portraits | Christa Meola Pictures Inc.

Tag Archive: portraits

Celebrating 40! No. 1

Turning 40 soon? Sex up your celebration with a smoking hot photo shoot 🙂

The lovely Mrs. S and her hubby of 11 years flew from Chicago to NYC for her photo shoot and had an unforgettable weekend. Mrs. S was “super nervous” before the shoot, but by the time we were done with hair and make-up and a couple cocktails later, we were all sultry silly and having a blast!

Here is part 1 of 2 from Mrs. S’s session. Look at how GORGEOUS and SEXY 40 can be!

This was such an incredibly fun shoot and thanks so much to Mrs. S who let go and revealed her sexy side to me 🙂 Huge thanks also to Mr. S, who waited patiently in the lobby and joined us for a bottle of champagne at the end to celebrate!

Stay tuned for part 2, when things really got heated up!

x. Christa

The Dancer

I love to dance, and I looove photographing dancers! The shoot actually becomes a dance between photographer and subject…. Well except for when I trip over a stool or fall off the chair I’m standing on.

Wow. Enigmatic Portrait.

Thank you for all the emails and inquiries regarding The ONLINE BOUDOIR WORKSHOP.

It is now SOLD OUT! and the workshop is currently in session. Put your name on the list, so you can get early notification of the next one 🙂

Lots of love and nudity,

x. Christa

Directing Models without Posing

People look their best when they are genuinely happy and having a good time. It’s essential that nerves, tension, and self- consciousness take a back seat on a shoot. This will allow freer movement and relaxed expressions, so you can capture the essence of who that person is in a beautiful carefree way. I like to accomplish this by focusing on fun during a shoot and by coaching actions.

COACHING ACTIONS
When you’re coaching a model to perform certain actions, a few things happen. First, she transfers her focus on performing the action instead of trying to pose and look good. Second, you create some natural movement to capture instead of stiff static poses. Third, you begin to exhaust her nervous tension by keeping her in motion and repeating the action. This keeps her engaged, can revive expression and is one of my tricks to create emotion.

DO IT AGAIN!
When I ask a girl to repeat an action over and over again it gives me multiple opportunities to capture something gorgeous, and it’s my secret ploy to annihilate her nervous energy. It’s hard to be tense when you’re exhausted!

DEMO THE MOVE
Take the performance pressure off of her, and give her a quick demonstration. With my camera in hand, I will quickly just demo the action I’m asking her to do. I go way overboard with it, so she doesn’t feel silly doing it because I just looked so silly a second ago and who cared right?

THE BEST 3 EYELINES
The first thing a non-model will ask when she steps in front of the camera is, “Where do I look?” I give her my three favorite eye-lines right off the bat. One, look at the light source. Two, look down your body. Three, look at me. I tell her to just move between the first two, and I’ll ask her for the third, since it’s my least favorite. Eyes closed technically isn’t an eye-line, but I often ask for that one too.

EXTREME POSTURE
I demonstrate what I call extreme posture to most of my models right up front. I want them to see that when I stand simply with normal everyday posture, it’s a bit… well, unremarkable. But when I reeeeally stretch and pull my hips and shoulders out and arch my back like I never thought I could and lift my neck up and out, then it’s suddenly a lot more flattering and significantly more dramatic. Try it yourself in the mirror – huge difference. So I often will coach her with “…more extreeeeme, keep going, keep going, more…” until she falls over and laughs (another great shot).

HAVE A LOOKBOOK
Some people are visual creatures and respond better to seeing the posture or action you are trying to coach. They feel safe duplicating something, and then you can coach them along to put your own spin on it. Lookbooks are also great if you run out of ideas or you are shy and don’t really want to coach, or you’re male and you’d just rather not demo a hair flip.

If you’d like to learn all of my boudoir photography tips and tricks, head on over to the brand-spanking new ONLINE BOUDOIR WORKSHOP site, and join the awesome group of photographers already signed up for this fun-filled info-packed success-focused course starting this Tuesday, June 14th!

So excited!!

x. Christa

ps. can you handle more cool free stuff and special deals? I am wheeling and dealing with each of my Sponsors & Vendors to give every single attendee joining the ONLINE BOUDOIR WORKSHOP the sweetest swag! I’m so psyched with what they are offering you guys!! So head on over to the new website to register and lay claim on your spot and the goods! I’m just sayin 🙂

Sneak Peek Trailer!

So freaking excited to show you this fun little sexy sneak peek at what’s in store for all of you signing up for the ONLINE BOUDOIR WORKSHOP!

