Victoria loves being in front of the camera. That’s all you need to know about her. Read on to see how we made these sepia toned lingerie photos.
As I’ve explained in other posts, I love using available light whenever possible. I constantly challenge myself to work within the confines of a light I can barely control to get the best images possible.
For these sepia toned lingerie photos, I thankfully had dimmable lamps in the bedroom area (one on each side of the bed) so I could have more fine-grained control over the amount of light on and around Victoria. I also used the bathroom light, which, while not on a dimmer, I was still able to control by opening and closing the bathroom door. In many instances, leaving it open just a sliver was all the light I needed.
Because of the very small amount of light I was working with, I shot these at ISO 8000. In post-production, I reduced the noise in Lightroom, and then added some grain back again for a grittier film-like feel. Why sepia? Well I wasn’t a huge fan of the colour rendition of those lamps in the room, but I noticed something while working on the photos in colour. The sheets and Victoria’s lingerie were both white, while the headboard, Victoria’s skin, and the light from the lamps were all beige/tan/yellow. Warm, in other words. So I was essentially already looking at a monochromatic scene of warms and whites. It wasn’t a far leap for my brain to take that one step further and apply a sepia tone.
Fun fact: sepia toning is named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish. Thanks, Wikipedia!
These sepia toned lingerie photos were shot on site at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto.
Gear
- Nikon D600 DSLR Camera (get the newer D610 at Amazon.ca or Amazon.com)
- Nikon 85mm FX ƒ/1.8G AF-S Lens (Amazon.ca / Amazon.com)
Click images of Victoria below to enlarge
