Striplight

This entry is more directed at my fellow photographers. Many of the more accomplished photographers won’t need the advice. However those of you who are new may find a few useful tips.

The rest of you can enjoy the pics of the hot model. It’s been a little while since I’ve been able to take photos like the ones you see here. In order to do that a bit more effectively

SO lets start how I got the look of the B&W noir photos. First thing, get your ass over to the Paul C. Buff aka Alienbee website. Google Paul C. Buff and usually its the first that pops up. Go to the “accessories” portion at the top and click “softboxes” from the drop down and once the next page loads scroll down  and buy the foldable stripbox. Just so were clear the part number at the time of this writing is: FSB1036

Before I forget, here s short interview I did with the star of the entry, Desi Diver.

Now I know Alienbee’s aren’t the only retailer of light modifiers. I have another striplight made by photoflex which I love and recommend. Now what do you do with those strip lights? Move them to the back corners and aim them at the camera. You can use a third stripbox or beauty dish to light the face. Heres a diagram to help explain:

Notice that you’ll have to move the model out away from the backdrop. Play around with the light placement to produce some cool effects. Look at the photo below for an example.

Now back to Desi Diver. Desi gave me some exciting news as she is now the co-owner of a burlesque troupe called Bless Your Heart Burlesque. I asked Desi who exactly was supposed to be blessing hearts. She told me it was Zuul, the gate keeper of Gozer.

If Desi looks familiar that because she’s been at Oni Studio before. She was the silly model making all the faces at the camera. Also, the writer of the poetry about nailing screws in peoples heads.

The coolest thing Desi did while she was over here? She shamed me for not having an Instagram account. I finally gave in and made one, if the mood hits you you can follow me here.

Desi spent most of her time talking about her new troupes upcoming show. Now allegedly its in October, you all will have to go become friends with the page to stay up on current events.

 

That’s all for this week! Become a fan on the Oni Studio boudoir Instagram and Facebook page. Follow Oni Studio on 500PX, Pinterest, and Model Mayhem!

Voodoo Glamour Girl

This shoot showcases a technique I had not tried in a long while. Its called “high key” . I had not attempted this technique in quite sometime as I didn’t have the required equipment. This type of shoot requires a lot of light, and an all white background. After ordering the background and getting in my giant softbox from Paul C. Buff I decided to try it out. The first thing I did was go on Pinterest, which is my go to spot these days for photographic inspiration. After awhile I happened on a photo that would serve as a spring board for this shoot. The photo below is NOT my photograph, but the photo I found on Pinterest.

This photo is gorgeous right?!  It was taken by a Russian photographer Vladimir Sagadeev. I thought I would be able to recreate this photo almost exactly. I promptly put out a notice on Facebook looking for a model. Once I got her in the studio and started to experiment with this photo concept I started to run into challenges I hadn’t anticipated. The photo below with the model Desi Diver was the first attempt.

I loved the photo the way it came out, but as you can see its a bit different than what I set out to do. My biggest complaint was on the quality of the fabric, and that it was a bit wrinkled, something I didn’t notice until after I was in the edit process.

The entire studio portion was a basic three light set up. The key light was a large Paul C. Buff soft box, with two other alienbee strobes pointed directly at the background.

 The model for this evening is Desi Diver. She’s a simple girl. Prone to being a stage kitten at burlesque dancing events and bouts of cannibalism.

Unlike some of the models I’ve met here in San Diego, Desi was down to earth, funny, and had not an ounce of annoying divaness.

Desi also brought along her poor man to torture while on the shoot.

Beyond the fact that Desi loves hairless sphinx cats, she was a sadly, a mystery.

Just when you thought it was all serious, Desi takes it to another level.

Desi in her own words:

Her skin is white cloth
And she’s all sewn apart
And she has many colored pins
Sticking out of her heart.She has a beautiful set
Of hypno-disk eyes,
The ones that she uses
To hypnotize guys.
She has many different zombies
Who are deeply in her trance.
She even has a zombie
Who was originally from France.
But she knows she has a curse on her,
A curse she cannot win.
For if someone gets Too close to her, The pins stick farther in.

That’s all for this week! Become a fan on the Oni Studio boudoir facebook page. Follow Oni Studio on 500PX, Pinterest, and Model Mayhem!