SOLD OUT

Do you want to change your life, live your dream of photographing women, make more money, and have a fulfilling career empowering females? Then sign up!

“It’s the first workshop I walked away from saying how wonderful it was and how it was worth every single penny.” Stephanie Piscitelli, Bridgewater, MA

“EPIC!!!! I have a new outlook.” Melissa Lin Huddlston-Smith, Moreno Valley, CA

“Worth every penny. This is the workshop for those who want to stand out in the photography community.” Allie Lindsey, Temecula, CA

“Christa’s workshop just blew me away!… an amazing experience!” Rita Spevak, Chicago, IL

“Had the most amazing time & learned so much my head is still spinning.” Allison Smoley, Temecula, CA

..and more COOL RESOURCES for you:
Yesterday’s Live Q+A Call yesterday was such a freakin’ blast!! I didn’t expect the huge turnout and demand (silly me), so I’ll definitely do another one soon! Thanks so much to the hundreds of people that tuned in and submitted 80+ questions! If you’d like to receive a recording of the Q&A call & get early notification of the next one, make sure you’re on my mailing list (you can submit your email in the field to the right, plus you get my awesome Pro Photographer Manifesto for free 🙂

Lots of love & nudity,

x. Christa

Street Tough + Supah Sexy!

I just wrapped three days of back to back shoots and intensive workshops – whew! and it got me thinking that there is no sweeter, more powerful, more feminine, and seductive combination than Strength plus Vulnerability. Now that to me is supah sexy!

A female boxing enthusiast and budding model, Lissarette has this knock-out killer combo down cold. This is another smoking hot set of photographs taken for your viewing and educational pleasure for the ONLINE BOUDOIR WORKSHOP. For this particular set, I showed how different lenses (the 24-70m 2.8, 50m 1.2, 50m 1.4, 85m 1.2, and 85m 1.8) photograph the same subject at different ranges and which is best for each situation!

So if you want to catch that action, sign up to go behind the scenes of this shoot and watch footage of me photographing Lissarette…

Cool news:

I am hosting a FREE Q+A LIVE CALL tomorrow, WEDNESDAY JUNE 8th, 3PM-4PM EST.

I know you’ve got burning questions…

“What do you think I should charge for a session?”
“What advice do you have for male photographers who’d like to shoot boudoir?”
“How do I flatter plus-sized clients?”
“How do I get that first paying client?”
“What’s equipment do you recommend for someone just getting started?”
“Do I need a studio?”
“Should I sell the digital images?”
“People like my photos, but I’m just not selling much – what gives?”
“Your pictures look so emotional and natural – how do you do that?”
“What vendors do you use and what are your favorite products?”
“How much do you do in photoshop?”
…and so much more!

What’s your burning Q?
Enter your email below if you’re not already on my mailing list, and I’ll send you the simple instructions for how to join the live call and ask your burning hot questions!

See ya on the call!

x. Christa

Enter your email here for the call-in details!

Last chance!

WIN A FREE SEAT to my Online Boudoir Workshop!

You have til 12midnight EST tonight…

Winner will be announced on tomorrow, Monday June 6th 9am EST.

Good Luck!

x. Christa

ps. Spots are booking up fast, and we are now over three quarters filled up!! If you’ve already registered (smart move!) and win, then your fee will be refunded 🙂 So Register Now before we are sold out!

Nude, with Vino Rosso

This shoot is inspired by so many of my favorite things: NYC rooftops, red wine, fine art paintings, still life’s, and well… hanging out half-naked!

If you want to TAKE A PEEK BEHIND THE SCENES and watch how I shot this seductive sultry wine-soaked set of nudes, we’ve got it all on video! and you can watch it all!… by registering for my Online Boudoir Workshop, beginning really soon on June 14th! Register now!

Yummmm, right?!

This shoot was SO MUCH FUN! and when you book your seat for the Online Workshop, get ready for some funny footage of how I got these shots!

The Online Boudoir Workshop starts June 14th, get your sweet ass booked now before it’s sold out! Red wine and nudity is included 🙂 You’re buying.

x. Christa

Good Morning…

…and good night! I love it when you can’t tell if it’s early morning sun-up or late evening sunset 🙂 and really, does it matter?

Here’s to a wonderful sun-soaked weekend!

x. Christa

Curvelicious

Many photographers just getting started in boudoir photography ask me “how do you approach photographing plus-sized women?” My answer couldn’t be simpler: I approach each subject the exact same way, whether petite or plus-sized, male or female, child or adult. First and foremost, I focus on bringing out my subject’s personality, her love of life, love of herself, whatever is distinctive and true about my subject and the sensuality of the moment. Second, flattering someone is all about what you choose to focus on. You can easily flatter (or unflatter) any size/shape woman with lighting, angles, wardrobe and lens choices as well as the spirit in which you capture her.

