Behind the Scenes with Anja – Glass Houses Magazine

Behind the Scenes with Anja
By James Bontemps

When I shoot with a model, there are always more photos that don’t make the cut to be published in a pictorial than the ones that do.

I thought you might like a little insight into what goes on after a shoot, reviewing all the photos and deciding which ones are good enough to be edited for publication, and why some photos never get seen.

I shot with Anja Vojinović in her own home in Guelph, Ontario, back in March 2020. It was the last photo shoot I did before all the Covid-19 restrictions.

I usually shoot outdoors in natural light, or in a loft studio with large windows, and also using natural light, but in this case I was shooting in Anja’s home which meant that the windows were much smaller and the rooms did not allow me to be back as far as I needed to be to be sure I could fit everything in the frame.

I have shot a few times indoors with lighting, but my preference is to use natural light, which comes with huge challenges in terms of exposure, back lighting, and color and tint.

Often these challenges can be overcome with editing, but they can also render photos virtually unusable, and when you are shooting, it’s not always easy to pay attention to model positioning, background and objects and lighting at the same time that you are firing off a lot of shots.

I also like shooting at what is called ‘Golden’ or ‘Magic’ hour – that late afternoon light when the sun is low in the sky. It can produce the most beautiful tones, but it also changes quickly and disappears before you know it.

This blog, I will for the first time post some of those photos that have never been published, and in a lot of cases, never would be, other than to demonstrate how a photographer reviews and rejects certain shots.

I’m going to post these in the order that they were shot. I tell you that because often if I publish a pictorial, the published order is not always the shooting order. Pictorials are intended to tell a story, so I arrange them in a visually pleasing sequence.

This first shot of Anja is actually a cropped and edited shot that almost made the cut.

It’s not a bad shot. The depth of field is decent, it has a nice soft look from the natural light coming from the left through the only window in Anja’s bedroom, so the light and shadow is good. It is one of those shots that did not get rejected right away, and made it to the editing stage.

The next shot was an interesting one. The first photo is the original uncropped and unedited photo from the camera.

The obvious issues with this photo are Anja’s expression and the hand movement. It happens a lot that some photos end up being taken as a model is moving from pose to pose. These are almost always rejected. No model (or photographer) wants to publish a photo like that.

I did like the way that Anja’s shirt was open in this shot, and did not have any other shots like it, so I decided to do something that I never do, as an experiment. I took Anja’s face from another shot, and edited it on to this photo and cropped it so her hands were not visible.

It did not turn out too badly, but such a drastic edit, combined with the distraction of the objects in the background – the light, the Kleenex box and the clock made me reject this one. I could have edited out the objects, but chose not to.

The next one got rejected because of the hand movement and stray hair, although I did like the nipple slip and the way Anja was lying on the bed, especially her legs.

This one is not bad. Cropped and edited, it could be decent, although I find her shirt to appear too large and rectangular, not really showing her curves or revealing enough of her.

This one has a lot of distractions in it. From the misaligned pillows, to her knee and leg, her ring hand being too prominent and a kind of lack of a focal point. Do you look at her face with her eyes closed? Her exposed breast and nipple? Her hand? Her knee? Your eye just bounces from one to the other.

This next one has some good points. Anja has a confident expression, and I like the nice line of her shirt around her exposed breast. I’m not super sure about leg placement, but this one could be cropped and edited into a good photo.

This one is a good example of how simple cropping can change a photo. The first one is the original uncropped photo. I don’t like the distraction of the curved row of small buttons on the bed headboard, especially since they are not continuous but chopped off at the top of the frame. The space to the left of the pillow bugs me, and I don’t think Anja’s legs are as flattering as they can be. On the positive side, I love the pose with her hand on her head, her looking down and the way her hair is falling, so I cropped this one and it looks much better.

The next two are not bad, but there were shots with more natural positioning and her shirt was not lying great in a few places in these two.

The next one would have looked better if it was a wider frame – ie: zoomed out more. One of the challenges of shooting in Anja’s home was the small spaces and my lack of a wider angle lens. I do love the soft light in this one, but don’t like the Kleenex box, clock and light again. I kick myself sometimes when I miss seeing things in the background. They could have been edited out, but I didn’t like the crop options.

