My 1020 takes on Boudoir Photography. Warning: 18+ NSFW

[AccentAE86]

A very large part of my photography business is Boudoir Photography. So I've been sneaking in a Lumia 1020 shot or two here and there on my shoots just for fun. The results have amazed me, and I'm sure they'll only get better as RAW support comes!

Been posting some of my progress on getting the most out of the Lumia 1020 in my threads here:
http://forums.windowscentral.com/no...20-wow-im-impressed-few-samples-inside-=.html
http://forums.windowscentral.com/no...t-2-taking-1020-next-level-macro-edition.html
http://forums.windowscentral.com/no...-3-taking-1020-next-level-studio-edition.html

What I had most trouble with was holding in highlight detail, especially evident in 2 & 3. The best strategy is to underexpose and push in post. It is also easy to lose shadow detail too though, and that is actually where the built-in flash helped out. It provided a perfect on-axis fill light to retain some shadow detail while not overwhelming the studio lighting. It worked well.

Anyhow, here are some of the photos. I have a ZILLION more, but I can only post up the photos that clients have approved for public viewing. =(

1. In lower contrast scenes like this one, it does really really well.

2. The next two were the worst case scenarios. I had to underexpose and push, but I still lost highlight details as you can see on her back, and on her sleeve in photo 3.

3.

4. Again, low contrast scenes are great, but it does bring out the grain. Lightroom 4 does a good job of controlling it though.

5.

6.

7. Again, had to underexpose so that her body lines were not totally washed out.

8. Does really well in this kind of lighting style. Very small angle off lens axis and decently even spread.

9.

10. Had a bit of trouble on this one. Had to take it a few times before I found a setting that didn't obliterate all the shadow detail. I had to let the onboard flash do a decent job of filling the shadows, then I had to light her up a bit on the bright side to give me the right light ratio between the onboard flash and the studio flash. Then I had to use Lightroom to pull the exposure back down to this level. As a result, the shadow detail is good and the noise/grain level is well controlled.

11. And another, just for kicks.

So I've used the 1020 at the studio quite a bit now, and all I can say is that it is just amazing what a little phone can do! I just love how easy it is to sync it to my studio lighting, and how it has the manual controls to let me get the look that I want.

If you are curious, my boudoir website is here: THE BOUDOIR by Night and Day - Edmonton Boudoir Photography, Intimate Photography

Would love to hear what you guys think. Of course, critiques are always welcome too.

 

[Reflexx]

Awesome as usual. Love letters looking at all your stuff.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Awesome photography! I like the B&W shots, and I like #1, since it really shows the details of her abs.

I would've thought all of them were shot with a DSLR, not a smartphone camera.

 

[AccentAE86]

Cheers thanks. I'm probably having too much fun with this little phone! Trying to figure out what projects I'll try next.

 

[palandri]

Did you do any professional photo work with your Nokia N8 when you had it?

 

[AccentAE86]

Did you do any professional photo work with your Nokia N8 when you had it?

No I didn't. I can't remember totally why, but I think it had something to do with the fact that it lacked full manual controls. Something that is essential to control all aspects of lighting. I could have probably done some shoots with the N8 using continuous lighting, but I seem to remember it dropped the ball when syncing to flash. Otherwise, I probably would have. That phone had one awesome little camera in it. Even the sensor in the N8 dwarfs the modern iPhone sensor.

 

[Blacklac]

Must be real tough getting out of bed knowing you gotta do that crap for work all the time, huh? :grin: Need an assistant??

Nice shots, btw.

 

[palandri]

No I didn't. I can't remember totally why, but I think it had something to do with the fact that it lacked full manual controls. Something that is essential to control all aspects of lighting. I could have probably done some shoots with the N8 using continuous lighting, but I seem to remember it dropped the ball when syncing to flash. Otherwise, I probably would have. That phone had one awesome little camera in it. Even the sensor in the N8 dwarfs the modern iPhone sensor.

My wife and I both got N8's when they came out and we were stunned with quality of the pictures and videos. My wife now has a Nokia 808 and refused to give it up. :grin:

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Those are some amazing shots! It doesn't look like you had to do too much post processing work either...

 

[AccentAE86]

Must be real tough getting out of bed knowing you gotta do that crap for work all the time, huh? :grin: Need an assistant??

Nice shots, btw.

