Burlesque Shoot

I emailed my burlesque photo shoot plan to Steve - showing original inspiration and equipment required.  

I wanted to explore black and white, the human form through pose and controlled lighting.  The model I chose had very similar features and proportions to Dita Von Teese. My model had not posed for a shoot before so I did a practice shoot at her home to get her comfortable with posing in front of a camera and working with me.  I took along my shoot plan and also different images of Kudacki’s and Mary Ellen Mark’s work to help her practice the positions for the day. ( please see blog) At first the practice shots were verging on becoming sleazy but on reevaluation of the inspiration photographers work I noticed the body angles and positions were very subtle, the hair and make up very sophisticated and the model rarely engages eye contact with the voyeur.  

I used the models own clothing as she has an interest in lingerie and tried to use items which would give the glamour of burlesque.  I used a dressing table stool as a prop and watched Youtube videos of Burlesque make up.  I used the college hair department and briefed them on the style required giving detailed images and instructions.

I had to also brief my model on the health and safety risks such as trip hazards, location of fire exits and risk of being burnt if she were to touch the lights.

Steve helped me set up the studio.  I used the college camera Canon 5D. The background was white, I used a tripod and I needed to create a soft light so positioned two continuous lights.  I placed the camera in a tripod for at a 90 degree angle so the shots were taken portrait and did a test shot using the model and a light meter to get he correct F/stop and ISO based on the lighting levels of Kudacki’s work and to give the appearance that the models skin was paler than in real life to reflect Dita Von Teese. 

I also used a spot light positioned at varying angles to create a silhouette shadow in the background.