Swim­suit and Bikini Modeling


Many admire the pic­tures found in Sports Illus­trated Swim­suit Issue.  It is the largest cir­cu­la­tion of the Sports Illus­trated pub­li­ca­tion and the most money-making Issue for the com­pany.  But have you ever won­dered why the swim­suits look so gor­geous?  How are you able to deliver such a sen­sual swim­suit pic­ture?  What does it take to have a suc­cess­ful swim­suit pho­tog­ra­phy ses­sion?  Obvi­ously, it takes more than find­ing a sexy swim­suit to gen­er­ate a gor­geous swim­suit photo.

Who is the Per­fect Swim­suit Model?

It does not take a super­model or a spe­cific age to model swimwear.  There are females out of the ideal model indus­try body shape or 20-something age group who look incred­i­ble in swim­suits.  Ten­nis star Ser­ena Williams is not your stereo­typ­i­cal female swim­suit model, but her swim­suit pho­tos look stun­ning.  She posed in a white bikini for the Sports Illus­trated Swim­suit Edi­tion 2003.  Her photo got her the cover.  She was per­fec­tion.  Her body high­lighted with per­fect light­ing, her make-up flaw­less, and hair flow­ing seam­lessly with the shot.  She looks sexy, con­fi­dent and beau­ti­ful.  She is a prime exam­ple that fit­ting out­side of the model indus­try norm still results in a pic­ture ooz­ing sex appeal.   And the key is hav­ing the right team of pro­fes­sion­als around you.

What Makes an Impres­sive Bikini Photograph?

It does not take a spe­cific body shape or age to make an impact­ful swim­suit pho­to­graph.  It takes more than a sexy swim­suit. You need to find a pro­fes­sional, expe­ri­enced swim­suit pho­tog­ra­pher, ensur­ing your pic­ture will be ele­vated to mag­a­zine stan­dards, even if it is for pri­vate use.  There is noth­ing wrong with want­ing the best out of a swim­suit shoot, regard­less if the shoot is for your per­sonal use or not, and your con­nec­tion to cre­at­ing such per­fec­tion is through your photographer.

Find out if your pho­tog­ra­pher has done sim­i­lar swim­suit shoots before. For instance, if you are look­ing for a sexy, men’s mag­a­zine swim­suit style shoot, then select a pro­fes­sional swimwear pho­tog­ra­pher who has already achieved that look with other clients.  If you need a fit­ness bathing suit photo ses­sion com­pleted for fit­ness com­pe­ti­tion, then find a pro­fes­sional swim­suit pho­tog­ra­pher who han­dles fit­ness mod­el­ing clients too.  The more diverse the selected pho­tog­ra­pher is in these types of mod­el­ing, the bet­ter shots you shall receive.

A pro­fes­sional swimwear pho­tog­ra­pher that has shot swimwear, bikini, glam­our, boudoir, and fit­ness pho­tog­ra­phy truly under­stands the best angles and poses needed to cre­ate the per­fect shot with the right amount of sen­su­al­ity.  Fur­ther­more, a pro­fes­sional swimwear pho­tog­ra­pher will con­duct a con­sul­ta­tion with you days, if not weeks, prior to the shoot to dis­cuss the type of pic­ture you wish to por­tray.  Think about if you are look­ing to gen­er­ate a beach-surfer girl look, Bo Derek throw­back or a straight-forward bathing suit pho­to­graph for a fit­ness com­pe­ti­tion.  These details should be dis­cussed prior to the shoot.  Addi­tion­ally, the con­sul­ta­tion will pro­vide direc­tion the pro­fes­sional pho­tog­ra­pher will com­mu­ni­cate to the make-up artist, hair styl­ist, wardrobe con­sul­tant, and light­ing director.

What Poses are Suit­able for a Swimsuit?

There is no sim­ple answer to this ques­tion.  It depends on the pur­pose of the pho­to­graph.  Your pho­tog­ra­pher will pro­vide you with ideas, but look at pic­tures and find sam­ples of ones you pre­fer.  The clas­sic Victoria’s Secret pose is one where you stand against a sup­port­ing prop, arch your back against it, and lift your butt off the object, reveal­ing your butt and front while turned slightly side­ways at the hips.  This is a great pose if you are going for some­thing sul­try.  If you like the men’s mag­a­zine pho­tographs, there is always the swim­suit model with one hand pulling down the side of her swim­suit bot­toms in a teas­ing man­ner.  All of these are great looks if you are pre­sent­ing this to your man afterwards.

If you are a print model and need more ver­sa­tile shots than a come-hither sexy ad, think about the female audi­ence.  For instance, if you adver­tise per­fume and the shot requires you in a bathing suit, then con­sider your audi­ence.  What would sell the per­fume ad appeal to women in a non-sexual, glam­orous way?  This will alter your pose.  You will not arch your back and tug at the bot­tom half of your swim­suit.  Instead, you may stand with your arms crossed over your head with your face directly into the light.  If you are able to switch from a vampy swimwear style for men’s mag­a­zines to trans­form­ing into a female suited for a print cat­a­log, then let the pho­tog­ra­pher know you wish to do both.  The more shots you pro­duce, the bet­ter chances are of land­ing audi­tions for both gigs.

Think about what your favorite fea­tures are and ask the pho­tog­ra­pher the best ways to high­light these attrib­utes.  He/she will know the best posi­tion, light­ing, and route to go achiev­ing the most amaz­ing, gor­geous and sexy swim­suit photo ever.

To get the best bikini pho­to­graph or a swim­suit pic­ture, talk to a swim­suit pho­tog­ra­phy pro­fes­sional today.  Ask ques­tions.  Do not be shy.  This is your swim­suit photo ses­sion and you want it the best it can be.  Thus, if a pho­tog­ra­pher pro­vides ample infor­ma­tion to absorb and exhibit in your pho­to­graph, the bet­ter the pic­ture will turn out.