Ryan Armbrust - Shoot Sexy: Pinup Photography in the Digital Age

Pinup PHOTOGRAPHY in the DIGITAL AGE

by RYAN ARMBRUST

ILEX

First published in the UK in 2012 by

ILEX

210 High Street

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 2NS

www.ilex-press.com

Copyright 2012 The Ilex Press Limited

PUBLISHER: Alastair Campbell

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Adam Juniper

MANAGING EDITOR: Natalia Price-Cabrera

EDITOR: Tara Gallagher

SPECIALIST EDITOR: Frank Gallaugher

CRATIVE DIRECTOR: James Hollywell

SENIOR DESIGNER: Kate Haynes

DESIGNER: JC Lanaway

DIGITAL ASSISTANT: Emily Owen

COLOUR ORIGINATION: Ivy Press Reprographies

Any copy of this book issued by the publisher is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including these words being imposed on a subsequent purchaser. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Digital ISBN: 978-1-908150-88-2

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form, or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or information storage-and-retrieval systems without the prior permission of the publisher.

N ever in a million years would I have guessed that I would be shooting photos of girls in their underwear for a living! Out of all the different types of photography, I think I have chosen one of the most fun to shoot. It sure beats shooting weddings!

People always ask me how I got started with boudoir and pinup girl photography. I think it is actually the number one question asked at our studio. Ive been a huge fan of everything retro for many years. I always liked the old TV shows from the 1950s, the cars and culture from that time period just looked like a great deal of fun. I was getting a little bit bored with shooting commercial photography and was looking for something a bit more creative to have a little fun with. I was thumbing through a book of pinup girl paintings and thought, this would be fun! I decided to round up a few of my female friends and try my hand at shooting pinup girl photography. The photos were really bad. We had fun shooting them, but they were not that great. I didnt know how to pose the girls, I wasnt that great at lighting the female form basically, it was a mess. Since it was a lot of fun to do, I decided I would figure it out. I shot more pinups and after a little bit of practice I was ready to post a few to my main photography blog. As I started to post the shots, something happened that I had not planned for. Strangers started emailing me to ask about booking a pinup shoot. Wow, I guess I need a game plan!

After a few more shoots and a bunch of inquiries, I started a second photography studio, Boudoir Louisville. Now I had a name, but that was about it. My studio at the time was mainly a meeting area for new commercial clients with a small shooting studio attached. I started filling it with tons of retro and vintage props. In no time, I had out grown my studio. It looked more like an antique store than a photo studio. It was time to move. I also needed to hire someone to help me keep up with all of the new business my pinups had generated. I hired an assistant right off the bat. Her name is Britt. She takes care of bookings as well as our hair and makeup. During the shoot, she poses the girls and provides comedic relief. Boudoir Louisville was growing.

Over a two-and-a-half year period, we have grown from our small 600-sq-ft studio to a 4500-sq-ft space in Louisville, Kentucky. We have also just snapped photos of our 500th girl!

We received a bunch of emails from other photographers all over the world. They all wanted tips on starting their own pinup and boudoir business as well as how to shoot this stuff. Last year we decided to offer workshops at our studio for photographers who wanted to learn our tricks of the trade. We have had folks fly in from all over the country to learn pinup and boudoir from us. Its always fun to check in on folks that have attended our workshops to see how they have grown their businesses. During the first year of shooting studio pinups, I developed a very straightforward lighting system that is 100% repeatable every time. Since you dont have to worry about the technical aspect of the shoot, you can concentrate on your interaction with your client.

As you read through this book, keep in mind that Im a bit of a goof-ball! I like to have fun with what I do for a living. What we do is not rocket science, but it does make a huge difference in the lives of our clients. We often receive emails and letters from past clients thanking us for the experience. Its always fun when the husband of past clients contacts us to thank us as well! Girls book photo shoots as a gift for their special someone, but leave feeling empowered. Clients get a huge ego boost when they shoot with us.

There are many reasons that people book with us. We are close to a military base. One of the coolest things we do is shoot pinups that clients send overseas to their men fighting for our country. If you think back, this is the exact way that pinups became so popular. It feels great to keep this art form alive.

If you have ever wanted to shoot pinup photography, you will love this book. We show you everything. We walk you through setting up your first on-location pinup shoot. How to find the perfect location, how to select your model, wardrobe, etc After the game plan has been established, we get technical! We show you exactly how we lit the shot. We also talk about shopping for the perfect props as well as how to set up your very own pinup studio space.

T HE GREAT NEWS about shooting retro pinup photography in the studio is that the setup can be quite simple. When I started shooting pinup photography, my style was dictated by the lack of light in my small studio. This was compounded by the mistake I made of painting the entire shooting area dark gray. I had assumed that by painting the entire area a dark color, I would get rid of any stray light, but basically all I did was create a very uninviting space for the models to enternot the best way to start a shoot!

When I moved studio, I went for the opposite effect and found an open and airy space with lots of light. I also painted the whole place flat white, which makes it a very pleasant place to shoot, and models feel at ease and comfortablesomething you should never underestimate, as a relaxed model will give you better photographs every time.

I have found that using a high key style of photography works well for shooting pinup: you might recognize this style from high-end ad campaigns, fashion shots, portraits, and so on, as it has been the standard for some time. In order to shoot high-key images you will need a large white floor and background to shoot your pinup girl against. You can use a white painted wall, fabric, or something similar, but I personally prefer to use a nine-foot wide roll of white seamless background paper because I dont have to worry about any wrinkles (unlike a fabric background). Paper is also easy to buy and replaceyou can purchase a roll of seamless white paper at most photo supply stores.