Shoot: Simple Set, Natural Light
Christa Meola
Lessons
Introduction
07:36 2Let’s Get this Party Started Right!
20:35 3Redefining Boudoir: YOUR Brand & Style
29:59 4Working with Women
20:01 5Creating Relaxed Clients
17:49 6Posing and Anti-Posing
12:05 7Flattering All Body Types
21:13Providing an Amazing Experience
09:00 9Shoot: Simple Set, Natural Light
21:06 10Shoot: Students' Turn
10:09 11Shoot: Budget Hotel Room
20:43 12Sexy Styling
18:12 13Sets and Props
07:13 14Styling Q&A
19:09 15Shoot: Bedroom Set, Soccer Mom
30:52 16Shoot: Students' Turn
10:52 17Shoot: Bedroom Set, Model
18:26 18Shooting Q&A
06:52 19Reviewing Previous Images
05:11 20Shooting to Sell
16:21 21Lighting & Equipment
32:02 22Vintage Car Shoot
23:15 23Shoot: Grey Seamless with Samantha
14:11 24Shoot: Grey Seamless, Students' Turn
13:03 25Shoot 3: Grey Seamless with Sarah
21:20 26Shoot: Grey Seamless Student's Turn
08:27 27Prop Shoot
12:56 28Post-Production
21:32 29Lightroom
19:04 30Photoshop
24:16 31Shoot: Bar Set with Justine and Will
23:59 32Students' Turn (Carlos and Nicole)
07:35 33Shoot: Back to Christa
15:36 34Shoot: Students' Turn (Jen)
14:01 35AFTER DARK: Fine Art Nude
1:05:06 36After Dark Shoot Review
03:45 37Favorite Photoshop Actions
16:07 38Booking Your Ideal Client
36:11 39Boudoir Parties
06:46 40Shoot: Backstage with Margareta
28:50 41Marketing with Enthusiasm
31:25 42Price Lists (Q&A)
14:07 43Pricing Strategies
20:23 44Selling
14:17 45Website Critiques
16:08 46Shoot: Sister Kate
22:26 47Shoot: Chinese Fans with Katie
12:37 48Velvet Dress with Robin
16:51 49Shoot: Students' Turn (Jen)
21:59Lesson Info
Shoot: Simple Set, Natural Light
So we have, like I said, um, awesome set designer. Thank you, nico. Um, I'm sorry. Not nico, that kallio and, um, I really wanted to do stuff that could be easily replicated and super budget oriented. Um, are the students gonna come over what we're gonna do here? Okay. Marnie, look so good. Oh, my lord. I need that to get up. So, what are we doing here? The fifty. Okay ways you remind me already a hundred two hundred to you already did it already. Dang john cornyn chandler since yesterday. So I'll test it may be okay. The eighty five two you've got the other lenses. Thank you. You look so teo, you great. All right? I'm just gonna turn this or john, will. John, will you turn that for me? So I don't break my back. So basically, we're gonna cover lighting equipment tomorrow. So I thought for today's shoot, we wanted to shoot today we're going mostly focus on natural light and working with natural light, which is ninety percent of what ideo I add in the strobe and sometimes a video light i...
