It seems every time you log on, there’s something new and exciting to read about or experience … or something old you’d completely forgotten about that now makes you laugh out loud at how daggy it is.

When I first started Hot Chilli Photography back in 2005 with my wife Sarah, we decided to launch at the Melbourne Sexpo event, and I was lucky enough to secure a space on the ClubX stand for us to promote our business.

Given the name we’d chosen for the business (which, by the way, is based on offering something a bit spicier, but also on my personal love of hot and spicy foods), I thought a nice tie-in would be “Hot Chilli Woman” from Noiseworks.

So, I made a call to APRA, the Australian Performing and Recording Artists association to see how much a license would cost for me to use it on our website and in our on-stand promotions.

As it happened, we never used the song, partly because of the time and effort involved in securing the rights (you wouldn’t believe the hoops and the paperwork you have to go through!), but also because I just couldn’t seem to strike a deal with the guys who owned the rights to the song (two former members of Noiseworks).  They were nice enough about it and all, we just couldn’t agree on a price at the time.

So, while I can’t lay claim to the song, or use it in my promotional material to this day (some might say that’s a good thing), I still think it’s a rockin’ tune.  If you’re in the mood for a bit of nostalgic rock, check out the Youtube Video below.

Enjoy!

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Judi Dench puts in a wonderful performance as Mrs Laura Henderson, who instead of retiring in her latter years purchases the Windmill Theatre, a delapidated London establishment that she restores to its former glory.

As German forces advance on London, and the dark depression of war descends on the country, Mrs Henderson provides a ray of light and joy in the form of elaborate stage shows featuring glamorous female nudity, complete with all the trimmings of the Art Deco era.

Predictably, the establishment seeks to shut her down, but the people themselves find the concept both intriguing and alluring in the face of the machine of war, and flock to the theatre in droves.

Visually, this film provides a unique insight into the glamour and glitz of a by-gone era.

Well worth a look.

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In this rather hefty, but very well organised and presented book, Tom takes you thorough a wide variety of different subjects - from buildings and architecture, to flowers and insects, to people and places.  In fact, the book really does live up to its name.

One of the best things about this book is that it works much more like a “quick reference guide” than a detailed book on any one topic.  You can easily flip open to the section you’re interested in, and read two or three pages that will give you some useful ideas to work with.

Tom’s easy and approachable writing style makes this book a pleasure to read.  He also doesn’t assume that you’ve got any particular type or brand of camera, as the focus is more on the technique than the technology.

Granted, you won’t be an expert on the subject matter after reading the tips on each topic, and it would take a unique individual indeed to read it cover to cover, but as a reference guide, it’s as essential to your photographic library as a dictionary is to a writer’s.

So, do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of this book.  It’s like a “quick start” guide for just about any photographic subject matter you can imagine.

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Posing for photography is a talent and an art that, like any pursuit, takes practice and study.

Fortunately, I’m providing a few “shortcut” tips right here for the aboslute beginners.

Here are some model posing tips that will help you get better results next time you’re posing for a photograph:

1. It’s What You Think: Whatever you are thinking and feeling is what comes across in the photograph. Posing is about posture and expression, but your feelings will always betray you.  Try to focus your thoughts and feelings on what you’re trying to achieve, rather than worrying about where your hands or legs are placed.  Sexy is 80% confidence, and 20% competence - the more confident and outgoing you are, the sexier your images will appear
2. Hands: Look at any photograph where hands appear, and I guarantee you that they will draw attention. I always advise models to place their hands in such a way so as to draw attention to the areas of their figure that they want the viewer to place their attention on
3. Turn at 45: Keeping your hips square to the camera is a sure way to make yourself look wider on the final image.  By putting a small twist in your hips, you will reduce your profile on camera, and make yourself look slimmer
4. Weight On One Leg: Always try to make sure that your body weight rests on one leg, and normally on the leg furthest from the camera.  Anything closer to the camera appears larger on the final image, and anything further away recedes.  Use this to your advantage
5. Relax Your Shoulders: One of the first areas in your body to give away any tension or stress is your shoulders.  If you consciously relax your shoulder area, you will find that your posture improves and that your shots appear much more natural

There are many ways to improve your posing in photographic images, however these are my personal “top five” tips.  I woould guess that you can improve your images signficantly by adding these suggestions to your posing technique.

No matter whether you are having professional photographs taken for yourself or a lover, or you’re just posing for a friend who happens to have the camera at that family function, event or time and place, by using these tecnhiques, you’ll find you’re feeling more confident and sexy on camera at every opportunity.

