Flawless and Fabulous: Lou Freeman’s Rundown of Four Glamour Shots

The best way to describe a Lou Freeman image is by using words like “magic” and “wow factor.” One of the first female photographers at Playboy (where she delivered nearly 600 spreads in her 12 years there), Freeman sees her time there as significant because of the lighting techniques she developed, which she says “shaped my life as a photographer.”

Photos © Lou Freeman

PSYCHEDELIC BEAUTY
This shot, Freeman says, is all about using psychedelic color impact paired with hard beauty light in full sun. “I put a strobe on a long pole for a strong, hard light effect to help fill out any shadows on her face, and another light for the background was used to fill in the water more evenly—the color enhanced with turquoise gel. The strobe was amended and redirected with barn doors.” The colors of the waterproof makeup, Freeman adds, were chosen to offset the vibrant colors of the jewelry, blouse and water.

CAMERA: Canon 1DX LENS: Canon 24-105mm LIGHTING: Bowens lighting and Lumiair modifiers MODEL: Jessica Miller HAIR & MAKEUP: Erica Bogart STYLING: Lou Freeman and Lori Duncan BLOUSE: Avnah Couture NECKLACE: Masha

BOHEMIAN VIBE
Freeman chose the lush location because of all the “amazing garden jungle” foliage in a sidewalk pathway behind the house where she was staying in Boca Grande, Florida. “We waited until the light was glaring into the background, kind of blowing in, to capitalize on that surreal quality xseen in the final image. We then balanced out the exposure in the end by using a 5-foot octabox and one strobe to illuminate the model.”

CAMERA: Canon 1DX LENS: Canon 50mm f/1.4 LIGHTING: Bowens lighting and Lumiair modifiers MODEL: Christina Garrison HAIR & MAKEUP: Erica Bogart STYLING: Lou Freeman and Lori Duncan CLOTHING: Avnah Couture JEWELRY: Masha

ICE PRINCESS
For this creative shot, done in-studio for Modern Lite (a series of videos where Freeman shows how she utilized five Canon speedlites and modifiers), the photographer created a fantastical story about an ice princess. “Everything in this shoot was made from scratch,” Freeman explains, “so the hair and makeup artists made the wig out of real cotton; the necklace was made from candy and cake icing; and all the colors and tones were based on the colors in the crystals of the model’s dress. It was really fun watching it all come to life.” Freeman says she finished off the shot with edges she created herself from other photos (and the background is from Denny Manufacturing).

CAMERA: Canon 5D Mark III LENS: Canon 50mm f/1.4 LIGHTING: Canon 600EX-RT speedlites with ST-E3-RT transmitter, FJ Westcott strip boxes and orb MODEL: Ceara MAKEUP: Jamie Kimbrough HAIR: Samantha Gunn STYLING: Joe Stuckey

SUNNY STYLE
“I love to shoot people in full sun and then also light them with a full sun-style modifier (or a hard light),” says Freeman of this shot. “Basically I think people are scared of hard light, afraid it will make the image harsh or stiff or edgy, but for me, it’s all about pairing the right kind of makeup and the right kind of attitude with the hard light. I love the magic effects of hard light when you place it on a model’s face (as done here), or used in contrast to ambient light, like the sun—then I can start to have impact on the face and do away with a lot of the texture on the skin (which ultimately makes my retouching a lot easier in post). I also work really closely with people on makeup and hair for this reason. Creatives on my team know how far they can go with hard or soft light on one of my shots. For me, soft light equals softer makeup, and harder light equals shadows and obvious contours and shaping from the light. I like to focus on hard light when I want impact or an edge or graphic quality in a shot.” Also, she adds, the use of strobe or speedlite as fill light is much easier to control when shooting by yourself, sans assistant, to get amazing results.

CAMERA: Canon 5D Mark III LENS: Canon 50mm LIGHTING: Canon 600EX-RT speedlites MODEL: Brittany Day HAIR & MAKEUP: Paulina Halskova STYLING: Lou Freeman

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                                                   Photo © D. Crowder

Lou Freeman has been working as a photographer for 31 years. Creative from an early age, her first photos were published at the age of 13. Since then, she has worked as a fashion and advertising photographer for many publications and brands, including Playboy, Italian Harper’s Bazaar, Sara Lee/Hanes Brand and many others. Renowned as an expert at stylization of light, Freeman is always willing to share her techniques, as she has done countless times for CreativeLive, KelbyOne, PPA, Canon and many others. In 2013 she released “Lou Freeman’s Look Fabulous” DVD series on glamour, fashion and beauty, following the Look Fabulous 36-city tour with Lindsay Adler. The DVD outlines her many techniques for framing, studio and outdoor lighting, posing, shape shifting, problem solving and more. The Fashion & Glamor Posing by LOU Freeman apps (Reclining, Sitting and Standing) are now available on iTunes.

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