Glamour Photography Secrets

What is the glamour photography? How to differ the glamour photography from simple human portrait?

Glamour photography is the photographing of a model to emphasize the subject, instead of the fashions or products endorsed.

Standards of glamour photography have changed over time, reflecting changes in social morals. For example, in the early 1920s, USA photographers like Ruth Harriet Louise photographed celebrities to glamourise their stature. During World War II pin-up pictures of scantily clad movie stars were extremely popular among US servicemen. However, until the 1950s, the use of glamour photography in advertising or men’s magazines was highly controversial or even illegal. Magazines featuring glamour photography were usually marketed as "art magazines” or “health magazines”.

Photographers all over the world use special techniques for taking this kind of photos. The light and soft-focus lens are the main points. With Rembrandt Lighting, key light placement determines the modeling (shadowing) on your subject. As described above, placing this light at 45 degrees between camera and subject and about 45 degrees above subject eye level, will give you what is termed Rembrandt Lighting. This is perhaps the most popular type of portrait and glamour lighting. The key light will cast a shadow from the nose that falls down across the face, joining with the shadowed side of the face, leaving a “triangle” of light on the cheekbone. The nose shadow should not fall below the mouth line for best effect. You can make a face thinner by shooting the shadowed side (called short lighting) or more full by shooting the side lit by the key light (called broad lighting). In boudoir portraiture and glamour photographs we often want a soft focus look to add a romantic look to the photos or to conceal skin blemishes. Traditionally, this was done by putting various soft focus filters on front of the lens. There are two problems with this approach. First, you are then having to focus the camera through the soft focus lens which can be hard at times. Secondly, you are stuck with the amount of soft focus that the combination of lens, lens aperture, and filter provide.

Usually, this kind of photography is used by the "glossy magazines". So, if you can make it, than why don't to try? There are plenty of photo galleries to fill up with your glamour photos :-) And it doesn't matter that we leave the soft focus filters at home and use Photoshop to add the effect later, which allows us to add just the right amount of soft focus effect that we need.