In 1914 the Morton Salt company coined the phrase, “When it rains it pours,” and used a drawing of a cute girl walking with her umbrella as the rain was coming down. That slogan and the little girl helped sell tons of salt. Perhaps that line drawing was an early glamour, commercial conception, using a young female to sell a product.

The salt company new that with time comes change, so in 1921 with the roaring twenties, Morton put a “dance” in her step. The next change to the “Umbrella Girl,” as came to be known, was in 1933 post-Depression years when “jazz was king.” One of the more noticeable differences was the ribbon in her hair and in 1941, the ribbons were taken out and ponytails were added with the Umbrella Girl taking on a bolder yellow dress and her hair became golden goldilocks. Her hemline also came up an inch or two and there became an almost low-neck-cut appearance in her short dress. Morton states, “While our boys were off to war, our little girl was serving at home.” [Read more...]

Not all subjects are models, but all models are subjects when it comes to glamour photography and this statement is critical in the private glamour business, especially if you plan to succeed in this business.

Let’s look at models first. Normally beginning or even established professional agency models don’t come looking for glamour photos for their portfolios, though on occasion models have asked me to photograph them a bit more glamorous or sexy for their significant other. Some are even willing to trade glamour modeling in exchange for fashion, commercial or editorial images for their portfolios (books).

I’ve even had many models ask me to photograph them for submission to Maxim or Playboy. Usually this is no problem and easy to accomplish as most professional models have the proper height and weight proportionately and watch their diets to maintain their shapely figures, usually youthful bodies with experience in front of the camera–they know how to pose without asking. The camera lens is their best friend and no matter how you photograph them the images will be strong and the model will stand out–this is how your normal private glamour subject wants to appear on print, like a model. [Read more...]

815 Join Mark Daughn from Mystique, myself and others at this year’s GLAMOURCON, the only officially sanctioned event by Playboy, for more details for the upcoming Chicago event, click here! Thanks, rg sends!

Well this weekend we have our 1-day special San Antonio workshop–right here in my home! We’ve got some great models, two new ones plus our rock-hard Devon and one of my favorite MUA’s from Austin, Wendy. Wendy helped me on my last private glamour shoot and she’s awesome! I’ve had the opportunity to work with awesome MUA’s and models over my career, too many to name.

One thing that I strive to do is provide fresh talent with all the repeat business I have, but it’s a balanceing act as you have to rotate people, otherwise people can become too complacent and then they think it’s their workshop. The downside, many folks can provide valuable experience, but in the end, we all have to start somewhere so using new talent should never be something any photographer should ever be afraid to do. I’ll see all of you, new talent included, this weekend at my house and I’m looking forward to start helping new talent get published too! Wishing you the best, rg sends!

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It’s that time again where we all like to enjoy the water and like the seagulls we flock to the nearest and largest body of water. Whether it’s a pool, lake, or beach, water is nature’s way of cooling us off quickly, especially during the summer and the retail industry makes billions each year selling us everything from swimsuits to snorkel fins–most through ads that feature beautiful, bikini-clad models, some even wearing wicked weasels.

The photographers that take these images work under the same conditions as all photographers taking pictures of their family near or around water–battling reflected light from the sky, water, sand and even concrete from the edges of a pool. Anything on the white side of the tonal scale will reflect and amplify light like crazy. [Read more...]