The lovely Ms. S did a boudoir shoot with us and gave the images to her husband as a wedding anniversary gift. Here are our favorite images. Thanks so much to her for letting us share some of her images from the shoot. Enjoy!
Every couple of months I like to do some personal work, this time with a nude model in the studio. Taking photographs just for me keeps my creative energy going and keeps me grounded about why I love photography. It’s easy to forget that sometimes when I’ve spent most of my day on email or have to do the books to keep up the business side of things.
Sometimes my personal work is as simple as taking pictures of my family like every other dad out there with a camera. Quite a lot of the time it’s not at all related to boudoir or weddings, such as when I spend a couple of hours just wandering around to see what I can find or getting inspired by a new place when I’m traveling.
Since we’ve moved to Somerville, the last couple of personal shoots have been in the studio to test some new ideas while working within the space to create some new ideas for boudoir clients. This was the case with this particular shoot.
A few months ago I was approached by a professional model from San Francisco about doing a shoot. She said she was going to be in Boston for a few days and really liked my work. I thought she would be perfect for doing some artistic nudes so we tried a few different things.
One of my favorite things to do is to use fabrics in my shoots. I usually wrap my subjects in them, but this time I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if we put the fabric between the camera and the model. We used some black lace and white tulle to get some really interesting results that I like quite a lot. We also played around with some really dramatic lighting to bring out the shape of her body.
And for all of you ladies who like the idea of doing something like this, but feel like you could never do it because you’re not a professional model, don’t discount the idea. Using fabrics and dramatic lighting work for all women, regardless of size, age, or anything else. Well, if that’s true, then why the professional model? I like working with models for a couple of reasons — good ones require very little posing direction so I concentrate on the technique without worrying too much about putting my subject at ease. Figure models such as JEM are also very comfortable working with nudity as part of the creative process and are happy to let me publish the resulting photographs.
We shot for about three hours and these are my favorites. Enjoy!
–Erik
Interested in stepping out of your comfort zone to try some of your own fine art nudes? Get in touch and we’ll be happy to chat with you about some ideas!
Plans this Thursday? No? Well, you do now!
We’re participating in the Girls Night Out event hosted by the Royale Boston in downtown Boston on Thursday evening from 5-10 PM. Come visit our booth for half price sessions as well as your chance to win a free shoot! Kerri, Lorna, and Erik will be there to answer questions and show you our latest work.
Bring your girlfriends for other fun stuff too—A martini bar, performances by Absolute Men, photobooth, and lots more!
For more details about the event, visit the website at Fun Girls Night Out.
Hope to see you there!
Kerri Herlihy is a Boston based makeup artist with 15 years of experience in the business, with work covering print, lifestyle and editorial, music, film and television. Kerri recently received the Readers Choice award for “Best Makeup Artist” by North Shore Magazines Bons “Best Of 2011″.
So in short, we are very lucky to introduce Kerri to you as a new member of the Patton Photo Team! And we wanted to do a feature for you to get to know her as well.
On your career:
Can you tell us a little bit about you? How did you first get into this business, how
long have you been doing what you do, and what kind of work have you done?
I was in my first year of college, and needed a part time job. My good friend was working for MAC cosmetics, and hired me knowing I was good with makeup. I immediatley fell in love with all aspects of the job, and started working full time in the summer. Through networking, I started meeting photographers and doing makeup for them to build my portfolio. 15 years later I have my own business and could not be happier with the outcome!
I have worked in all areas of makeup. Early on it was mostly fashion shoots, and I was lucky enough to do makeup on a bunch of covers for Stuff Magazine (a local fashion publication).
After a few years of magazine and print work, I got some great opportunities to work in television, and film. This is still something that I do to this day, and really enjoy.
I also love working with personal clients, and most recently Boudoir photography with the amazing Erik Patton!
How would you describe your style?
I do not have one particular style. Although, I do pride myself in bringing out a womens true, natural beauty. So many makeup artists seem to want to hide a woman behind a mask of makeup, and dark shadows. I love the look of natural makeup, and have heard from my clients for years that this is why they continue to hire me, because they never feel overly made up.
On beauty:
How do you define beauty?
Beauty is what makes you feel your very best..it is a very personal thing, and different for every woman.
What is your favorite boudoir style?
I love the classic boudoir style..with a little edge
What are some of your favorite products?
I could go on for days about my favorite products! I can tell you my favorite products of right now (which I could still go on for days about). MAC makes an amazing product called a Paint Pot. It is an eyelid primer that can also be used alone as a cream shadow. It comes in a bunch of colors, but “Painterly” is my absolute favorite. It will stop any creasing or slipping of eyeshadow, and will last all day! Also, I am hooked on Maybelline’s Baby Lips. They are lip balms with just the right amount of color, and are only $3.99! My go to color is “Twinkle”.
What beauty looks are trending now?
Luckily I have a good friend in NYC who always seems to have to scoop on the next seasons trends before anyone else does! Coming up in the spring you will see a lot of really bold reds and poppy lips. Also bold colored eye liner in emerald green and cobalt blue. False lashes are also becoming much more mainstream with makeup looks this spring..which I am very excited about!
On the set:
What should women know when preparing for a boudoir shoot?
Erik is great at mentally preparing a client for a great shoot, and truly sets them at ease before we begin shooting (which makes my job much easier!). All she needs to know is that we will bring out the absolute best in her! She will leave feeling sexier then she ever has! Her hair and makeup will be done to perfection, and she can sit back and have a great time!
What is your favorite makeup look for a boudoir shoot?
As much as I love a natural look..it is always fun with boudoir to go a little outside of the box, and do a smokey, sexy eye with lashes! The clients always end up loving this look the most (and so do I!).
On you:
What do you like to do outside of work?
Outside of work, when not shopping for the latest makeup trends,…I am a huge music fan, so I am usually checking out a live show, or a new restaraunt with friends.
What do you love to indulge in?
Good question! I seem to have a thing for expensive perfume! It’s the one thing I allow myself to indulge in (other then makeup!).
If not a makeup artist, you’d be…
I went to school for Early Childhood Education, and always saw myself as a pre-schoool teacher, if i had not discovered the world of makeup!
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To see more about Kerri Herlihy or to contact her, check out her website listed below in addition to her Facebook page. We highly recommend it!
One of the challenges for boudoir photographers is showing off our latest work. We work with a lot of clients who don’t feel comfortable sharing their photographs online and we completely respect that. The majority of clients only intended her pictures to be viewed by her significant other.
So how do we show you our latest work? One way that works well is to show some images from model test shoots. These are shoots that we do about every six weeks or so and allow us to try new things, whether it’s new equipment, a new location or a new style. For this shoot we were going for something that had a bit of a retro feel to it.
Thanks to my friend Wendy for coming in and having some fun with us. Here’s a selection of my favorite images.
–Erik