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!

Crossfit cutey

This weeks entry stars a brand new model. Her name is Amber, and if you are a photographer in the San Diego area you need to shoot with her.

Yes, you heard me right, Amber has never done a professional photoshoot before. Shooting with a new model has its advantages and disadvantages. I love shooting with new models because many times they havent yet reached that diva stage where the ego takes over and the art aspect of the shoot is still foremost in their minds. On the other hand, many new models are still unsure of themselves in front of the camera and haven’t yet learned to free flow pose. You take the good with the bad and work with what you got.

Amber had her poses pretty much down and five minutes after arriving on set, she was ready to go.

Besides getting to practice lighting techniques, my favorite aspect of shoot is getting to talk with new people. Amber brought up a very cool subject. Obviously she’s into fitness, but not just any old fitness, she’s into crossfit!

Now I have never done crossfit, but I have plenty of friends that do. Without exception they all look like they just walked off the set of 300. This style of fitness also has its critics, but I dont know why anyone would get angry over people trying to improve their bodies, regardless of the manner of doing it. Well except for steroid users!

Amber and I have a very similar diet as well. Except she probably cheats a lot less than I do. But basically eat lean, eat several small meals a day, plenty of water, and stay away from bread Simple!

For the studio lighting I went with an alienbee beauty dish, lit the background with an Einstein E640 with a red gel, and filled in the shadow with a photoflex strip.

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!

 

Spirit Molecule

Abigail had been running. She had taken the spirit molecule from the vagrant. At first she didn’t even know what she had. She could feel it in her bag. It was whispering to her. She could feel it moving. It touched the edge of her consciousness.  Was this real? At the very heart of it, she could feel a presence. She could hear his voice, faint. She could see his image in her dreams, dark, his face full of needles. It couldn’t be real.

For as long as she could remember she had been searching. Mystic experiences, LSD, DMT, and the spirit. It was never enough.

She never stopped moving. Never stopped searching. A brothel in New Orleans, BDSM in Berlin. Sometimes when she woke up she didn’t know what city she was in.

Is this all there was? Had she reached the limits of experience? Their had to be more.

She tried Wicca. The goddess rejected her. She tried Buddhism, but nirvana eluded her. What else was there? Their had to be something. Another guy bought her a drink. Where was she again? She thought hard. Her last clear memory was an alley in Paris. This didn’t smell like Paris. Was this Morocco? She had hit bottom.

She had heard of the vagrant. They said when nothing was left he would come. You couldn’t find him, he had to find you. She could feel him now. She finished her drink and stepped outside. She saw him outside the Pyramid Gallery. Their eyes locked. She approached. He took out a box, designs seems to melt and form. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

She walked away, forgetting about the vagrant. He stared after her with empty eyes. His job was finished. Back in her room she sat down. Fingers tracing patterns. She could feel something traveling. Getting closer. Movement from the mirror. He had came. The light reflected from the pins in his face. She smiled. No more running, no more moving. She had come home.

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