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 Precious Publications
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Precious Publications
Text by SHAUN VAN DER POLL, Visuals by MICHAEL ZELBEL and RUFEI MA

On Shooting Glamour Photographs for Magazines

Are you looking to start doing glamour
shoots for magazine publications? Well,
here are some great tips and hints to
get you started! For the purposes of this
article, we will be focusing on shooting
glamour photos for men’s magazines.
However, many of the same guidelines
and principles apply to other magazines
too. It is all about high quality, sharp-
ness, variety, and lighting, so let’s dive
into all the juicy details below.
What are the most important aspects
to consider when you start doing glam-
our shoots? The first is that you need to
think like the editor of the publication.
What kinds of photos do they want?
What fits in with the overall styling of
their magazine? What types of shots
would they need? The second thing to
remember is that the images must be
technically correct with good, simple
lighting used. Shooting photographs
for men’s magazine layouts requires
sharp, well-lit images that are techni-
cally correct to achieve a high quality
look.
 Precious Publications
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Special lighting options may be used, such as backlit sunlight,

but make sure this doesn’t become too artsy, as it might not
match the magazine’s usual style.

For glamour shots, simple lighting from either the left or the right is all that you need.
So, the main parameters when shoot-
ing glamour photos are incorporating
a wide range of layout options for the
editor, so that he or she has plenty of
interesting, exciting, strong photos to
choose from, and ensuring that you
have good lighting throughout. All you
really need is simple, plain lighting, be-
cause the shots need to look classy, el-
egant and warm.
There is not usually a need for very dra-
matic lighting, or artistic effects, unless
this is specified or a regular formatting
requirement of the specific publication
that you are shooting for. It just requires
a beautiful location and a lovely, engag-
Precious Publications
5
ing model. For lighting, you can make
use of flashes, modifiers and reflectors
to get the specific lighting effects that
you want, whether it is soft lighting or
something a little punchier.
Layout Options for Glamour
Shoots
When it comes to the different layout
options for glamour shoots, there are
various aspects you need to take into
consideration. Most importantly, you
need to shoot for all eventualities, so
that you can provide the magazine ed-
itor with all the possible options that
they might need.
 Precious Publications
6

Vertical shots should be included for the editor to use on single pages. Horizontal shots give the editor the op-
tion of using the photo on double pages.

Your images should be sharp, correctly have covered all the possibilities. Give
exposed and not too repetitive. your editor plenty of excellent choices.

Try to offer something unique in each
of them, either in the setting, the an-
gles, the wardrobe used, or something
more specific regarding the positioning
of the model. You will want to take hun-
dreds of photos to make sure that you
Thinking like the editor means that
you have to produce photographs that
could be used anywhere in the publi-
cation, whether it is on a right page or
a left page, on the cover, or even in the
centerfold.

Many photographers tend to think of standing and laying scenes only. But photos with your model sitting com-
fortably are important as well. Like always, shoot them as horizontals as well as verticals.

On a single left page, the editor will
require photos where the model is
directed to the right of the image, so
that she leans, looks, or is in some
way directed towards the center of
the magazine.
Precious Publications
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On a single right page, the model’s
body language should be directed
to the left of the photo, towards the
center of the magazine.

You will probably not have a clear in-
dication of where your photos will be
used, so you need to be prepared with
every shot you can think of. Even the
editor won’t have a clear idea of where
your photos will be used yet. He will
look at what you give him or her be-
fore they complete their article layout,
and see which images fit the best with
the entire article. This means that you
will need to give them numerous op-
tions to choose from, so they can use
your photo in whatever way suits their
needs best.
Therefore you should include photos
that are shot from both the left and the
right, using straight-on, upward and
Cover various points of view, from having the camera on the
floor, all the way up to having the camera high above the model.
Precious Publications
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downward angles of your model. Get
her to look into the lens, away from
the lens, down over her shoulder, with
her back to the camera, directly to the
side of the camera, and much more.
You should also take mid-range, close
up, or full body shots, and don’t forget
to shoot both vertical and horizontal
photos, where the model can be stand-
ing, sitting, and laying down in some
of them. You can even go overhead
using a ladder or from a second floor
balcony to shoot directly down on the
model, who could be lying down flat
on the ground, or sitting and looking
up towards the camera.
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There is no rule that laying poses must be horizontal shoots.