I’ll let you in on a secret though, if you’re not accustomed to shooting boudoir. You can ask any pro who’s photographed a ton of women – they will all tell you that plus-sized women LOVE their curves! and if a plus-sized woman is coming to you for a photo shoot, she is digging who she is and wants to celebrate herself and her body! Ps. it’s actually the skinny gals who are more critical of their bodies and will require more encouragement and positive feedback during the shoot.

Here’s a few favorite shots from a recent mini-shoot I did with Julie, a beautiful new mom and plus-sized woman who enjoys her body and can demonstrate what I feel is most important to keep in mind when coaching and photographing women:

Sensuality and sexiness comes from within!…

Location: The Mondrian Hotel on Sunset, Los Angeles
Photography: Christa Meola
Make-Up / Hair Stylist: Rachel Lund – the best MUA and a terrific girl to have on set 🙂

More curveliciousness on the blog soon!

x. Christa

I could never…

“I could NEVER do a sexy photo shoot.”… aaaand that’s my cue! I LOVE photographing women who think a sexy shoot is sooo not them, or not what they could ever do, or that they don’t photograph well, or yeah yeah yeah 🙂 I get asked all the time if I only shoot models. Hell no! My clientele is mostly 40+ moms who have never dreamed of stepping in front of a pro’s camera before, especially not in the buff. Exactly the kind of woman like Mrs. C., a dear friend’s wife who I invited to do a shoot, and of course she said she “could never!” Oh, how I love a good challenge! My persistence in putting her on the scheduled worked, and to Mrs. C’s credit, she committed 110% to the experience and showed up with all she had.

Mrs. C has the greatest legs you’ve ever seen, a rockin’ backside, beautiful skin, a gorgeous smile and a playful spirit. We booked a hotel suite, had some wine and a total blast! My team and I enjoyed the shoot as much as Mrs. C did, and everyone went home that day giddy and with smiles on their faces. I think the resulting photographs are elegant, sexy and playful… and definitely showcase what every woman can do, if they just give themselves the opportunity.

When another woman posted on my Facebook page that she didn’t think she could do a sexy photo shoot because she’s shy about her body, Mrs. C didn’t hesitate and wrote the following comment in response…

You don’t know me, but my new friend, Christa just did the most amazing boudoir shoot with me as a surprise for my husband. I told her I didn’t think I could ever do something like this because it just wasn’t me. But the more I thought about it the more I wanted to challenge myself. Christa is not only amazing behind the camera but also so great and inspiring in front of it! We had such a fun time!! It was so much more than I ever expected. When I showed my husband my album from the shoot, he was absolutely floored! Of course he loves the naked ones the best 🙂 I kept saying to him “Can you believe I did this??”

I’m forever thankful to Christa for talking me into doing the shoot and giving me the confidence and safety to enjoy it. It was not only a fabulous gift for my husband (which he absolutely loves) but truly a gift for myself. I love having these photographs, and I look at myself in a whole new light. I see the things I love about my body instead of the things I don’t.

Christa is truly amazing and gifted and I’m privileged to know her! If you have a chance to work with her, do it! It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done!!

Thank you Mrs. C! for putting your trust in me, for going waaay outside your comfort zone, for your warmth and sincerity, and most of all for spreading the word and letting other women know that they CAN!

xoxo,

Christa

A Very Sexy Boudoir Workshop

I’m coming back to LA for a One-Day Boudoir Intensive on February 27th! I am taking a quick break from living la dolce vita in Italy for a few jobs I couldn’t resist in Los Angeles, so I thought I’d throw a workshop into the mix for the people who’ve been emailing me with requests (thank you!). This kick ass workshop will be held at a luxury hotel in Los Angeles and is limited to a very small group so you get plenty of one-on-one instruction and hands on learning. You will be on your feet shooting alongside me during model sessions, will get personal coaching while you shoot, and will be granted use of the images for your blog and portfolio. We will have a mix of pro models and real girl-next-door clients. Since I LOVE blending fine art nudes with fashion & boudoir portraiture, please expect partial nudity. The main focus of this boudoir workshop is to build a totally kick-ass smoking hot portfolio!

Here are a few favorite shots taken at the Last LA Boudoir Workshop… this was a demo of finding the best natural light as well as how to style a shoot…

Miss L is one of my favorite models to work with! She is incredible and has worked with many amazing photographers, including one of my favs Annie Liebovitz. I love what a chameleon L is – she looks very Blade Runner here no?