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Gone are the days of film processing and waiting to see what the shot looked like.  Feedback on today’s compact digital cameras and Digital SLRs is instantaneous.

But what if your photos aren’t getting any better?

Over my time as a photographer, I’ve developed a little technique that I think is worth sharing with you here.  I call it the “SEE” method.

SEE stands for “Subject, Expression, Exposure”.  Let me explain.

When dealing with any photography situation, the very first thing you need to determine is your subject.  A subject can be tangible (e.g. a person), or abstract (e.g. a concept, like “heat”), but ultimately it is what you are saying in your photograph that counts.

People say that a “picture is worth 1,000 words”.  If that is so, then you had better make them count.  What is your photograph trying to say?  What is the message you want your viewer to read? What statement are you trying to make?

Next, you need to consider the Expression.

This is the “how” component of your image.  Which tools (line, shape, form, texture, pattern, tone, colour, space, etc) are you going to use to help communicate your message?  What do you need to add?  What do you need to remove?

The final step is Exposure.  For a lot of a photographers, this is the critical phase.  Getting the exposure “correct” (which, by the way, is a matter of interpretation - there is no such thing as “correct” exposure in any given situation), is what will make or break your image.

So, use these three steps to help you refine your photographs.  First, determine your subject or message, then identify the items that will help you communicate it, and last (not first) determine the exposure that will give you the best chance of getting your message across.

There’s a lot more that could (and will) be said on this subject, but start following this three-step process, and I’m sure you’ll find that your images improve immensely.

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But what to do with all those photos you’ve got on your memory card, hard drive, CDROM, DVD, or memory stick?

Sure, you could stick them up on your Facebook/Flickr/MySpace/Insert Social Network here, but what you really want is something that will make your photos really stand out.  Something that will stop Auntie Joan from falling asleep.

Enter ProShow Gold, the ultimate photo slideshow software.

Honestly, I’ve installed and tried dozens of this type of application, and nothing else even comes close in terms of powerful features and total ease of use.

ProShow Gold has awesome features, with lots of different transitions, audio and video options, and even the ability to output a DVD menu (so your computer-challenged sibling can still watch those photos on their DVD player).

Do yourself a favour. Download the 30-day trial of ProShow Gold.

I’ve used this software for quite a while now, and it really does blow everything else on the market away.

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Seems that it brings up different emotions for different people, but now those scientific types (you know who you are) are doing research into the effect it has on people’s emotions and sex drive.  Wow, it seems you can get a research grant for just about anything these days.

Anyway, you might have seen this article on the News.com.au website this week, and how scientists at the University of Rochester in New York have now revealed … wait for it … that red is a sexy colour, and makes men “more amorous towards women”. Genius.

How do you even measure something like that (please don’t go there)?

More importantly, what practical purpose does this research serve anyhow?

Well, as it happens, red is a warm and flattering colour for outfits and lingerie to use in your photo shoots.  It’s quite striking, and the eye is naturally drawn to warmer colours over cooler colours like blue.

It’s no surprise then that red is the predominant colour of lipstick, as the lips can be one of the most sensual parts of a woman’s body.  After all, everyone loves a good kiss, right?

So, for some added pizzazz and sexy appeal in your photo shoot, try adding a splash of red to your wardrobe selection.  It might not be the sort of thing you would wear normally, but it will help to add an extra “wow” to your shots.

Don’t forget to pair it with the right set of shoes, and a good selection of accessories, too.  It’s the little details that make all the difference.

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Roweena was coming over from Perth to Melbourne to attend a friend’s wedding, and decided to combine a sexy photo shoot with her trip as a surprise for her boyfriend. We spoke on the phone a couple of times, and she booked a session a few weeks ahead of her trip. To my delight, she chose The Royce Hotel’s Royal Suite as her location. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s well worth a look.

When I arrived at the shoot, Roweena was a little nervous and unsure, almost like she’d been having second thoughts. I quickly reassured her that she was in control of the session, and that what we did or didn’t shoot was entirely up to her. This seemed to help her relax a little, as did a sip or two of the wine she’d bought for the occasion to settle said nerves.

As I do at most photo shoots, we sat down and looked over a variety of images together and talked about what she wanted to create. The more we talked, the more excited she seemed to get about the whole idea, mostly I think because she was starting to realise she was working with a professional photographer.

We made good use of the hotel’s fantastic decor to create some really unique and sexy images. It didn’t hurt that Roweena was an attractive and happy girl, either, and that she had picked out a great collection of outfits to work with. She was a real pleasure to photograph, and I just knew that her boyfriend was going to be impressed with the results - even if he was a little unsure about the whole idea in the first place.

