Cowgirl Pin-Up Shoot

With the renewed popularity in burlesque and pin-up art and photographs I recently created a pin-up shot with the assistance of a local model, Jessica.

Jessica had the right look for the cute and innocent feel of a pin-up, with the implied sexiness that gives these images their campy appeal.

I decided on a 'Cowgirl' theme, complete with sixguns, cowboy(girl) hat, boots and chaps. Jessica had most of the props in her own closet, including the vest, neck scarf and Sheriff's badge. Propping can be key in shots where there is no set or location, and pin-ups are all designed with a minimal, white background.
Lighting for pin-ups usually requires a couple of flash to blow out the white background, and a broad, even main light to wrap around the model and create depth and shape.

My assistant, Ashley, watched the details, such as hair that got out of place, wardrobe adjustments and took production shots of the set-up.
Ashley was a former student of mine at the www.WesternAcademyofPhotography.com in Victoria, B.C., and is now working in Europe for several months.

Jessica mainly works in glamour and beauty shoots so she was excellent at bringing on the bright eyed cutesy look the makes pin-up shots as fun as they are. Posing and body language add to the mood and overall feel of the shot.

And we ended up with a cheeky version in keeping with the pin-up style of implied nudity.