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The location you choose for your glamorous photo shoot can make or break the shoot. Typical glamor-shoot locations, such as moody New Orleans cemeteries and misty moors, offer the advantage of being visually familiar. The combination of subject and setting won't be jarring to anyone who sees the photos. However, a less-predictable location, such as a hospital corridor or a garbage dump, will make your shoot more memorable and play up the contrast between glamor and grit.
Start Don't let this peacock upstage the model.
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Create a visual dichotomy between sleek, civilized beauty and raw wilderness by shooting your glamor photos in a zoo. Position models so that barriers are not in the photo or are blurry. As for timing, the Minnesota Zoo recommends visiting "early or late in the day, when the animals are most active, the Zoo is the least crowded, and the light is better." The Minnesota Zoo urges photographers to be respectful of other guests. Get permission from the zoo before you show up with a bunch of people and equipment. You might just get lucky and be allowed to shoot in places regular visitors aren't allowed.
Athletic models could demonstrate kicks--while wearing high fashion.
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Shooting glamour in a a down-at-the-heels boxing gym or a similarly gritty place adds a measure of artistic credibility to the photos. More importantly, though, boxing gyms offer many micro-locations other than the boxing ring itself where interesting photos can be taken, including the stands and the locker room. Work out a deal with the gym owner so you can be in there at a time when it isn't being used. Lighting in such a gym may be particularly harsh--make arrangements to bring supplementary lighting if possible.
Take a far-away photo of a model poised high on the ramparts.
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Even if you can't get backstage access at, say, Neuschwanstein ("the castle of the fairy-tale king" in the Bavarian Alps), search your region for a castle or castle-like structure around which you can stage an ultra-glam photo shoot. Amusement parks, county fairs, and even local theaters can all house castle reproductions. Just remember, as an article giving tips from "Smithsonian" photographers advises, "It's not always easy to get approval to shoot from an unusual location, but the results can be worth the effort."