Alienbees Boudoir

Recently I had a friend who got interested in photography. I had seen her post some work before, mostly nature and shots of her kids. When Christmas came her husband went out and bought her an entire studio set.

They got right to work and set up the studio and wasted no time in getting a model in for a shoot. They had caught my attention so I always looked at every update they posted. Most of the pics they posted included the studio lighting equipment. Their was so much of it, flashheads, modifiers, syncs, and so on.

The reason my friends new purchases got my attention is because it reminded me of exactly what I did when I first became interested in studio photography. I had no idea what to buy. I had no idea what company was gonna be worth the money. I believe the first set of studio lights I ever had was from a company called Square Perfect. Now square perfect lighting did work for me. However, you could definitely tell it wasn’t the top of the line quality.

Over time, I must have wasted close to a thousand dollars on studio equipment I didn’t need. Finally I got smart and started asking successful photographers what equipment they used. Most of the photographers I wrote to didn’t answer. However one of them finally did. What did they tell me to buy? Alienbees! Now Alienbees arent cheap. But then again they are not ungodly expensive either. Now Alienbees have been around for quite awhile. They have excellent customer service, and they stand by thier products. Also, NO, I dont get any money or any benefits for writing about them. In fact I doubt the company will ever read this entry.

If you’re starting a studio and want a invest your money in studio lighting, Alienbees is one of the best investments you can make.  Now its not the only good photo equipment company out there. Personally i’m not a huge fan of the light stands from Alienbees, and much prefer Manfrotto, Avenger or photoflex brands.

One of these days I really am gonna get off my ass and write some educational entries on the art of boudoir and studio photography. Trouble is I dont think too many people read what I write.

The sexy model you’re seeing in the photos is Michele “Miss Hell” Monique. We’ve  had a few photoshoots. In case you missed them you can see them here, and here.

That’s all for this week! Become a fan on the Oni Studio boudoir facebook page. Follow Oni Studio on 500PX, Pinterest, and Model Mayhem!

 

Arwen Bikini Boudoir

 

I remember the first time I ever saw Jenn. Although I didn’t know her name then. She was in the base gym in Whidbey Island, Washington. She had short black hair and a face full of piercings. I was confused, she was too old to be an officers kid.

Was she married to a military guy? That was probably it. She always reminded me of the elf Arwen out of Tolkiens “lord of the Rings” trilogy. Which for some odd reason I should be a fan of, but I never got into it. Personally I was always more into Frank Herbert’s “Dune“.

Now Jenn didn’t look like Arwen out of the movie. She just reminded of what Arwen from the books might have looked like. Anyway, that’s enough about Arwen and Tolkien.

Now when I first saw Jenn this had to be back in 2007 or 2008. Oni Studio had just started out, and in fact we had only done one or two photoshoots. I wasn’t single then and Oni Studio was a brain child of the two of us.

Whidbey Island was beautiful, but it didn’t offer much in the way entertainment. Especially to a married guy and girl used to a much bigger city. We racked our brains for a hobby that we could do indoors during the long winter months.

I think that’s how Oni Studio was born. Much like Dimmu Borgir, in the cold waste. Jenn was one of the first “high profile” models we ever shot. The first shoot we did with her garnered a lot of attention leading to quite a few paid shoots. The second shoot we did with her, set in a local gym lead to getting one of our first magazine publications.

This shoot with Jenn continues on with the natural light techniques that I began with Chary last week.

I’m glad Petra Herrmann’s work inspired me to try out some natural light work. However I don’t know if I’ll do much of it in the future. I have found a few things I’m not too happy with. The biggest thing is the lack of sharpness. True, I could shoot on a higher ISO, and I did bump it up a bit. It’s a pet peeve of mine to shoot on high ISO though. I also used my Manfrotto tripod, which makes shooting a bit slow.

With the Alienbees and Photoflex you get complete control of the light. Sharpness is almost never a problem either. I’m planning on getting a Photoflex background stand soon, so be expecting some great new material!

That’s all for this week! Become a fan on the Oni Studio boudoir facebook page. Follow Oni Studio on 500PX, Pinterest, and Model Mayhem!