad but I think you missed the mark on boudoir completely. Her stomach looks great after having a kid. There are plenty of poses that would flatter or even hide it if she's uncomfortable. I'd be interested to see if you have any other shots completely different from these ones.


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 14, 2012)

well the second shot she is in bed. but these were just the first two i happened to pull out. i have tons more and will spend the next week or two working with them as i get time. i just wanted to throw these up there more for the wine shot just to see if people thought that specific shot worked or not.


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## Bossy (Mar 14, 2012)

Snaps for trying a new concept  If you've got an ounce of artist in you, you might try doing some rough drawings of the image you want to make, that usually helps me with new concepts and framing and such 

And her stomach is rockin' for having a babe 

Another challenge with the champagne and glass is your reflections, they are kinda a mess. 


​


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## ghache (Mar 14, 2012)

she look masculine hahahahahahahahha, dude....
i agree that this have could be improve with another composition and different lighting but saying thats she look masculine is forcing it.


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 14, 2012)

I agree the reflections on the glass are a mess. Thinking about it its probably close to the only piece of glass I have really photographed, other then say a window. I am going to try this again down the line and hopefully improve on my results.  

These two shots were basically the beginning of the session and the end of the session. i tried to photo her from a beginning to an end. We started in the kitchen pouring the wine. moved into the living room then down the hall, into the bedroom and then finished on the bed. I basically wanted to shoot it as if almost it was happening live and your following her thru the sequences. I will post more shots once I have time to sit down and get to editing them up. And then hopefully you will get to see that she can be quite feminine. And if that doesn't happen. then this shoot for me will go from being good to being a failure.


On a side note. B&H just delivered a bunch of new goodies so expect pics of my march christmas tonight


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## shortpants (Mar 14, 2012)

Definitely post more when you're done


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## Bossy (Mar 14, 2012)

​Ok, I'm feeling like I have to defend my opinion. As a woman, if that was me, I would be embarrassed and think I looked masculine. Her biceps looks huge, her arm looks hairy, the lighting on her stomach alludes to a 6 pack which in itself is masculine, women tend to have more toning and less muscle built in the abs. Her fingers look blocky since they are holding the weight of the wine bottle. The lipstick in that photo looks awful, but I think its the lighting because it looks fine in the second. 

Like 12 said, she's got a body builder's body. Thats about as opposite of feminine as it gets. She probably looks amazing, just that photo doesn't show it. Its also more of a product shot than b-shot 

Sorry 12, I'll stop yammerin  Looking forward to seeing more


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## Tee (Mar 14, 2012)

The lighting gives it more of a glamour shoot feeling than boudoir in my opinion. I would suggest taking a look at another member, Rub, and the style she does. Boudoir tends to be a more soft and diffused look.


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 14, 2012)

Your fine Bossy. this is the most discussion I have gotten with a set of posted photos so I'm taking it all in. The good and the bad. though this seemed to have more bad then good lol.


Tee i've seen allot of Rub's shots and they are all usually excellent. I just didnt feel like going soft on a direct face shot would work well. Could be I am also limited on my skills,  I know the majority of places I post these to I won't get nearly as much criticism, which is why I choose to post them here. I want to disect every shoot I do and always improve on the work i'm putting out.


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 14, 2012)

Maybe next time I try this i'll put her more at a 45 degree angle and pull her left arm back so im not looking directly at it like I am in this one?    Another mistake I made was taking about 3 shots per glass fill. not enough time for my alien bee to recycle. i think i'll go with one shot per fill.


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## Derrel (Mar 14, 2012)

Bossy said:


> Ok, I'm feeling like I have to defend my opinion. As a woman, if that was me, I would be embarrassed and think I looked masculine. Her biceps looks huge, her arm looks hairy, the lighting on her stomach alludes to a 6 pack which in itself is masculine, women tend to have more toning and less muscle built in the abs. Her fingers look blocky since they are holding the weight of the wine bottle. The lipstick in that photo looks awful, but I think its the lighting because it looks fine in the second.
> 
> Like 12 said, she's got a body builder's body. Thats about as opposite of feminine as it gets. She probably looks amazing, just that photo doesn't show it. Its also more of a product shot than b-shot
> 
> Sorry 12, I'll stop yammerin  Looking forward to seeing more



Yes, fit, strong women are masculine. All feminine women need to be whimpy,skinny,anemic doughballs. Do I have that about right? So, to be feminine she needs a flabby tummy, pencil-thin arms, and skinny fingers? Right? Your idea of "feminine" seems quite out of date...kinda' 17th Century...


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## shortpants (Mar 14, 2012)

Bossy don't get me wrong, I hear what you're saying, I absolutely do not think the first shot does her anything for her. That being said, from what I can see she just seems to have a more athletic body type. I'm kind of afraid to be agreeing with Derrel here


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 14, 2012)

okay, here's another one.   sooc




0002 by JayC photography, on Flickr


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## Derrel (Mar 14, 2012)

shortpants said:
			
		

> SNIP>>> I'm kind of afraid to be agreeing with Derrel here



Embrace the fear!!!


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## unnecessary (Mar 15, 2012)

She looks.... strong.. =\


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## shortpants (Mar 15, 2012)

12sndsgood said:


> okay, here's another one.   sooc
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I would go through all of your pics before you post more so you can choose the best of the set for people to look at. Straight to the point CC, this looks like an accidental shot. Her body is awkward and falling out of the frame, odd focus, her hand is a blob, and you cut her face in half. However 1 point for showing everyone she is clearly female!


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 15, 2012)

thats why i put up sooc, it was just so more peole could see she was a female


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## MReid (Mar 15, 2012)

strong is sexy....

Boudoir is not generally soft...some people do it that way, but most people who are actually good at it don't.
Most professionals who shoot boudoir, it is a style choice, with wide open f-stops which gives a very sharp area of focus and then the focus fades out.

The reflections didn't bother me. Most people won't notice those little nits....don't get caught up in spending hours cleaning up all that little stuff.

Take that first shot, do the crops I suggested earlier and that will take a lot of the "manly look out of it that some people don't like". Next time try shooting with a larger f-stop.


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## Bossy (Mar 15, 2012)

Nm. Agree to disagree.​


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## Bossy (Mar 15, 2012)

I second Shortpants on the second CC. She's got some smokin calves! Do you have some similar that are pulled back?​


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## 12sndsgood (Mar 15, 2012)

I havnt even really begun to go thru the set. Hopefully I will nock it out next week and post up a more complete set for everyone to tear apart and dissect.   

You'd think a guy who isn't working would have more time to work on this.


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## tommyboy (Mar 15, 2012)

Definitely needs a little body positioning work.  Like the idea.  But I may have picked another angle.  Looks a little hippy on the left with a masculine arm on right.  Perhaps more of a straight shot or tighter crop.


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