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The question I’ve been asked most frequently by photographers recently is "How do you do Maxim-style photos?" This style isn’t unique to Maxim - the wildly popular "laddy’ magazine - but they’ve become known for it. In fact, this kind of glamour photo, marked by sharp saturated color, blown-out highlights, and flawless skin, has been a staple of the fashion magazines for years. At one time it seemed like half the fashion shooters used a lens-mounted ring light as their key light. Think of the Maxim shot as the antithesis of the flat, super-soft images so popular in decades past.
There are many ways to create this look, and many bad imitations as well. To show one way it is done beautifully, I joined photographer Mike Brochu (
omp #5244
) and documented a shoot and the subsequent image editing. Here is the entire procedure, from the studio setup, through the shooting, to the final Photoshop work. At the end of this column are copies of the raw and edited images for readers who want to try the intervening Photoshop work themselves.
The shoot took place at John Carey’s (
omp #35525
) Action Photography’s studio,
www.jpc-photo.com
, a large open facility in a refurbished mill building in Manchester, NH. The equipment was rather simple - almost Spartan: four monolight strobes including a
White Lightning 3200
as the key light with an 11" reflector and a ripstop nylon diffuser, two White Lighting 1600s - sometimes used as rim lights with barn doors, sometimes illuminating the background using umbrellas - and an
AlienBee B1600
in a small
Westcott Apollo RL3
softbox. Brochu uses a Canon 20D and all of his photos were taken using a Canon 24-70mm F 2.8 zoom lens.
The backdrops were also simple. For the first set, the backdrop was white seamless paper and the floor was covered with a white faux fur. For the second set Brochu used inexpensive light blue cotton/poly blankets for both the backdrop and the floor. In the last set, the backdrop was a brown blanket and a brown faux fur cloth on the floor
Mike begins by showing the model 8"x10" prints of photos illustrating the poses he would like for the session and then lays the prints at her feet, just out of view of the camera: by glancing down, she can quickly refresh herself on the pose. Another Brochu technique is to lay a camper’s reflective "space blanket" on the floor between the lights and the model, again out of camera view, to kick up some light from below. This is an effective, and much less cumbersome, alternative to a traditional reflector.
The model, Kimberly Sarah (
omp #25799
) came up from New York and did a splendid job. It was immediately evident, from her poise and posing ability, that Kimberly is a pro. The makeup artist, Danielle Federico (
omp#77537
) came from
Tia Maria
in Boston. Any photographer looking to measure his or her results and those of this shoot will have to allow for the makeup artist’s work. Despite Kimberley Sarah’s exceptional skin, the look would not have been the same without Danielle’s work.
Click to view a larger image
This was the basic lighting setup for the shoot. The background is white seamless paper; the floor is covered in white faux fur. White Lightning X1600 monolights, firing into umbrellas, illuminate the background. Each is set at f/22 at the background. The key light, set at f/16 at the model, is a White Lightning X3200 monolight with an 11" reflector and a diffuser made of two layers of white rip-stop nylon. The Westcott softbox housing an AlienBee B1600 is set at f/11 and aimed across the front of the model, "feathering" away from her. All four lights are approximately six feet from Kimberly. Also note: the "posing-guide" photographs on the floor and the space blanket reflector. The camera was set at f/18 at a 100 ISO.
Click to view a larger image
Essentially the same setup but as Kimberly faces to her left, the softbox is moved back to remain in front of her. The fan used in these shots, a 12" diameter unit on a 36" stand, was on low power. Brochu’s zoom lens was typically set between 50mm and 70mm.
Click to view a larger image
For this set, the background is a 6' by 8' cotton/polyester blanket - blue and brown blankets were each used for one set - and the floor is covered in a synthetic fur fabric. The rear lights, without the umbrellas, are now aimed at Kimberly and function as rim lights. Barn doors on the lights prevent spill onto the background and shield the camera lens. Both lights are set at f/16 at the model. Notice the pad underneath the floor covering to cushion Kimberly’s knees.
Editing the images: step by step.
Continue to page 2
