Boudoir Session with Kealani

This is from my boudoir session with Kealani in August.

My goal was to create work that would be dreamy and ethereal for her, since she had never before done any artistic photographs of herself, and I decided on doing a soft-focus effect for most of the photographs to achieve that style. There are many ways to get this effect, and in my case I used a vintage lens from the 1970’s. Due to the dynamics between the lens itself and the low quality adapter I use to attach it to my camera, at large apertures it has a strong light-blooming effect. Stopping down the lens to smaller apertures minimizes this effect, allowing subjects to be both clear and soft.

(In decades past, photographers would put vaseline on a clear lens filter to achieve a similar look, or shoot through fine mesh cloth. There are even a few specialty soft-focus lenses that were manufactured, including a modern reproduction in the form of Leica’s “Thambar” lens.)

Later in the session, as the sun was coming through the window and the shoot was nearing its conclusion, I decided to go for a darker styling. The final few photos were done by metering for the highlights on her face and the flower (which were very bright in late-afternoon sun), and allowing everything else including shadows to be darker than normal.