Kris Gironella: Glamour Photography with Ukrainian & Belarus Beauties

Glamour Photography (According to Wiki)

A genre of photography whereby the subjects, usually female, are portrayed in aromantic or sexually alluring way. The subjects may be fully clothed or seminude, but glamour photography stops short of deliberately arousing the viewer and being hardcore pornography.

Glamour photography is generally a composed image of a subject in a still position. The subjects of glamour photography are often professional models, and the photographs are normally intended for commercial use, including mass-produced calendars, pinups and for men's magazines, such as Playboy; but amateur subjects are also sometimes used, and sometimes the photographs are intended for private and personal use only. Photographers use a combination of cosmetics, lighting and airbrushing techniques to produce an appealing image of the subject.

The Gears

Outdoor photography is not that hard only if there's enough light and it's not raining. Well actually it rained a bit but thank goodness it stopped on the actual shoot. The basic gears to bring aside from my Nikon D700 are speedlights and reflectors. Reflectors are very useful on rendering light to your subject just enough to fill light on the dark shades of the body and face makes a very flattering effect. I always bring my Nikon SB-900 and SB-600 and a portable soft box just in case but most of the time I end up using it for more dramatic lighting. There are many ways to isolate the subject either by light or by depth of field (DOF). The most common in subject isolation is by DOF. You crank the lens aperture to the maximum stop or close between F1.4 - 4.0 - it gives a very good out of focus background. Now this brings us to what lens to use. I always use my Nikon 50mm f1.4G and Nikon 105mm f2.8 Micro VR for this kind of shoot. Some might react why the Nikon 105mm f2.8 Micro VR? It's obviously for macro photography. People who might ask this were either - 1) They don't own one; 2) They own one but they haven't tried portraiture; 3) Just a curious soul. It makes a lot of sense to use this as a great alternative for 85mm (f1.4 or f1.8) or the 135mm f2 DC 'cause you can go very close to the subject for better isolation and if your a fan of "bokeh" this baby delivers a creamy one. I use this lens more often than my Nikon 50mm f1.4G. It's medium telephoto range gives me an advantage to shoot in a distance giving the model space to do her thing but might be limiting on a very tight area. In this case no problemo 'cause it's outdoor. I'm not saying the 105mm f2.8 lens is better than the 50mm f1.4G No! It has a different purpose. I use the Nikon 50mm f1.4 for half body shots or full-body shots and use the 105mm f2.8 Micro VR for head shots and close details (like eyes and lips). If you'll ask me which is the best lens to use I'd say if budget permits - the new Nikon 85mm f1.4G and Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR mark II. That's all you'll need for an awesome portrait, glamour and fashion photography unless you own a Hasselblad then that's a different story.

The Scenario

3 gorgeous ladies in one shoot! What more can I ask for? These ladies can pose, project and having fun while doing it. Didn't have the chance to know them well during the shoot but one thing I know about them is they're full of energy and spirit. Next time they visit Singapore I'll be there (for sure) to take their photos again.