The next one is SO typical. The model has a great smile and expression but is changing position so her hands and body position are a bit off. When the pose is perfect you get the model with an odd expression or eyes closed. That’s why we shoot so many photos.

Again with that Kleenex box and especially the clock. Without those and lose the shirt, this could have made a nice reclining fully nude shot.

Mostly the lighting and her hand are the things I don’t like about this shot. As the sun is moving and setting, you can see how Anja’s face is not as well lit. It could be edited, but again, there were better shots.

Mostly over-exposed, which could be corrected, this one is a nice portrait.

The exposure is better on this one. It’s interesting from the contrast of Anja’s long dark hair on the right, and her bare light skin on the left. Compare it to the one right after literally taken a second apart. Exposure is not as good, and the slight head movement exposes the light behind her. The positioning is a little less natural.

Anja fluffed her hair up and brought it forward on the other side. I thought it was a bit too fluffed up, and the window is in the shot, but it’s a nice balanced pose, and I like the leg positioning. Don’t get me wrong – although these photos have not been published, it doesn’t mean they are all bad or rejected.

I like the next shot. It’s got an odd tint to it which seems to defy editing. I think it was at the point where the sun had moved and caught her at a low angle. When I publish a pictorial, I like the color, tint and exposure to be similar. They don’t have to match 100%, but this one seemed to stand alone.

The next one is an odd position, although I like how unique it is, and if you like feet, you will love it. Lighting and depth of field is nice, and the soft natural light is close to perfect. I do like how Anja’s shirt is open enough to see her breast with that small sliver of light behind.

This one, taken right after, is quite different. Anja looks up and straight at the camera. Her nipple is now clearly visible. That stray thread on her shirt would need to be edited out, but overall a fun shot. Notice how the table with the light, clock and Kleenex box are not so distracting in this one, as they are well in the background, to the side and blurred. I can (and have) edited photos to blur backgrounds sometimes. The tone is a little red and yellow, but that is fixable.

When Anja lay on her back with her hair flowing off the bed, I didn’t notice that the sheets went halfway down. I found that distracting. I do love the pose and the way her nipple stands out, and used a few shots from this sequence, but cropped them so the sheets were not distracting. Unfortunately it also cropped some of Anja’s beautiful hair. The now almost setting sun makes the tint very yellow. If I were to edit this photo, I would make minor adjustments to exposure, color and tint. I’m not sure what Anja was doing here, but if you are a bum fan, you will love it. It’s actually a really nice photo. The lighting on her bum (and the bum itself) is spectacular, and I know I should not be crude, but since you were probably all thinking it anyway, it looks like Anja is preparing to be fucked from behind which makes the shot hot as hell. It’s definitely not a reject, but I’m not sure where it belongs. I’m just glad I got to share it with you!

Next one is a nice one that when cropped to trim the sheets at the bottom would be beautiful. The soft light and tone here is fabulous with no editing required, and the pose is perfect, with the subtle bum and tit showing but not dominating the shot. I’m actually amazed at how with only backlight from the window, how well lit Anja is. I have my low light Canon lens to thank for that, along with the fact that I think the sun was so low that it provided a bounce fill off the light bedroom walls. You really can’t plan for this. I literally had about 10 minutes to shoot all of these in her bedroom.

This next one is definitely a keeper. Again with the soft natural light which at this point for about 40 seconds was close to perfect. That dreamy look and depth of field right out of the camera is a photographer’s wet dream.

Next is one of those in-between, changing position shots. This one is a perfect example of a behind-the-scenes shot that will not get published but is fun to share with you.

The focus is off on the next one, which is the main reason it does not make the cut.

I generally like to see a models face, but again for you bum fans, here you go. Enjoy. Anja does have a really nice ass.

The next one could be cropped and edited. I included it to show you the kind of minor editing and touch ups that I do. In this photo, I would remove Anja’s moles and blemishes and maybe her heart tattoo on her wrist. I tend to prefer a clean look, as less distracting. I will leave tattoos if they are appropriate to the shoot, or if they are too complex to easily remove. I know I may get some push back on this, but this Blog is for me to tell you more about me and my work.

In this one, as an example, I have removed moles and blemishes from Anja’s skin, but left her tattoo. I’d love to hear your comments about what you think about it, especially comparing the two.