I really loved quite a few of the photographs we created, but there was one clear, stand-out image for me. The hotel’s bathroom has a sliding glass door with a frosted motif, so I got Roweena to stand in front of the door, put the light behind her, and covered it with a red gel to create a stunning silhouette of her against the patterned glass. Classic.

Roweena was a friendly, happy and attractive girl, and a real pleasure to photograph in every way. She took direction well, and had a lot of her own creative ideas to add, which made the session really flow. I think we both had a good time, but the real kicker was when she told me over the phone that her boyfriend was blown away by the results.

After she’d received her retouched images, Roweena also wrote me an email to tell me how she’d recommended us to all her friends. I think that’s probably the highest compliment you can give someone, so I really appreciated the thought.

When I asked her for a few words of feedback about her session, here’s what Roweena had to say:

“I never thought I could be so uninhibited and comfortable. Your professional and relaxed approach put me at ease straight away, and the results were AMAZING. With your guidance, tips and willingness to try any idea’s I had, the final results were fantastic. I can’t believe the girl in the images is me - and it was so much fun playing “model” for a night!”

I’m so glad to have met and worked with such an attractive and lovely girl, and to have created some of my all time favourite images together with her. Thanks, Roweena!

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Here are five “great people shot” secrets I have found that are easy enough for even the novice photographer to apply.

1. One standard line a lot of photographers use is “look into the camera” - but this can result in very rigid-looking photographs if you’re not careful. For a more natural shot, get your subject to look slightly to the left or right of the camera
2. If you own an SLR camera, using a longer camera lens lets you take photographs at a more comfortable distance from your subject, as well as helping to blur the background a bit for that nice portrait effect (be sure to use a low numbered aperture like 2.8 or less to really make your subject stand out). Both of these techniques can create photographs with a more natural and relaxing feel to them.
3. Getting to know peoples’ personal behaviours before a photography session helps me to discover the most flattering way to photograph them. I take particular note of their mannerisms and movements so I can emphasise their uniqueness when I photograph them.
4. I’m really big on giving people a detailed explanation of what to expect at their photography session. This gives people a chance to provide their creative input, and they will feel like they are a part of the entire process, rather than a puppet on a string.
5. I have found that establishing a rapport with clients is one of the best ways to get winning photographs. Showing a genuine interest in the person you’re photographing, and perhaps adding a bit of light-hearted humour to conversations helps them relax and create the best images.

Try one or more of these techniques next time you’re taking photographs with family or friends. You might just be surprised and impressed with your results!

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Garry and Kath’s shoot is probably the most unique situation I’ve encountered. We had a little trouble scheduling the shoot to suit everyone at first, but once we locked in the date, and Garry booked the location (a suite at Melbourne’s fabulous Stamford Hotel), everything went extremely well.

When I arrived for the shoot, and while our make-up artist Nerida was working her magic on Kath, I casually asked Garry what had lead to the idea of Kath getting some sexy photos. To my surprise, Garry told me that he and Kath had a habit of making fun little bets with each other, the wager for one of which was Kath getting a sexy photo shoot done. Garry won that bet in more ways than one, I’d say.

That fun attitude really says a lot about how this photo shoot progressed. Kath was anything but a sore loser on this bet, and really hammed it up for the camera. She was a delight to work with, and we had several laughs together as we worked.

Best of all, it wasn’t just a fun shoot – Kath came up looking great on camera, too, thanks to the fact that they were both really committed to keeping themselves fit and healthy.

I’m constantly banging on to anyone who’ll listen about the importance of enjoying yourself if you want good photographs. Experience tells me it’s not the face you’re making or the pose and posture that you’re trying to create that come through, it’s the way you were feeling and what you were thinking that really differentiates a great image from an ordinary one. Kath had this part of things down in no time.

We shot a variety of images, ranging from some elegant lingerie and stockings, to a sexy secretary costume, and everything in between. Colour images, mostly, but some fantastic black and whites, too.

My favourite images from this shoot were in the last set, where I put a red gel on the main light to give the images a sexy red tone. By this stage, I think the champagne Kath drank had well and truly kicked in, and we were all having a ball getting some fun and playful images.

Garry seemed happy that he’d extracted his wager, too. When I asked Garry and Kath for some feedback for the website, here’s what they had to say:

“Not only are the photos fantastic, but as a result of your warm & relaxed manner and professionalism, we had a truly memorable day. We’d have no hesitation in recommending Hot Chilli Photography, so if you are thinking about it, don’t wait!”

It’s a good thing we got our diaries in sync, because it really was one of my most memorable shoots. I really enjoyed meeting and working with you, Kath and Garry. Thanks guys!

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