f I really, really need it or just to create some variety, but I'm so in love with natural light, and I feel like, gosh, you know if I could make that work I'm going teo especially because with a non model it's just not intimidating not fussing with my lights and focusing on her because she needs a lot of coaching um and uh so did I ask john, could you do me a favor please? You're miked up now, okay, awesome yeah I get up here with me can you turn the chair so it's facing the light so I really love light and shadow I like I said started out drawing my dad taught me how to the shadow and tells you where the light is so I really love lots of shadow I'm not a photographer who's got like three lights hitting something and trying to like fill everything um I sometimes I don't even really work with a reflector a lot I have been lately um just to get a little more catch light in the eye but most often like I'll go on a shoot with just myself a lens, a girl and natural light and make it work and part of the fun is just, you know, finding howto flatter and finding ways to create variety. All right, would you mind city now so I could take a light test? I really I'm testing like that alright, awesome so I'm shooting with the fifty by the way and I'm on eight hundred don't step back yeah remind me of that because I know everybody wants to know settings right? He said that um shooting at I s o eight hundred speed two hundredth and two point oh, I pretty much live between two point oh, and two point eight rarely do I go down or above that only when I'm forced to meaning like bythe circumstances um gosh, I am so gonna fall through bring the letter around to the back here is just a quick one thank you for yes is a little bit hot it is brighter than yesterday for sure so then I'm going to change my eyes so down because I don't need all that much so maybe I'll try it at five hundred and she was right about there that's a little dark by the way I have to give a shout out to lens prote ago they hooked me up with this equipment oh my gosh, marnie look awesome! Who is that smoking shit? Sorry, I turned that off. Um lens protego provided us all this equipment for me and let me practice with it on and they sent it out here and this is a new five d marks too and I've been shooting with the old five d forever so waiting for that mark three to come out s so anyway, I'm totally unfamiliar with this new camera, so apologies that I'm a little slower than normal and I just turned it off again so that's a bad habit okay so lean up against the back of the chair you just want to see more light on your body awesome and then head to toe yeah perfect I do want the fan where is it and I'm just going to see more of your body yeah well just one shoulders get enough and let me see both hands awesome into the light for me for a second we definitely span ok good ok look at me with your eyes I have to get sassy marnie so that you can laugh you can actually laugh if you want teo can I ask a quick technical question yeah that's going to affect my review time being tethered I've never shot tethered before okay sweet all right marnie so I'm focused on basically from here up and I want to see you like do some cess yes oh yeah exactly I loved when you just tilt your head up perfect perfect lecture me love me okay yeah right now I want you interacting with me and junk in a blow your hair back yeah try not to laugh let it out girl let it out and I want the fan actually trying to those bangs they're kind of two static for me so I want to kind of lift those shake it out awesome leaning and even more yeah, perfect you can love your holding it in no way um hold on one second you're perfect I just want youto like loosen up your grip you can even put your hand down along your leg that's gorgeous love it I'm we're gonna I'm not gonna fall john okay so I'm working with the fifty right now so I can barely get her foot in what do you guys think okay so I need you to come even closer and here is why I need to get you all in frame no you're good with the difference just going to see more shoulder perfect awesome you're doing great head a little bit this way perfect little less awesome then down yeah you want me to go up and down your leg yes exactly perfect john anymore fan okay excellent all right so what I want you to do is play with your jacket a little more I want yeah you know what I'm feeling like your hands are getting lost in there so because it is big let's son you kind of do this that and like this okay so it's almost like three quarter and so here some things to do is like open up your shoulder flirt with it shimmy it down yeah you got it exactly good more fan ke no I want to do sit up on that side and just because I'm working with the fifty I love that you have the best legs ever but I need them both to be on this chair yeah, we'll figure it out put him up there and we'll find a way turn it so I see some hip in those garters and like point your toes so you're like yeah there you go that's awesome and a perfect beautiful and actually looked down at the window yeah exactly there slight smile lower your island perfect john moore o perfect perfect I love that you can even pull out your strap look down at it yeah you like and you have to say down my ass looks good when you do that eyes dariga okay um let's move through some more can you um take your jacket down a little bit more don't change your posture, okay? That's okay, you can actually that looked hot. I like that yeah, it would be like more like this pointed toe yes, you see open up a little bit more so I see more of your body needs your hands so this is good. I like this then like just hands along your body yeah that's nice staying I need the twenty four seventy now I think you look awesome though make sure you keep that family or keep your face okay awesome. Can you actually touched him? Yeah, okay closure awesome. Um take the jacket off yeah, I don't know what that means oh god you got to got tio how about you kind of have it on your shoulders or something still love that jacket add so much yeah beautiful and then just blaster and then look straight on at me a little