Swimwear Photography

Lighting, Posing, and Retouching

With Joey Wright

With 40 lessons and more than 20 hours of video content, this tutorial will take you through Joey's complete workflow including capturing the image on location, adjusting the raw files in post-production, and ultimately delivering the final retouched image to the client. If you are a photographer who wants to learn more about posing models, working with hair and makeup artists, working with natural light and strobe light on location, and turning your photography into a business, Joey's Swimwear Photography tutorial has something for everyone.

This video tutorial includes
  • 8 Hours of On-Location Shooting
  • 12 Hours of Post-Production
  • 43 Video Lessons
  • 30 High Res Raw Files
  • Joey's Custom Photoshop Presets, Brushes, Actions, and Workspace
Download this 20+ Hour Digital Tutorial Now
$299.99

Fstoppers has teamed up with Miami-based swimwear photographer Joey Wright to produce an extensive tutorial on all things swimwear photography. Swimwear Photography: Lighting, Posing, and Retouching is an extensive educational course that walks you through every aspect of Joey's swimwear business. Set in the exotic Caribbean country of Curacao, Joey and his creative team explore everything that goes into his commercial shoots including, how he uses natural light, scrims, reflectors, and strobe lights, as well as preproduction elements such as hair and makeup, wardrobe, scouting, model selection, and every piece of Joey's photography kit. Joey also shares an extremely in-depth section on posing your model so you can achieve perfect body language and positioning with any model of any experience level.  

​Joey Wright's Swimwear Photography tutorial has become the longest running tutorial Fstoppers has ever produced with a runtime of over 20 hours!  With a total of 43 files, this series explores over eight hours of on-location shooting and demonstrations, as well as 12 hours of post-production in which Joey teaches you every step in his retouching and client-proofing workflow.  

​Meet Joey

Joey Wright is a distinguished Miami-based swimsuit photographer. As a South Florida native, the beach inevitably became his natural habitat and day-to-day work environment. With a B.A. in Digital Media, he spent several years in the graphic design field before redirecting his creative talents toward photography. His work, primarily trademarked by its tastefully alluring and meticulously detailed quality, always reflects his easy-going approach balanced by a perfectionist nature.Joey was recognized by Westcott Lighting in 2010 when they chose him as one of their Westcott Top Pros and has made several guest appearances on Photoshop User TV and D-Town TV. He has been featured on SI.com, Fstoppers.com, Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider Blog, 'Light It' Digital Magazine, Nik Radio, Photo Biz Xposed, Tether Talk and The New York Times. His work earned first place in the 2014 Edge Shave Gel - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition "Dream Job" contest. A brief list of Joey’s clients include Montce Swimwear, Ravish Sands Swimwear, Noelle Swimwear, Perfect Tan Bikini, ONE.1 Management, Ford Models, Next Model Management, Devoted Creations, Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders (NFL), Tropic Beauty Model Search and The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Although Joey attributes his success to devout passion and commitment, when asked if satisfied with his achievements, the response is unequivocal: "While profoundly thankful to have such a fulfilling career, I'll always remain my own toughest critic." Consequently, Joey strives to satisfy his clients’ highest expectations while simultaneously achieving peer recognition as a leading professional in the field of swimsuit photography.

Below are several before and after images captured in this tutorial.

What is Covered In This Tutorial:

  • Shooting with natural light
  • Using silver, gold, and white reflectors
  • How to effectively use scrims and flags
  • Using strobes and different light modifiers
  • How to choose a model
  • Tips on working with hair and makeup
  • Styling and wardrobe considerations
  • Using lens compression and aperture to your advantage
  • Location scouting
  • Joey's complete photography gear and production tools 
  • Post-Production, including raw adjustments, skin retouching, and local adjustments (dodge and burn)
  • How to set up a streamlined client proofing gallery
  • Business Interview with Lee Morris about marketing and pricing your work
  • A feature length behind the scenes "making of" documentary

Learn Joey's On-Location Lighting Techniques

This tutorial covers everything you need to know to capture beautiful images in any lighting situation. With the exotic Caribbean island of Curacao as a backdrop, Joey starts off simple by only using harsh, direct sunlight, as well as soft, natural shade. Once you have learned how to use and manipulate natural lighting, Joey then shares his favorite supplemental lighting techniques, including how to effectively use scrims, reflectors, and strobes with different light modifiers. Each series of lessons build in complexity and eventually lead to four unique "freestyle" lessons in which Joey uses any of the previously taught techniques to produce portfolio images in a variety of unique locations. By the end of this tutorial, you should feel comfortable producing well-lit images regardless of the outdoor lighting situation you find yourself in.  