Make some verticals as well.
Precious Publications
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(previous page & this page) The framing should include
full body photos, medium shots of your model from
each direction, and close-ups of the model’s face.
Give your model the freedom to move
around as she feels comfortable, lean-
ing on objects, bending down, turning,
looking up into the sky, placing her hair
over her shoulder, using various arm
positions, sitting on a swing, and any-
thing else you can think of. The key is to
be versatile and offer the widest vari-
ety of shots possible. This gives the edi-
tor plenty of options when it comes to
the layout of the magazine articles and
editorials, and helps them when decid-
ing on what will fit best with the overall
feel, design and styling of the issue.
For instance, let’s look at the cover pho-
to of a magazine. This usually features
the model looking directly into the lens
to make a connection with the reader,
Precious Publications
11
and is often chosen as a vertical, me-
dium range shot, so it is advisable to
include this in your glamour shoot.
A centerfold must fit in with the format
of the magazine, and could be a verti-
cal shot, extreme vertical, or horizontal,
depending on what format the editor
requires, so make sure that you include
all of these options. The best thing to
do would be to familiarize yourself with
the required formats for centerfolds
in the specific publication so that you
can be sure to include these types of
shots. It would be heartbreaking if the
editor loved all your photos, but could
not find a strong enough one in the re-
quired format to use as the centerfold!
 Precious Publications
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For cover shots and article start pages, multiple photos should be shot that feature the model holding an inten-
sive connection with the camera.

Consider shooting some details as well.

They can be very helpful as filler content
when constructing the layout.
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When shooting for centerfolds or posters,

you should find out from the editor about
any specific formatting that is required.

For single pages, the model should be
leaning towards or facing the center
of the magazine, so depending on the
page used, you should provide photo-
graphs that feature the model directing
her body or her eye line to the left and
to the right.
As you can see, there are tons of shots
you should aim to supply to the editor
of a men’s magazine. It can be quite
tricky to make sure you get all of these
shots and utilize all of the possible
poses, framing options, and angles, as
you have to remember all the differ-
When there are some unique features that you
want to capture in your shots like a tattoo, make
sure you add it to your matrix so you don’t forget.
Precious Publications
14
ent shots you have already taken, and
make sure you don’t forget anything!
To make things easier and to make
your glamour shoot run more smooth-
ly, you can make use of a simple lit-
tle tool called the Magazine Layout
Posing Matrix. This can be download-
ed, and as you will see, it is basically
a checklist you can use during your
glamour shoot to make sure you have
taken shots of each and every angle,
pose, and layout element that might
be required by the editor.
 You don’t always need Precious
to shootPublications
straight and
15
upright. Try using Dutch angles by tilting your
camera, as well as using downward or upward
angles for more interesting shots.
 Precious Publications
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Customize the matrix according to your needs. Add some extra ideas. We already
included a few special ones. Just have a look.

Download your Magazine Posing Layout Matrix Or directly print it out from
the last page of this article.

The Magazine Layout Posing Matrix is a guide that you can use to make sure that you have covered all
the poses and styles that will meet the needs of the magazine editor.

Lighting and Camera Setup

When it comes to the correct exposure
for your glamour photos, a flash is very
helpful to get the correct type of light-
ing you want. It also helps you to avoid
motion blur. The flash could be placed
to the left or right of the model, or di-
rectly in front of her depending on the
look you want to achieve. A magazine
editor rarely requires fancy, artistic light-
ing for glamour photos, so try to keep
it plain and simple in order to produce
high quality images that are engaging
and beautiful.
For the lighting setup in your glam-
our shoot, you could opt for a single
light placed at a 45 degree angle to-
wards the model, either on the right or
the left, but there are of course other
possibilities. You will just need to play
around with lighting to find what works
for you.
You could choose to use various light
modifiers. For instance, the photos in
this article used the Phottix Luna Fold-
ing Octa Softbox for creating the softly
 Precious Publications
17

lit photos, and the Phottix Luna Folding
Beauty Dish was used for the scenes
that required a harder light where more
drama and impact were needed. These
Phottix modifiers are lightweight, com-
pact, and easy to move around and
set up when you are shooting on loca-
tion. However, there are various other
modifiers that you might like to use.