bit that way delights better perfect sorry keep setting this up beautiful one more she blinked beautiful love it okay now I'm gonna shoot the sweat I want your hands on your body baby that was perfect what what you just did is looked down and smiled use both hands if you can and here's what you are um coaching a model to run their hands along their body one thing I have to tell them always is sorry jon um don't make them parallel you know like I was like one up one down one in the hare won on the boob one on the body want you know keep it opposite doesn't have to be so much but like if it's all right here it's a little just a little bit not a sexy in my head um all right um let's switch it up and did it again I'm sorry it's a bad habit uh maybe we can do some um the stand on the side of it and I want to get some nice but chef take a chair out no let's see if you like just lean over it yeah I love the jacket let's see if we can make it work is that cool let's see uh see um mm tall here to haul hey I know let's like lean over onto it should I did it again for figuring out hold on me see this way turned it like this is not a letter room but can you pop hip up and I kind of get over we might have to switch you up this is actually about your butt so maybe we'll take the jacket off you can kind of like throw it over one shoulder yeah throw it over that make it look a bit six year just love the texture of that beautiful that I mean perfect you're perfect that's great beautiful marnie look down more and smile further down further down perfect was like that beautiful keep that beautiful awesome okay, gorgeous let's do it now this one this is another big thing like I move on quickly I don't need to shoot five million of these he did it again. You look great don't you? Um yeah let's do some do we wanna have the kids shoot him it that way just be careful cause there's looks splinters so this might be a good time to do a nice ashot we get rid of that came with the check er yeah, I think so can you lean forward a little um actually with both hands no ok got it not living it it's auto okay um we're gonna get rid of the chair we're gonna just be standing against the wall can I have someone help me hear someone else come over thank you very much thanks okay blast her so I'm really short so I always have to ask my girls especially once they put on heels like squat down either doing this so uh fall off of it okay and make sure you cheat towards the light oh john ok and stuff have put over that was more than a half a foot it awesome can you squat down a little bit and flirt with me on the shoulder awesome okay okay here's what I want you todo alert with light source but with the lights first john go ahead you can flirt with john I wasn't what I was suggesting that that's what you're doing is adorable I would love to shoot with eighty five some point can you get a little bit sexy can you get all sexed up in yourself? Yeah were you here when I was talking about coaching so what? Run your hands along your body one up one down exactly marnie and do extreme posture so like bend one me you don't have to worry about squatting down for me I'm gonna take it it is perfect all right one up one down perfect and let me see the other hand so do like like I said do stuff like this okay you don't have to be all in your hair let it go. Let your hair go don't worry about it um just focus on your body. Yeah one hand up one hand down keep it moving keep your fingers light like this now marnie eyes is perfect. Okay, so what we want to do is keep light fingers like this and just slowly go up and go down round your butt hair cross your trust on your belly keep it going but keep connected to it. Okay? Like enjoy it. Smile nobody's here, nobody's watching you. Okay, you really have courage telling you to do this? Um and then keep your hip popped the other way. In fact, cross your legs if it's easier for you. Okay, good. And blow the fan, please. Perfect. Close your eyes. Keep going. Keep going. Yes, good, good, good, good, good also the fans working lips across the otherway e I know it's so hard when your eyes are closed I know. Okay have some fun, marnie, good senses when music is nice actually that's really cool. Perfect, perfect. Okay, let's, do some let's do some hair shots. Touch your hair around. Um yes, drop elbow yeah, sure, go ahead good, keep going, close your eyes tuck your head down like that marnie hold on one second just side to side like this simple yes a little bit faster that's nice though mm all right let's do some buckshot that's okay but shut holy and turned you around okay so this is awesome thanks john so what we're going to do is the same kind of bent knee poles so your hip is out that creates this nice curve take a half a step over here to the left sir um then that knee as much as possible and like really here I'm going to show you look at me like freaking bring your foot up if you want and adjust it down like this but a nice bend in your butt and then that shoe to create more actually me crosses over here who then need dresses over here it's take a step back and you could duplicate it yeah like this watch me like that when he comes across in your foot goes up here I'm gonna actually move you uh let your foot go let go just let it rest right there on the side of your shoe and then cross your leg over okay this is perfect very challenging one are bending that pervade there you go you could do that if you want to hold yourself up or touch the side okay awesome put that hand up because I'm focused mostly on this awesome corset to keep but perfect can you do me a favor and raise the other hand for a moment? Perfect low in here? Okay, overexposed, ready. One, two, three. Okay, relax, you're good, okay, awesome. You already kind of have a slight wedge, so I just wanted to show kind of how wedge enhances the booty, but you already had one going on, but see, if you were here, just turn around us to my office. This wouldn't be as sexy, right? And keep your leg straight. Sorry, yeah, comparison. That's. Before and after. Get a little wedge going, pop that me and perfect, sorry, focusing is a fault, okay?
