I first met Becky at a collaborative group event. I got a few minutes to work with her (feature image above) and also took a few shots over the shoulder of another photographer (below). I had been following her on Instagram and really liked her portfolio, so I was looking forward to meeting her.
After the event, we set up a date for the two of us to collaborate. We didn’t really have a plan. Becky sent an inspo image of a woman in a suit and went to a thrift shop to pick up a jacket. Because this was our first time working together and I didn’t know how experienced she was working in a studio, I set up a single overhead light that gave us broad coverage so she wouldn’t have to think to much about her angles relative to a key light. I could move around her to control the shadows. She has done a lot of boudoir, seemed very comfortable, and moved beautifully.
That light was so beautiful that I wanted to grab some images that featured more of her body and her beautiful curves, so we went for simple lingerie that wasn’t distracting and I asked her to ditch the heels to desexualize the look. I haven’t used this particular light setup for figurative nude work yet, but it would produce some beautiful black and white nude images.
I had just recently purchased some RGB tube lights and hadn’t had a chance to try them out. Becky was willing to let me play with them, so we did. These shots were going to be about shape and accentuating her curves with the light. She had a strappy lingerie piece that looked geometric that was perfect for this. I was impressed at how bright the tube lights were. And using them was so much simpler than setting up gels on strobes. Towards the end I suggested we add more movement into the shots. I suggested a few moves that would look dynamic and she nailed them.
