How to Start Glamour Photography
Glamour photography dominates the fashion world and works in close proximity to portrait photography. Learning and applying the methodology gained from professional portrait work provides a strong foundation for specializing in glamour photography. Once these fundamentals are understood, adding a stylist, makeup artist and specialized lighting will take your portraits to the realm of glamour.
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Instructions
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Learn the workings of an SLR camera, which stands for single-lens reflex, focusing on the manual settings of the camera. Understand how the aperture, shutter speed and ISO (also referred to as film speed) work together to properly expose an image by adjusting the amount of light allowed to enter into the camera. Either a film or digital camera will work, but a digital camera will save money when learning to shoot, as you can shoot unlimited numbers of images at little to no cost.
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Study various lighting techniques, once the controls of the camera are understood, paying close attention to the light sources, lighting angles and color temperatures of the light sources. Color temperatures refer to the Kelvin scale, or actual temperature of the light source, with 5500 being the average temperature of natural light on a sunny day.
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Choose a professional, well-published photographer, and begin studying her images, biographies and interviews. Make note of the subject poses and positions, the type of light source (natural versus studio light) and the type of styling used on the models.
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Work with a local professional portrait photographer as an intern to gain practical experience working with cameras, lighting and models. Choose a photographer who works with stylists and makeup artists for major shoots, and pay close attention to the techniques used by these professionals.
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Shoot as many portrait situations as possible, and invest in a lighting kit and studio space once you are comfortable with the techniques of a portrait photographer. Choose a lighting kit that allows for high-key lighting situations with multiple kicker lights, highlights and back lighting. Each of these types of lighting setups is used heavily in glamour photography and requires certain types of light bulbs, placements and combinations to achieve the glamour style of imagery.
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Work with a local stylist and makeup artist for your formal shoots, as they will add the extra layer of glamour to your models to help achieve the desired outcome.
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Build a portfolio using the studio lighting environment, local stylists and models based on the style of imagery that speaks to your artistic vision. Many emerging models will gladly trade their time for headshots and portfolio images of their own from your shoot, so be sure to use this resource when you are starting out.
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Tips & Warnings
Attend as many professional photography seminars as possible, and tailor the attended workshops to your photographic needs throughout the duration of your time as a photographer. Choose the seminars or workshops based on the presenter's portfolio, and make sure his work is a benefit to the career you envision in this photographic field.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit silhouette of camera image by Richard J Thompson from Fotolia.com