Yes, we have film shooters 🙂 Also, there is no paparazzi-style shooting at my workshops – only one person at a time is the lead director of a shoot – the other photographers can shoot from the periphery if they are so inclined, but do not interfere with the main shooter 🙂 I make sure of that!

A Very Sexy Boudoir Workshop!
with Christa Meola

Sunday February 27th 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
SOLD OUT!

A One-Day Boudoir Intensive
Focused on building a smoking hot portfolio,
standing out from the crowd, creating a high-end look,
and answering all your burning questions about going pro!

Topics covered:

Live Boudoir Shoots and Model Releases!
Live Boudoir shoots will be on location at a luxury hotel. Christa will do a demo, working with three different models. You will each get plenty of one-on-one time with the models and full model releases to use your images.

Side-by-Side Personal Coaching & Posing
Christa will be by your side, available for personal coaching, while you shoot. Learn on your feet how to relax a nervous client, bring out the best in each girl, create sensual moments, push yourself creatively, and find flattering “poses” for every body type.

Lighting & Equipment
What’s necessary and what’s not. Learn three different lighting set-ups: how to work with the challenge and beauty of natural light, working with studio strobes, and the ease of video lights. There will be a variety of Christa’s favorite lenses for you to borrow so you can see which ones you love the most!

Top 10 Boudoir Money Shots™
Christa will make sure you capture these all-time Bestsellers for your portfolio. These are the pics every client wants and will hire you for!

Sexy Post Production
A Workflow that’s easy, fast and effective. My Top Tips in Lightroom and Photoshop which create smoking images!

Creating a High-End Look
How to stand out from the crowd with a distinct look, and how to develop a high-end signature style on a budget.

Sets & Styling
How to style a set and a model to create pictures that look like they should be in a magazine. This is key!

Pricing & FAQ’s
Nailing your price list so you’re busy, happy and well-paid. Let’s get all your most frequently asked questions answered about permits, contracts, releases and other business practices.

A few Raves about Christa’s Workshops:

“Best money I’ve ever spent on my business. Period. I’d do the workshop again in a heartbeat.”
Erin N.

“The workshop was so AMAZING!!! I would recommend it to anyone starting out or looking for a fresh approach to their photos! It was worth every penny and I can’t believe how much I got out of it.
Heidi W.

“Best workshop I’ve ever taken!!!!!! I learned more about the art and business of portrait photography in two days than I did in four years of college (and it cost much less 🙂 sign up!”
Shani B.

“Totally inspiring and empowering. Thank you for being so open with everything that has made you a success and passing that on to us!”
Robin H.

“You are effing awesome. I learned so much watching you interact with your subjects and how you gave them really good direction. Also, learning the way you handle your pricing was gold to me. The whole workshop was a knockout.”
Francesco B.

“I have taken a few workshops and this one by far was my favorite. You have juiced up my creative level and showed me how to apply my style to my work and so much more! I feel like when I got to a photo shoot now, I have an action plan, instead of clicking away. Thank you!”
Tammy C.

“I highly recommend this workshop! Unlike other workshops I’ve taken, Christa actually gives you time to DO what she’s teaching – and I loved her attitude throughout the weekend. She truly wants to help other photographers shoot better and be more successful as business people. It wasn’t a “look at how fabulous I am” workshop, it was a “look how fabulous YOU can be” workshop!! Thanks Christa!!!”
Christine H.

“THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I HAD AN AMAZING TIME! I got so much out of the workshop but I think the best thing was confidence, and the fact someone really cared enough to show other artists how to get paid for what they do! You have changed the way I look at myself, by showing how I too can be successful. Thanks Again!”
Shannon J.

“You and your workshop were awesome. I really loved learning the psychology behind what you shoot, show, sell, etc. You gave every attendee individual attention, and your personality, enthusiasm and energy kept us all going and inspired. I had a blast.”
Marc J.

Workshop Fee: $900
SOLD OUT!
To Register: call 310.909.8957 or email christa (at) christameola.com.

****UPDATED TO ADD: this workshop sold out quickly.
Please check the updated schedule at the top of this page for current availability in upcoming workshops!

Looking forward to shooting with you! and if you’d like to see other pics shot at this workshop, take a peek at these “Me-Oooow!” pics.

xoxo, Christa

ps. Space is extremely limited, so register now! If you’re new to my blog, feel free to look around – you’ll find plenty of my boudoir photos, fine art nudes, and tips for photographers.