Class Materials
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
This is meant to be a HELPFUL review for those that are wondering if they should purchase this workshop. About 75% of what I took away from this workshop was posing, composition for boudoir and the importance of eye lines and capturing movement. I had two boudoir sessions a week after this workshop and my images significantly improved. I was able to coach my clients through poses better, direct them on where to look for better eye lines, I was more aware of their posture and how to fix it, I think I sounded more professional and felt more confidant with getting awesome poses, stand out expressions and adding movement to my images. I put a fan on my client the way Christa does.. and she is right! The instant I put the fan on my client, her expression changed and you could tell she was really "feeling it". She told me she felt like a real supermodel right after I turned on the fan. If you are looking for inspiration on how to coach women and pose for boudoir then Christa is the girl for you. I think the most worthwhile thing I learned watching this is something that will help me in the years to come... with my brand, my website, my workflow and my business goals. I learned how to "keep it simple" which is Christa's tag line. For example Christa brings a roll of gray background paper and uses gaffer tape to hang it from the wall of the hotel (instead of bringing a 12ft background stand). I know this seems simple but this will change my life! I hate dragging equipment back and forth. There are some negative reviews on here about Christa's technical skills, but I think these people may have missed the whole point. If you provide an awesome product and an awesome experience for your client, they will buy it. And guess what.. your client will never know if you used your camera in auto or manual and they won't care if you used one light instead of two. As someone who has been in business for 3 years doing boudoir exclusively I learned a lot. I see a lot of value in learning from someone who doesn't spend a lot of money on fancy equipment, yet charges her clients over $3,000 for sessions. I'm a huge fan of her keep it simple philosophy and I'm glad Christa is willing to be honest about her workflow and how she best utilizes her time. Your not going to agree with or use everything Christa talks about, you take the parts that you like and are most helpful to you and work them into building a stronger business.
a Creativelive Student
AWESOME DEAL on Christa's course. I just sent an email to my husband to tell him thanks for "gifting" me this course. I told him just the ONE CLASS about pricing was worth the full $129 price of the course. And there are over 50 classes?! That is a crazy stupid good deal. You can learn something good from every class you take, every book you read, and just apply the stuff that works for you. There are a lot of people out there who seem to just enjoy giving crappy reviews, and to me it's almost like bullying. How someone could not find $129 worth of value in this course is beyond me. In my opinion this course is worth over a thousand bucks, because it can help you make SO much more money. I hate when I see people whining about things that are not 100 percent perfect, and they get annoyed if the person isn't catering to their exact needs. It's like the Yelper generation, with a disturbing sense of entitlement. I would love to see those people try teaching a class about boudoir and see if they could do any better. It also seems like, the more popular a person gets, the more other people feel the need to tear them down. I'm grateful that Christa even offered this course at ALL. Thanks Christa for all you do to help those of us who really need to know this stuff. You rock.
a Creativelive Student
I never thought I would shoot boudoir. I am a shy and private person. I started entertaining the idea when I first saw Christa's work and saw how beautiful and tasteful it can be. I love her lighting and all that she uses from historic painters and sculptors. I watched all three days live and learned a ton. I have a lot of lighting education, but it was nice to freshen up my skills. I loved the posing tips and the three typical situations she uses for one shoot. I loved learning about how she shoots in hotels and also using things like an outdoor situation. I have now shot my first boudoir session and it was a total hit. I am thrilled to show my client her images. This was fantastic! Thank you, Christa!
Student Work
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