NEVER SAY SMILE! Stop smiling… I am serious about this!  Never tell your subject to smile if you want a great expression!   To begin with you need to remember what your Mamma taught you! If you’ve watched any of my videos or read my articles, you know the warning…  Don’t use 4 letter words!   Words like:  RULE… There are no rules.  AUTO… Your camera will not “automagically” make a good photo.  FILM… Enough said!  POSE… Tell a person to POSE and you are encouraging them to be stiff and self-conscious.  Well there is one 5-letter word... Read More...

  That’s right – VIDEO modeling portfolios.   Video WILL change the game for models and photographers in this industry.  The train has left the station and it is coming down the tracks.   Now relax… I know the concept of CHANGE is scary for a lot of you but please remember… there was a time when somebody suggested painting on paper or canvas instead of cave walls and a lot of people said that guy was an idiot.  Not that long ago people suggested that books could be replaced by electronic reading devices….  Where do people come up with this stuff?  :-)   All... Read More...

    The fan has long been considered an important piece of studio equipment for fashion and glamour photographers.   I always like to prove the point that you don’t need a ton of fancy equipment to get the job done so here is a video and some samples of shots done without a fan… just by simply having the model flip her head.  Of course the effect is not identical, but I would argue that in many ways it is much cooler.   As you will see in the videos, the key to doing a shot like this is to remember my directed candid’s posing technique.  As the photographer... Read More...

This is the fourth (and last) in a series of articles and accompanying videos that detail my approach to fine art nude photography.  In this installment I will show you why I don’t use a light meter when shooting fine art nudes.  I will talk about the “value of gray” and why you should ALWAYS shoot RAW when doing this type of work.  Special emphasis will be given to the techniques that you see in the images displayed here as well as on my web site www.JoeEdelman.com   Be sure to read Naked Part I - Naked Part II and Naked Part III   Exposing the Fine Art Nude   The... Read More...

  This is the third in a series of articles and accompanying videos that detail my approach to fine art nude photography. In this installment I will show you some of my favorite lighting arrangements, complete with diagrams for shooting the female nude.  Special emphasis will be given to the specific lighting techniques that you see in the images displayed here as well as on my web site www.JoeEdelman.com     Be sure to read Naked Part I - Naked Part II and Naked Part IV     I think I made it pretty clear in Naked Part I and Naked Part II that... Read More...

  This is the second in a series of articles and accompanying videos that detail my approach to fine art nude photography. In this installment I will discuss Planning, Posing, Equipment and Simple Lighting. Special emphasis will be given to the specific lighting and posing techniques that you see in the images displayed here as well as on my web site www.JoeEdelman.com.   Be sure to read Naked Part I - Naked Part III and Naked Part IV   Planning   KISS IT! = Keep It Simple Stupid   Especially for your first few shoots… select a simple concept... Read More...

  This is the first of several articles and accompanying videos that will detail my approach to fine art nude photography. I will cover finding models, prepping for a shoot, model releases, camera equipment, lighting equipment and techniques, posing and directing your models, some cool reasons to shoot at the WRONG exposure and even a real cool Photoshop/Lightroom trick to expand the range of your fine art images.   Special emphasis will be given to the specific lighting and posing techniques that you see in the images displayed here as well as on my website www.JoeEdelman.com.   Be... Read More...

  This is Part 5 and the last in a series of articles about how to pose (or not pose) your models to create images full of life, energy and movement. The techniques that I have shown you are not just for models. These techniques will also dramatically improve your senior portraits, wedding photos and just about any set-up shot involving people.   In this series of articles on Posing, I have talked about Directed Candids and the importance of the collaboration between the model and the photographer. We have reviewed hand and eye placement in poses and now we are going to finish... Read More...

  In Part One I talked about managing hands on the body.   Now let’s talk briefly about hands off the body and then as promised I will review some guidelines for hands around the face.   Be sure to view the video that accompanies the How to Handle HANDS articles so that you can see some of these techniques in real-time.   One of the hardest things for a model to do with her hands is NOTHING! Part of what makes it hard is that she has to think about doing nothing.     Seriously, try it. Tell your model to relax her hands at her side... Read More...

  This is Part One of a two-part article on the placement of hands in modeling and portrait photographs.      I find that hands are one of the most overlooked aspects of posing a subject, especially among new photographers and new models. It is often the smallest details that can have a dramatic impact on the mood or quality of an image and hands can certainly make or break a photo.   What makes this difficult is that in our day-to-day life we take hands for granted. Everyone has them right? The problem is that along with facial expressions, twisted straps,... Read More...