Our light modifiers were Phottix Luna Folding Octa Softbox (110cm) for soft light scenes and Phottix
Luna Folding Beauty Dish (70cm, white) for scenes with punch
 Precious Publications
18

You could choose to use various light
modifiers. For instance, the photos in
this article used the Phottix Luna Fold-
ing Octa Softbox for creating the softly
lit photos, and the Phottix Luna Folding
Beauty Dish was used for the scenes
that required a harder light where more
drama and impact were needed. These
Phottix modifiers are lightweight, com-
pact, and easy to move around and
set up when you are shooting on loca-
tion. However, there are various other
modifiers that you might like to use.

What may look like sunlight is actually the

light from a beauty dish. This allows us to
keep background relatively dark, so that the
model pops out.

1) Model
2) Octabox or Beautidish, Speedlight GN 58, ETTL (High
Speed Sync activated on a few, very sunny images)
3) Sun (not always present)
4) Large reflector, used as gobo to block the sun from hitting
the models skin
5) Full Frame DSLR, AV at f/2.8, ETTL, ISO160 for most
scenes, higher ISO during the indoor scenes
 Precious Publications
A blurry foreground and background is the perfect
19
stage for your model. However, make sure that the
model herself is really sharp
 Precious Publications
20

A cutout of the previous photo enlarged to 200% should give you an idea of
the type of sharpness you are after. Practice, a stable position, calm breathing
and your flash are your tools for freezing the motion of your model
 Precious Publications
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We used one Speedlight (Phottix Mitros) off camera, simply on ETTL, High Speed Sync activated
when necessary

For these shots, the camera was on Aperture Variation f/2.8 with the Speedlight
on ETTL, but if you are not that good at getting the sharpness right just yet, then
one suggestion is to shoot on f/5.6 to start with, instead of the f/2.8. This will pre-
vent your photos from coming out too blurry and out of focus.

Another important aspect that you should take into consideration when shoot-
ing for glamour magazines of any kind, or for any other shoot in fact, is to have
a second shooter to work alongside you. Shooting from all orientations, all crops,
and all poses should be second nature to them, and you could also show them
how to work with the Matrix to make sure they capture all the shots that might
be required.

By taking the above tips and hints into consideration and downloading the Layout
Posing Matrix to help you with your glamour shoot, you can impress the editor im-
mensely with a plethora of unique, interesting images that he can use anywhere
in the publication. The positioning of the model, lighting directions, framing, and
layout options, as well as making use of a second shooter, all contribute to the
rich outcome of your glamour photo shoot.
 Precious Publications
22

Print out this page, or download the matrix

Magazine Layout Posing Matrix

Right Center Left

Verticals ( ) Standing ( ) Standing ( ) Standing
( ) Sitting ( ) Sitting ( ) Sitting
( ) Laying ( ) Laying ( ) Laying
( ) Close ( ) Close ( ) Close
( ) Medium ( ) Medium ( ) Medium
( ) Wide ( ) Wide ( ) Wide
Horizontals ( ) Standing ( ) Standing ( ) Standing
( ) Sitting ( ) Sitting ( ) Sitting
( ) Laying ( ) Laying ( ) Laying
( ) Close ( ) Close ( ) Close
( ) Medium ( ) Medium ( ) Medium
( ) Wide ( ) Wide ( ) Wide

Special ( ) cover ( ) centerfold

Variations ( ) long leg ( ) long neck
( ) shy vs ( ) provocative
( ) straight ( ) tilted
Photography
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Cousins. Coaching. Community.

Cover
Model: Kinga Szabô
Photo: Michael Zelbel
Styling & MUA: Emily Wei
Location: Peter R.Liesenhoff
Publisher
ProPortfolioClub.com
©Zelbel Ltd. & Co.KG
all rights reserved
Editor
Michael Zelbel
Photos / Video
Rufei Ma
Jürgen Wermeister
Michael Zelbel
Postproduction
Renzy Memije
Contact
Edtitorial / Commercial /
Advertising
Helpdesk@GoodLightMag.com
http://www.GoodLightMag.com
Disclaimer
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