Hi All,

You may be wondering what you’ve stumbled into here. I know discussions of cameras and lighting technique are not usually found on erotic websites.

I started shooting Bondage sets in 2000, for what would become Restrained Elegance. My first efforts weren’t so great, as you’d expect. More than 12 years on, I hope you’ll agree that we’ve come on a long way. Part of that is me following my own “internal artistic compass”, something I rambled on at length about in this blog post: http://www.hywelphillips.com/HywelPhillips.com/Blog/Entries/2011/11/30_Art_or_Business.html

But by far the biggest improvement has come from the helpful advice, suggestions, constructive criticism and occasional argument with others. Being an introverted nerdy chap of course that has mostly been done online. I’ve learnt a lot, but there’s so much still left to learn. And I hope I can pay back the karmic generosity of those who were kind enough to help me early on by giving constructive criticism and technical suggestions to people just starting to figure out how to go beyond taking snapshots on their iPhones.

Here’s a few things I’ve come to learn over the years.

EQUIPMENT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The 3.1 megapixel shots from my first digital camera, and the scanned slides from my original shoots, still look pretty good. Here’s Temptress Kate, looking smokin’ hot as a virgin sacrifice:

Given how sexy that shot is, why am I not still shooting with film?

Answer 1: Convenience. Reviewing the shot right now, instead of three weeks hence when they come back from the lab is extremely useful.

Answer 2: Cost. Film cost a frigging fortune, especially once professional scanning is included. The only reason Restrained Elegance exists is because of the digital revolution. I bought my first digital camera (a Canon D30) after a shooting trip to LA where the film and scanning costs came to TWICE the cost of the digi-cam!

So, given that the D30 shot 3.1 megapixel shots, and most people still look at the 1200×1600 versions of the shots (1.92 megapixels), it still should be overspecified for the job, right?

In theory. Here’s a shot of Sammie taken with the D30:

Looks pretty hot, too, doesn’t she? Undeniably. But look at the detail in her hair. See that “laddering” effect? That’s showing the limits of resolution and sharpening. At this size it is OK, at the original 3.1 megapixels it looks a bit soft. At 1:1 on a decent monitor, the limitations are clear.

So here’s a shot with today’s camera (as a link, rather than a pic, as it is huge):
http://www.restrainedelegance.com/members/helenstaircasebling1/full/reh_20111117_1244458.jpg

with 10 times as many pixels, and lenses to cope, there’s a level of detail and crisp micro-contrast that the D30 could never dream of. The shallow depth of field is an artistic choice to draw you into those fabulous eyes.

So- equipment matters. But what suits one person’s shooting style might not be right for another’s.

LIGHTNING MATTERS A LOT

Here’s an old shot where I got the lighting a bit wrong:

And a newer shot you might not even realise *IS* lit, unless I told you that there was a honking great battery powered studio flash at full power through an umbrella to camera left:

http://www.restrainedelegance.com/members/katycapturedbywater1/full/reh_20100606_1230503.jpg

A lot of the glamour factor in this shot comes from the lighting, and the lens flare which I’ve made a deliberate choice to play up to (I don’t put a lens shade on for this sort of shot and shoot into the light deliberately to try to provoke the flare-resistant Hasselblad lenses into flaring nicely for me):

http://www.restrainedelegance.com/members/arielautumnwalkerselfbondage1/full/reh_20111101_1243562.jpg

and again you might not realise that there’s a whacking great studio flash unit in use here!

To light, you need lighting gear. Full stop.

A BAD WORKMAN BLAMES HIS TOOLS. BUT A PROFESSIONAL HAS THE RIGHT TOOLS!

There’s a grain of truth in this old saying- I’m sure every model and photographer can tell you about the annoying camera guy who has the most expensive camera and every L-series Canon lens but whose photos are shit.

But the truth is that if you check out every working professional’s tools, they will be of tip-top quality for the purpose for which they are required. The difference is that when you know what you are doing, you can be selective. The working pro will only have a sack of expensive lenses if he regularly needs them. He’s more likely to have the three or four which suit his working style.

They may even have equipment which seems quaint, or out-dated, or silly. But it’ll have been chosen carefully to do the job it needs to do. For years, wedding photographers swore by a particular Fuji camera that most people thought was a prosumer toy. It just happened to have what we now call HDR built in to the sensor, with small sub-pixels for highlight exposure next to large ones for low-light. That gave the best dynamic range of anything on the market. Which is a killer feature if you make your living photographing black suits next to white dresses every weekend.

LEARN AS YOU GO

So- there’s no point buying a top of the line digital SLR and all the lenses Canon make for your first shoot. You won’t know what to do with it, and you’ll end up getting frustrated. Learn the ropes with a simpler camera which allows full manual control, and a starter lens. You’ll soon learn what is important to you and what limitations you need to get around. Fortunately these days with eBay to hand, you can recover quite a lot of the cost of kit when you replace it.

For me, I’d recommend a starter dSLR that shoots RAW and has interchangeable lenses, and can shoot fully manual. I’d go for a slightly wide angle, normal and portrait prime lens (35 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm full-frame equivalent). Personally I prefer to move rather than use a zoom to recompose, and primes are lighter, let a LOT more light in which gives you flexibility and usually they are sharper than zooms too. But your style may be quite different- you might find yourself yearning for a 16 mm lens or a 100mm macro. You’ll learn what you need as you go.

MAKE MISTAKES

Everyone makes mistakes. The glib thing is to say they are opportunities to learn, and that’s true. Make notes when things go wrong- it’ll be so much more memorable than when they go right! Strive to avoid making the same mistake again. If it is a mistake on kit purchase, flog the kit and get what you should have gone for in the first place.

Cheap glass is almost always a mistake. As Stu Maschwitz put it, it is a non-refundable down payment on the decent kit you’ll one day need to buy.

Expensive cameras are a mistake unless you are damn sure. Camera bodies get upgraded every few years, and do wear out- we burnt out the shutter mechanism on a couple of mid-range Canons. If your camera is more than half your investment, get a cheaper one and upgrade your glass.

Sometimes you splash out on kit that languishes unused in your kit bag after a few outings. (My ringflash doesn’t see much action- the problem is you need to re-meter every times you move, so it doesn’t suit my move around a lot shooting style. If I liked to use a zoom and stay put, it would be awesome). Don’t sweat it. Flog it, or keep it for the odd occasion you’ll need to pull it out.

Sometimes you buy cheap kit that does everything you need and will serve you a lifetime. I’m still using the polaris flash meter I bought 13 years ago and have never once wished for anything more.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

If you’re looking at a really major investment in kit, hire it before you buy it. Even a one-day shoot should give you enough idea if it is the kit for you.

LISTEN TO YOUR ARTISTIC COMPASS

In the end, the only reason you make art is to satisfy yourself. Sometimes, you need to follow what your artistic vision says, even if everyone else thinks you are crazy. Don’t bankrupt yourself, but in the end only you can decide what will best serve that vision.

Cheers, Hywel.