Tom Sparks Photography

Be careful of how you talk to your model. Build her confidence with kind words, but I suggest you avoid making her feel like a piece of photographic meat. Don’t go overboard telling her how sexy she is, nor should you make any kind of vulgar comments. Duh! Tell her she is pretty, or that her eyes pop, or that she nailed a pose. I avoid talking about her body. She knows she has one. Focus on the work.

Always work to get a great image, help the model figure out what to do with her hands, arms, legs, feet, face, hair, etc. You are the one responsible for her looking good. You have to watch to make sure that a pose doesn’t make her look flabby. Even the slimmest, most fit girls can look bad with a bad pose or camera angle. The model may not be aware of how things look from the camera’s point of view.

I’m not spending time here on posing. We’ll save that for another time. But, you should have a good idea of how to make the human body look interesting.  Should the model cross her legs, or have her knee bent, or twist her torso? Should her chin be up, down, left, right etc? Should she arch her back, look over her shoulder, let her back sink? That is all up to you. If you have a good model, she will figure out a lot of this herself, but she will still need feedback from you to get the poses that make her look best.

When shooting models, the photographs can center on the model with very little attention drawn to her surroundings, or your photos might use the environment to create a complete affect or mood.

This photo of Anastasia was taken on a rainy day. The skies were sullen, and a very uninteresting grey with little character. She had this amazing bright pink bikini that was such a great contrast to the grey day and the green surroundings. I stuck a light stand with a speedlight, and weight on the stand in the middle of the river.  I had her sit on the rock and I waded into the stream. Her pose is very introspective and private. She is not communicating with the camera, so shooting the scene with her in it, makes the whole thing come off as if we are just catching a glimpse of a private moment. And, to me, the image is beautiful and serene.



Charolett below is in a cluster of trees in a modest swimsuit, with bright cheerful colors and polka dots. The spot is very shady and the sun is coming in low to her left. I set a speedlight with umbrella on a stand in front of her and to her right. I made sure there were tree branches and leafs in front of the umbrella to act as a gobo (go before the light) to create more shadows from the other direction. The low ambient light, the trees, and the lighting coming from her sides creates a play of light and shadows that define the muscle tone and give shape to her shoulders, legs, and helps show her cleavage.

A couple of other things that help give this piece form and dimension are the branches and leafs in front of the model, and the tree trunks behind her. The fact that only the side of her face is well lit, gives this photograph a sense of mystery as it does not fully reveal the girl.

Kelly had this amazing long blonde hair and reminded me of a Barbie doll. I put her behind this tree, peeking out from behind it. The knobby gnarled tree adds a lot of visual contrast to her smooth skin and shape. The sunlight coming from behind her lights up her hair. I added some fill flash for this to compensate for the bright background. Even though she is a very beautiful girl this swimsuit photograph is about the whole environment. The tree seems to have a face, almost as if it is looking at her. Kelly looks out at us in her pale pink bikini and all the elements create a whole effect making the bikini not be the central or sole focus of the photograph.

These are some examples of swimsuit photographs where the swimsuit is part of the photo, but not the sole star of the show.

My next post will be on using light and perspective to create a more sensual look in swimsuit photography.

Working with swimsuit models is no different than working with other kinds of models. And it is different.

It is the same because you need to know your stuff. You have to be able to get good poses, good light, and everything else right. It is the same, because models expect you to not waste their time.

Swimsuit and bikini photography is different because light plays a role in a different way than on a fully clothed model. Also, depending on your purpose, swimsuit may be more sensual in the visual appeal than your other work.

On another post, I will talk about how to find the models you want, but this post is going to be more on working with them and getting the results you want. I will talk some about lighting, but more on general lighting concepts rather than technical details.

Swimwear photos can be cute and sweet or they can be hot and sexy. The choice of your model, accessories, poses, lighting and other factors affect where your shoot will fall on that spectrum.



This model was working on building her portfolio. She is fifteen an so we did not want to overly sexualize the images. Cute and sweet and pretty was the goal here. Here the sun was setting low in the sky. I worked with Hannah to help her be aware of how the sunlight would create light and shadow across her abdomen if she was turned just right. I used the blue parasol to compliment the sky and her bikini. The parasol also takes some attention away from her body, and gives a distracting element that makes a whole picture, rather than having all the focus be on her body.

With Hannah kneeling in the water, leaned back slightly, shoulders square, it stretched out her tummy to make it look as slim and fit as possible. I used fill flash to soften the shadows on her face and torso. But the sun did most of the lighting. This is a whole body shot, so it does not focus on body parts. I think that helps soften what could otherwise be a too sexy image for a 15 year old.

Here is another full body shot. I’ve included a beach ball prop. I had Hannah jump with the ball. This created a sense of energy and gives the viewer more to look at than just the body. The story here is about the girls energy and joy, not the body. I used sunlight and fill flash on camera for this photo.

Charolett is working hard to build a modeling career. She had never done a swimsuit set and did not want to do a bikini, but did want to try swimsuit modeling. Here in Utah many people want modest swimsuit and designers are going to need models for modest swimwear.

I photographed Charolett with a cloudy sky and a small amount of fill flash. Her body is in near profile, but not quite, her head turned softly, with the chin down slightly, toward the camera. This pose gives a soft, gentle, feminine feel. The sepia takes the flesh tones out of the picture and makes the whole image, with the rough horse coral behind her, feel a little moody. We let the wind blow her hair to complete the feel of the photo.

My next post will be part 2 of a 3 part series and will deal with swimsuit photography that is scenic, or moody, and not body centric.