Though the sun is large, its distance from Earth makes it a specular, pin-
point light source. Unfiltered natural light is too harsh for glamour photog-
raphy. It is best when it’s reflected or filtered, whether through clouds,
windows, open shade, scrims, or some natural or artificial light modifier.
The rule of lighting in glamour photography is simple: the larger and closer
the light source is to your subject, the more forgiving it will be. As an example,
12:00PMto 3:00PMdaylight on a bright, cloudless, sunny day is harsh and will
bring out every imperfection and pore in your subject’s body. But the minute
the clouds come rolling in, they make the light softer, much like the diffusionLIGHTING BASICS 53On occasion I travel to Moab, Utah, to capture intriguing images—as in the case of these photographs of Playboy Playmate
Holley Dorrough. Originally, I carried a generator, monolights, and even battery portable power packs. But eventually, I
became frustrated with the flash and recognized the beauty of the “golden hour” in the Moab, so I captured Holley only
with the natural sunlight and took advantage of its warmer tone. The wind helped add action to the images, making them
more powerful. (CAMERA:Canon EOS 5D fitted with a Canon 70–200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. SETTINGS FOR IMAGE 1 :200mm
effective focal length,^1 / 250 second shutter speed, f/6.3, white balance at 6000K, ISO 100. SETTINGS FOR IMAGES 2 AND 4 :
200mm effective focal length,^1 / 200 second shutter speed, f/5.0, white balance at 6000K, ISO 100; SETTINGS FOR IMAGE 3 :
effective focal length 78mm,^1 / 200 second shutter speed, f/5.0, white balance at 6000K, ISO 100)
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