Photography Techniques: Using A Compact Camera for Boudoir Photography
I have always maintained that boudoir photography can be done with any camera, providing you are aware of its limitations. On this page I will examine the photographic techniques derived from a recent photoshoot, where I used a Canon A590 compact camera alongside my trusty Canon 40D. I should start by explaining my choice of the A590; in actual fact there was no choice involved - I just stole my wife's camera when she wasn't looking.
Before getting into the details, lets look at the results. The pictures below are unedited - exactly as they came out of the cameras. Both were taken as the highest quality JPG that each camera could manage. Click on either to see larger versions:
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| Canon A590 Compact Camera | Canon 40D, EF28-70 f2.8L Lens |
As you can see there are differences. As you might expect the DSLR image is sharper and more contrasty (that is a real word, I checked), but they aren't as different as you might expect from a camera/lens combination costing ten times as much as the compact!
The key to this is the situation. The DSLR will win hands down in nine out of ten lighting scenarios - the trick is choosing the one out of ten where the compact can compete...
Planning Ahead
The most crucial part of the whole shoot was the planning phase before the model even arrived; as with most compact cameras, the A590 has no flash hot shoe connector and so no possibility of controlling external flash units. This gives rise to the biggest constraint - relying on ambient light.
The flash on a compact camera is too harsh and too close to the lens to use as a main light source. It can often serve as a fill flash though.
Ambient Light
For this particular shoot I wanted a classic boudoir look - i.e. in a boudoir. My favourite location for this kind of shot is a bedroom in our guest house; it is very neutrally decorated and so doesn't cast extra colours onto the subject from the walls etc. However the room is east facing and my model wasn't due to arrive until 2pm - which meant that there was a risk that there wouldn't be enough light to shoot hand held. However, the day before the shoot I tested the light at 2pm and it was pretty good; very soft but strong enough to shoot at f 5.6, 1/60th second without resorting to extreme ISOs.
The Shoot
My model was delayed on the day of the shoot, and we didn't get down to work until nearly 5pm. By then the light had diminished. A quick test showed that shooting hand held was going to be border-line for the compact, so I decided to use a small tripod. The fast aperture on my 28-70 f2.8L lens meant that I should be safe to work hand-held with the DSLR.
As a small aside, I found using the tripod to be a mixed blessing. On one hand it forced me to pay extra attention to the framing of each shot, but on the other it slowed me down and made operating the Canon's menu system even more painful. Which brings me onto my first observation:
The menu system and information display was very frustrating. In principle the process was simple:
- Select Aperture Priority mode
- Turn off the flash
- Select the maximum aperture (remember that there isn't much light, plus I want to throw the background out of focus as much as possible).
- Frame the shot and verify that the shutter speed is at least 1/50th of a second (I was aiming to shoot with a focal length of about 50mm), increasing the ISO if necessary.
For the comparison below, both images have had only simple level adjustments to extend their tonal ranges more fully.
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| Canon A590 Compact Camera | Canon 40D, EF28-70 f2.8L Lens |
Conclusions
I think this test shows that compact cameras are perfectly capable of taking boudoir photographs in the correct conditions.
The two main things to work around are:
Lack of usable flash
In addition to the initial constraints the flash put on my choice of location, the enclosed space (less than 2m from model) posed additional problems as I couldn't use the compact cameras flash for fill-in; it was just too harsh.
In the DSLR shots above I was able to bounce light off the wall behind the model which gave greater options for shooting - where the model could only face the window when I was using the compact.
I was also able to get a complete other set of shots shooting towards the window from the other side of the room with the 40D. 
For the shot below I used an external 430EX II flash with a LumiQuest Ultrasoft box to provide a fill flash.
I would strongly recommend having some reflectors on hand; they will vastly expand the possibilities when shooting.
Lens Quality/Speed
Having studied the full size images from the A590, I am a bit disappointed by the quality of the lens; to me it seems to lack clarity and contrast. I suspect that this is true of most compacts, so you should do everything you can do to help them out. In general this means not shooting with the lens wide open - try to get it around the f8 mark. This may well mean using a tripod. It will also be worth examining the trade-off in increasing the ISO vs stopping down the lens; something I ran out of time to do as I wanted to move on to a low key test for the little A590.