Model – Bianca Malise, Nude plus Glamour Lighting Diagram

I did this nude/boudoir shoot with Bianca Malise a while back at her San Diego residence. Done in her upstairs bathroom to give a feeling of intimacy, and set in place that makes the subject feel naturally relaxed and at home.

This image in particular receives many questions as to the lighting and how it was shot. It’s actually pretty simple and mainly with existing light, with the exception of one additional light acting as both fill and key light.

The existing light was metered to be approximately 1+ stop higher than the key and fill light, to give a nice rim light on her hair and her left side. It was also set this way to illuminate the scene with the existing lights in the bathroom, to make it look as natural as possible.

The Key and Fill Light, was a 200 watt Fresnel, with a diffuser on the barn doors. The diffuser was homemade, with a round embroidery frame from Walmart with a piece of white, sheer fabric, like synthetic silk to diffuse the light and make it a bit softer. I then hung this round frame on the barn doors of the Fresnel.

The shutter speed was set at 1/20th sec. and ISO 800, to allow the low wattage lights to take hold and register. The Key and Fill light were placed a ways back from the subject so as not to overpower the existing lights and to allow them to be brighter for rim lighting. The Key and Fill light also give a nice little catch light in the eye. The catch light brings the eye to life and gives a sense of realness to the image.

Bianca is sitting on the counter top of the sink with her back to the mirror and leaning toward the camera. The resulting shot was a really warm toned image of a really pretty model with a nice figure. Capturing forever, the image of youth and vitality, which is a selling point for all boudoir photography.

Enjoy…