the studio without him knowing it, but said he loved vintage bikes and I
happen to own one.
For the image, Veronica dressed in motorcycle boots, tight leather pants,
and a black satin bra. I posed her in profile with her face turned upward. I lit
her as a semi-silhouette and added flames in the foreground—a little trick
with lighter fluid I learned in pre-digital days doing theater props in college.
It’s one very sexy image, and she and her fiancé bought a large framed print
to display behind their bar.
Fitness Portfolio.Tonya (facing page) wanted a portfolio of images for
an upcoming fitness competition. A “thirty-something” victim of down-
sizing, she had more time than usual to spend at the gym. There, a trainer
noticed her physique and suggested she compete. Hesitantly, she entered a
local competition and won. Then she won another, qualifying her for a re-
gional event; if she placed in the top three, it would allow her to turn pro.
In planning her session, we decided that images taken at a local waterfall
would provide a good setting for showing off her physique. Shooting dur-
ing the day’s last golden hour would also emphasize her tanned skin tone. We
used three outfits: a white posing bikini, a black posing bikini, and a pair of
cutoff shorts with a white button-down blouse tied up under her bustline.
Toward the end of the session, we posed her in the water for a few “wet
look” shots. Tonya’s proud of her body and thought she’d like to have a few
nudes—provided that the focus was on her physique and not sexually
graphic. We posed her in and out of the water, taking care not to sexualize
the images too much and concentrate, instead, on her physique. She loved
the images—so much so that she put one copy in her contest portfolio and
made another “teaser” for her husband. “Is he why you wanted this image?”
6 MASTER GUIDE FOR GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
In commissioned glamour portraits, your
clients often come to the studio with some
ideas of their own. Here, Veronica wanted a
portrait for her motorcycle-loving fiancé.FACING PAGE—Tonya came to the studio for im-
ages to use in her portfolio for an upcoming fit-
ness competition. During the shoot, however,
she also decided to do some tasteful nude im-
ages, which she (and her husband!) both ended
up loving.