How to Photograph Spandex - Part Two

Thanks again to our regular photographer for writing this for us. He and his company have been taking photos for us for over two years now and come highly recommended. If you want contact details please email us at legwearuk@btinternet.com

Most models are keen to be photographed in lycra or spandex type outfits, with photographing the ladies there are always parts of there own bodies they feel they don’t want to show are so sometimes feel that certain garments are not really for them. Hot pants are probably the hardest garment for a model if she feel lacking in the thighs or bum area. Guys will approach a shoot very professionally however most feel that wouldn’t show the images to there best friend or family.

Possibly the three top tips to successful outcome in a shoot would be getting the garment and girl matched, that is making sure the colour of the outfit is in contract to the girls hair and of course its properly sized so there are no baggy areas with under arms and inner thighs.
Preparation is also key so that there are no surprises. A white outfit would not show up against a white background and to have a smooth running order help maintain confidence in the model.
The third major tip is to make sure that the models are relaxed and that their own welfare is as important as anything else. That maybe that they feel they can trust the photographer that images that don’t work are never seen, that accidents in the working environment are avoided by common sense practices and for most there own levels of modelling are never compromised or even suggested.

Easy mistake to make is really covered within preparation. Have camera settings from a previous shoot is probably my favourite, the wrong sensitivity settings is always a bugbear, you should never rely on the preview screen at the rear of the camera and the wrong focussing settings where is that you think focus is sharp but has wandered a little.

Being asked who I’d love to photograph is probably a really difficult question. There are so many attractive celebrities out there but there are a few. Being in the Granada region for TV, I would love to photograph some of the weather girls on local news, such as Jo Blyth (ITV Granada) and Eno Eruotor (BBC North West) who I think wears some stunning outfits and has a great sense of style. Rachel Phillips (ITV) is someone I have already encountered at Aintree Racecourse so she would be on this list if she hasn’t already been camera fodder! On the national scene the blonde I would love to photograph would be Becky Mantin (ITV National Weather) and for darker hair Kirsty Duffy (my all time favourite) who is now the booth girl on The Wright Stuff (Five) and Georgie Thompson (Sky Sports News) but don’t tell Ant & Dec, I guess I must watch too much television.

How to Photograph Spandex - Part One

Thanks to our regular photographer for writing this for us. They have been taking photos for us for over two years now and come highly recommended. If you want their details please contact us at legwearuk@btinternet.com.

How to Photograph Spandex - Part One

Photographing for LegwareUK, the first thing to do is to match the garments to the models. We try now to make sure that a girl with blonde or a light haired girl model dark colours and that dark haired girls model lighter coloured outfits. Also again with regard to colours, the background is chosen in contrast to the outfit, white background for all colours apart from whites.
Normally on a white background is considered high key photography. It can be a simple setup but time and time again I see people get this wrong including broadcaster’s. Within high key you need to light the background so it appears near white without washing out the colours in the garments. The lighting must show the true colour of the garments within the capabilities of the internet (more on this later). I use four mono-block studio lights in a classical square arrangement. The front two lights have 120cm studio diffusers and light the subject, the rear 2 heads are fitted with ‘barn doors’, which provide directional control not to throw light back into the camera, these light the background. The two rear light heads are not diffused so that need to be on half to a quarter power. The whole setup of lighting is always checked with a light meter and settings manually entered into the camera. Normally, images are shot at 125th second, this is the faster speed that will synchronise with the lighting. Anything faster than this and the shutter on the camera closes as the lights are fired especially using a wireless trigger on the hotshoe of the camera, there’s always a slight additional delay.

If shooting on the black background then just two main heads are used.

The colours of the outfits range from blacks to vibrant colours, the problems with some of the colours is that they cannot be rendered properly in digital photography. Even though digital photography has come along way, cameras are only capable of capturing roughly a third of the colour spectrum. Some of the fluorescent colours can look a little odd, also combined with viewing over the internet where only 254 colours are supported on common browsers, so all images are checked and adjusted in Adobe’s Photoshop Image Ready application for trueness. Other problems are with the high sheen of spandex and lycra especially some or the wet look garments. The best way to show them is with the lights are an angle of 45 degrees, any less than this and the shine/reflection of the lighting will overly dominate the image, and lead to ‘burn out’ of highlights. Care must also be taken to avoid burn out especially in digital photography as in if there are areas that have burn out, then there is no detail there to be salvaged, this is a particular problem with digital as film had a more forgiving exposure latitude and still contained some feature. Most photographers on purpose under expose images to avoid burn out and adjust later in post processing. One way to do this is set exposure compensation within the camera, but shooting in the studio I use manual control. For me the best colours are a strong blue or red that can make a image ‘punchy’.

Candice Swanepoel in tight black leggings

South African model Candice Swanepoel in a pair of breath taking tight shiny leggings. your blogger is looking for some of this photo session .

Spandex Green Camo Catsuit - Video

Here is our latest video shoot featuring a spandex green camoflage catsuit. Thanks to PV and of course our glamorous model. We hope you all enjoy the video and of course the catsuit.

Keep on shining

British Celebrity in Spandex

We have a nasty feeling we should know who she is ..... but never mind what a great look. technically these are known as Capri tights - can you become a lycra bore ???

The Sunday Zentai Pic

Out for a Sunday morning Stroll in a blue zentai !!!