Haha everyone thinks it must be so fun, but honestly, it is a lot of hard work and very mentally draining to bring out the very best in all these women regardless of age or size (2 of the above girls are in their 30's, two in their 40's, and one in their 50's, and the other is 20 yrs old, ranging from size 6-12). It is very rewarding as I believe every woman is beautiful, and I'm honored to be the one to show them that, but holy hell is it exhausting work! Probably one of the most difficult forms of photography I do.

My wife and I both got N8's when they came out and we were stunned with quality of the pictures and videos. My wife now has a Nokia 808 and refused to give it up. :grin:

I believe I skipped the 808 because I heard it had the same manual control limitations of the N8. But I was all for the 1020 (or 909, as it is known internally) because I could control and lock down the ISO, flash, focus, white balance, and shutter speeds to get exactly the look that I wanted. Relying on autoexposure makes all your photos look like... well... they were taking with autoexposure! hahah

Those are some amazing shots! It doesn't look like you had to do too much post processing work either...

No, I don't go heavy on the photoshop, but Boudoir does require significant retouching work. I don't want to make people look unlike themselves, or unrealistically drop 10 pounds off of them using photoshop. The key to it all is in the posing, angle you shoot them at, and the lighting, which can make people look amazing if set up perfectly for the client and pose.

Cheers, thanks for your comments. Would love to hear what others think. So many lurkers but so few comments LOL.

 

[Nick_1020]

I wonder if you website traffic has shot up within the last day or so??

Great pics!

 

[John20212]

Nice shots, can you post one or two at full res to see the detail the 1020 can get.

 

[AccentAE86]

Nice shots, can you post one or two at full res to see the detail the 1020 can get.

Well, normally I don't post full res photos, but I'll upload one. But remember, I shoot only at 5MP, I don't bother with the 41MP files because I trust in Nokia's engineering when they say that the whole goal is to obtain great 5MP files. Also, for portrait photography, I zoom in all the time and the 41MP files loses your original zoom and framing. I don't want to deal with reframing afterwards; I grew up shooting film and it just isn't in my blood to think to "adjust later".

Anyhow, here is a 5MP file, this is not fully zoomed in but pretty close, so you can get a good idea of the full 1:1 pixel quality.
http://www.nightanddayphoto.ca/misc/forumpics/WPCentral/1020Studio/WP_20131026_13_19_36_Pro-2.jpg

 

[John20212]

Well, normally I don't post full res photos, but I'll upload one. But remember, I shoot only at 5MP, I don't bother with the 41MP files because I trust in Nokia's engineering when they say that the whole goal is to obtain great 5MP files. Also, for portrait photography, I zoom in all the time and the 41MP files loses your original zoom and framing. I don't want to deal with reframing afterwards; I grew up shooting film and it just isn't in my blood to think to "adjust later".

Anyhow, here is a 5MP file, this is not fully zoomed in but pretty close, so you can get a good idea of the full 1:1 pixel quality.
http://www.nightanddayphoto.ca/misc/forumpics/WPCentral/1020Studio/WP_20131026_13_19_36_Pro-2.jpg

Thanks.

I am a bit surprised how grainy the full size image is, was kind of expecting less noise in the shot.
But I guess its not really an issue unless you need poster size prints.

I am really looking forward to Nokia Black as Nokia said they improved the photo noise.

 

[AccentAE86]

Thanks.

I am a bit surprised how grainy the full size image is, was kind of expecting less noise in the shot.
But I guess its not really an issue unless you need poster size prints.

I am really looking forward to Nokia Black as Nokia said they improved the photo noise.

The more you are zoomed in, the more grain there is, because there are less pixels around to create what Nokia calls "super pixels". But shooting fully zoomed out, the grain level is very low and clean. Grain I don't mind, because despite the noise, the 1020 retains a GREAT level of detail, which is much more important to creating a pleasing image.

 

[metalchick719]

Wow, those are amazing shots!

 

[AccentAE86]

Wow, those are amazing shots!

Cheers, appreciate it! Have you ever done a boudoir session? It's becoming more and more popular every day seems like.

 

[jleebiker]

WOW! I don't know if this is a thread about the phone or the models. ;-) Amazing work!!!

 

[Kris Simundson]

I know the 920 is no 1020, and I hope to upgrade to the 1020 sooner than later. But this got me excited to start snapping pics with my 920. (Reference your other thread photo's)

As for this thread. Fantastic pictures. Absolutely stunning.

 

[DBZo07]

It seems more of advertisement.. Smart spammers...
Sorry but wrong place to show wrong pictures, small kids too surf wpc..
Rest choices are your... Be responsibile citizen.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 625 India gdr3