Revealing Images: Angie Pontani

In Revealing Images, photographer Don Spiro dishes up sweet photographic treats and the stories behind them. Today, Don aims his lens at 2008's Miss Exotic World Angie Pontani.



A lot of the work I’ve described in past columns involves shooting costumes, situations, and even some men. To get back to the tongue-in-cheek title of “Revealing Images” I’ll examine a photo that implies what everyone really wants, a beautiful nude young woman. In this case, the subject is one of my favorite models, Miss Angie Pontani, Miss Exotic World 2008, and continual Miss Cyclone.

This shot was done in Angie’s apartment in Brooklyn. She had a tiara and had meticulously rhinestoned a sash that read “Miss Cylcone” and wanted some shots with those items and little else but make up and a smile. She already had a bright blue backdrop that that just fit her living room, all I needed to do was set it up, light it, and shoot some photos.

For each pose I would adjust the lights, raising and lowering them and moving them around depending on where Angie was facing and how she positioned her body to the camera. I shot everything from full body shots to tight close-ups, determined by what looked best through the lens.

This shot was created with a digital camera and three strobe lights. One was placed as a key light high and to the left of camera, bounced into a reflector. Angie turned her face right to it. A second soft source was placed close to the camera to soften the already soft shadows and highlight her tiara, eyes, rhinestones and smile. A third light was set further back and aimed just at the background to eliminate any of Angie’s shadows and to create a uniform tone of blue.

Angie discreetly positioned the sash and her hand to make the image suitable for all ages. I checked through the lens to make sure the framing was just right, and happy with the work, snapped another portrait of Miss Cyclone.

~Don Spiro