Amateur Photo of the Week

Thanks to the original poster at www.shinyforums.com

i was going to title this post after a James Bond film title - but I thought that may be a bit crude

New from Legwearuk - Green Camoflage Leotard

New from Legwearuk is a 'Green Camoflage Long Sleeve Leotard'. This item can be found at

http://www.legwearuk.co.uk/leotards-long-sleeved-green-camo-long-sleeve-leotard-c-93_64_387.html

Keep on being shiny

Jamie Gunns in Shiny Wetlook Leggings

Supermodel Jamie Gunns looks amazing in a pair of wetlook spandex leggings. What legs !!!

Green with Envy

Thanks to JS for providing this excellent photo of a model sporting one of our greencatsuits - yum yum

New Spandex Kill Bill Video from legwearuk

As usual all comments are welcome

Simone Thomalla in Spandex Leggings

German actress Simone Thomalla looks incredibly hot in a great pair of liquid leggings. Sadly there are nophotos of her wearing the boot shes holding.

Shinyvideos.com - New Spandex video

There is a great new spandex video from our friends at http://www.shinyvideos.com/. Many of our blog followers love 'Spandex Disco Jeans' and this new video features two pairs being worn by Nati.

http://www.shinyvideos.com/ describe the video as such:

Mmmm Nati in Spandex... At last!

In this video Nati enjoys wearing various Spandex Leotards, Catsuits, Disco Jeans & Dresses Just for you!

Nati starts the video inside wearing a very tight & shiny Blue Spandex Dress, it was donated to her by a customer & she looks fantastic in it. She is trying things out to go out on a night out... What do you think? She then goes out into her garden to pose & enjoy how the dress feels.

The next outfit she tries on is a pair of Red Spandex Disco Jeans, again posing in the garden for you to enjoy, she bends over, poses & explains how the jeans feel & what she thinks about them... she loves them!

Thong Leotard & Cycle shorts... how 80s... Nati carries them off perfectly. She poses in her bedroom befre getting on her exercise bike to work up a sweat. I love the look of the red leo over the top of the green shorts.

Do you want to see Nati in a Catsuit? - A lot of people did so here we are, Nati in a Gold & White vaulting catsuit, she is still in her bedroom which means she can pose on the bed, giving you a great view of her head to toe in spandex, look how the catsuit clings to her bum & that cheeky smile!

More Disco Jeans... :-) This time Nati has some fun outside in a black pair with some interesting purple zebra markings & a pair of very shiny gold ones too! A must for Spandex Jean Lovers.

Towards the end of the video we get Nati outside in some Leotards....

Firstly a wetlook yellow one outside, which she does her gymnastic exercises in, forward rolls, stretches & wheel jumps... The leotard fits her so perfectly, you can see every line of her body. Once she is warmed up she then gets on her exercise bike again to work up a sweat, whats better than watching a sexy girl on a bike in spandex?

Next up is a Purple Reebok Leotard, its a bit small this one & only just covers Nati's modesty, ever the trooper she still puts on a great show! You will love this scene!

The Final scene features Nati in a Black Thong back Leotard, outdoors once again, showing off how great she looks in anything tight & shiny

Kill Bill

Here is a great photo of our Kill Bill spandex costume.

Note the killer heels boot lovers.

Maria Kanellis - Shiny Metalic-Red Spandex Trousers

WWE wrestler Maria Kanellis makes this pair of red metallic spandex pants look fantastic. The outfit maybe slightly over the top but us spandex fans appreciate her efforts. Maria was named 84th in FHM's sexiest women of 2008 competition - surely these pants were worth another 20 places ?

Coming to Legwearuk - Pink Power Ranger

Exciting News in the next two days we will be offering the following outfit for sale

PINK POWER RANGER

A Legwearuk Lycra Video - Catwoman Awakens

Out latest video production - Catwoman awakens. all comments welcome.

Ebony Spandex Dolls - Yasmin

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Video from Legwearuk - Shiny Black Catsuit

All comments welcome - thanks to the usual suspects

Equestrian Vaulting Catsuit Girls

At Legwearuk we are looking to stock some 'Equestrian Vaulting Catsuits' , we are after ideas for simple deisgns as we have a manufacturer interested. If anyone has any ideas please let us know at legwearuk@btinternet.com.

We must admit this is a whole new side to nylon/lycra, spandex that we have just learnt about....

Shiny Gold Zentai Catsuits - News on a new website

Exciting news that a new 'shiny' website is planned for early 2010 with the working title of 'Loveshiny.com'. If the sample photo shown above is any guide its going to be a very welcome addition to the spandex family on the web. We have not featured a zentai catsuit for a while and this gold zentai looks fantastic.

Silver Metallic Catsuit - a video from Legwearuk

A first for Legwearuk. Here is a short video of one of our models in a Silver Metallic Catsuit - all comments are welcome.

Lindsay Lohan in a Silver Spandex Catsuit

Silver and Gold spandex seem to be very much in fashion these days. Here actress Lindsay Lohan wears a sleeveless spandex catsuit. and very nice it is too

Kaci Battaglia in Shiny Black Catsuit

Singer Kaci Battaglia in a great Shiny Black Catsuit. Hopefully it is one of ours but what a great and sexy look.

Briana Evigan in Shiny Gold Spandex

Actress Briana Evigan looks very enticing here in a wonderfully sexy golden outfit. It is stated that this was a halloween outfit - it does not strike me as scary - almost the opposite !!!!

Stacy Soloman - X Factor

UK X Factor Contestant was spotted last night wearing a slinky pair of shiny black leggings. It was a shame her top was a bit long and that the cameraman did not linger on them. Still it made up for her singing ability.