Hello and Welcome to Photographer Week here on JasmineStarBlog.com! I'm excited to collaborate with fellow peers as they shed light and share industry tips. To get things started off right, I'm honored to introduce my pal, Sue Bryce. She's an ahhhmazing glamour photographer originally from New Zealand who is now based in Los Angeles and today she'll be sharing an amazing tip for portraits…without further adieu, here we go! Take it away, Sue…
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This is the Image I chose for InBedWithSue.com/education it very much speaks to the simplicity of Contemporary Glamour and she is In Bed. True story: The irony is I am not a boudoir photographer although I have always photographed people in their underwear (by request) the name InBedWithSue came from my New Zealand Studio circa 1998 I used to do all the studio pre consultations in our viewing room which had a large couch, I would sit people down and get so enthusiastic about designing their shoot I had a 100% booking rate. It was a big comfortable couch and people would connect and then tell me lots of personal things it was a great way to build trust and connection and of course everyone booked a shoot. All the people I worked with called it ‘On The Couch With Sue' and joked that one day I would have my own show. So when I started my education blog I called it InBedWithSue OnTheCouchWithSue is coming soon ; )
How I got the shot: Take an inflatable bed, why inflatable? (cheap, cheerful and saves room in the studio) Make it with a white fitted sheet (Iron yours first though: sorry / embarrassed face) give the top sheet to your client they can walk in and around the studio all wrapped up, shoot into the back light. Why have I done this for so many years in my studio I will bullet point this one.
1. It's almost monochromatic which makes it contemporary and stylish.
2. It says sexy and fun without being Boudoir although it's on a bed, you can make it cute or sexy it's on that border.
3. It's one of the biggest sellers and most requested images I have ever had in my gallery.
4. You can be any body size and you look good but more importantly you FEEL COMFORTABLE wrapped in a sheet.
5. You can show a little bare shoulder or most of your bottom / You decide and posing changes the mood very quickly So I always ask my client how much they want to show.
6. It's shot into the back light which is just lovely.
7. Its one of the cheapest sets you will ever buy for your studio and you will get your money back straight away.
8. Every client I have ever shot in this set walk around very confidently wrapped up safely, this is an incredibly important lesson to note. People feel vulnerable when they are photographed and feeling safe changes everything.
I love this video you can see it in the Video section of my education page and I love all of these shots.
Remember to sell a style you need to show it. If you have these images people will request them, when a client requests a look it's 90% sold, you just need to take a beautiful shot. Have fun with it, try lots of angles and poses, messy bed hair and laughing it's playful and really beautiful. No I don't think it's a shot for Seniors or anyone under 20 but I am very strict about age appropriate posing. It's very easy to make a client feel comfortable doing sexy shots when they are wrapped in a sheet deciding how much skin they want to show off.
Remember I have been using cheap fabric to filter my light for about 20 odd years now I have this fancy-pants scrim so I am using that but if you don't have a fancy-pants scrim just use cheap fabric. BTW the fancy pants scrim has a black line around it which I have to remove on Photoshop / The cheap fabric doesn't hmmmmm
At least 50 poses here make sure you move around TIP: The bed is light enough to move with the client on it