The Models and Location

In making this tutorial, it was really important for us to give Joey a wide range of talent and locations so that he could work through some of the most common issues he faces on a daily basis. Joey brought three unique models down to Curacao, two of whom he had worked with before (Shana McKay and Lisa Dillon) and one he had never photographed before (Mela Torres). All three of these girls had a wide range of modeling experience, and each one offered a nice diversity in height, hair color, and skin tone. 

The models: Shana McKay, Mela Torres, and Lisa Dillon.

Since swimwear doesn't have to be shot exclusively on the beach, we also thought it would be nice to have a wide variety of shooting locations for each lesson. Several of the basic lessons take place near and around the beautiful vacation home we rented on the coast of the island. For many of the freestyle shoots, Joey moves away from the ocean and focuses on some alternative locations he might be asked to incorporate into his commercial shoots back home. All in all, the island of Curacao offered a wide range of shooting locations, including multiple beaches, coastal caves, a rustic marina, a vacation property, a dried river bed, and even an incredible natural geyser. 

Swimwear photography doesn't have to take place only at the beach

How to Pose and Direct Your Models

Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons Joey teaches on-location is his posing guide. It is inevitable that every photographer will have to photograph a model or client that does not know how to pose well in front of the camera. Even if you have a well-seasoned professional model, chances are they are still going to prefer some sort of guidance in order to get the most flattering angles out of their bodies. Joey has an incredible eye for what looks good and what looks awkward on camera, and in this section, he shows you exactly what to look for when photographing your models standing up, laying down, and leaning against props in the scene. Once you are aware of all the pitfalls photographers often miss with posing, you are going to be able to direct your subjects into flattering modeling positions with ease.  

Joey includes a full 90 minute posing guide

Learn Joey's Entire Post-Processing Technique

Once you learn all of Joey's lighting and posing techniques, we transition into the post-production studio, where the images really come to life. These lessons make up the second half of the tutorial and explore every part of Joey's streamlined post-production workflow. Here, you will learn how Joey makes Lightroom catalogs, culls through a full shooting session, processes his raw files, preps each image for client proofing, and exports the final selects for polishing in Photoshop. Once in Photoshop, Joey outlines his systematic process for retouching skin, fixing hair, using the liquify tool, enhancing skies and backgrounds, dodging and burning, final color and tone adjustments, and image sharpening. Joey also shares some of his favorite third party plugins so you too can reproduce the film and color effects seen in hiss work. Once you have learned all the tricks and editing techniques Joey uses on a regular basis, the post-production section of this tutorial wraps up with him doing start-to-finish retouches on six of his favorite images from the entire tutorial. 

Finally, Joey has also been generous enough to include 30 HIGH RES RAW FILES so you can follow along and practice his techniques at your own pace. He has also included downloads of his custom-made Photoshop actions, brushes, and presets so you can utilize his most common techniques with the click of a button. 

Joey's Marketing and Business Practices

Perhaps nothing is more shrouded in mystery than how successful photographers market and price out their work. In this tutorial, Lee Morris of Fstoppers sits down with Joey in the studio to discuss his thoughts on how he has made photographing swimwear a full-time business. Topics include how to bid on a job, when to start charging for your work and how to price your services, when working for free makes sense, using social media to your advantage, how to work with local agencies, finding paying clients, and how to work your way up the model chain.  

Learn how Joey markets his business and gains clients.

Behind the Scenes

In previous tutorials, we have filmed documentaries that show what goes on behind the scenes during the actual filming of the production. We are excited to announce that all of our BTS cameras were rolling during the making of this tutorial as well. Bundled in with this download are seven full behind the scenes episodes that show everything that went on during the filming of this tutorial. Each episode shows a lot of footage that did not make the actual photography lessons, as well as many of the shenanigans and filming difficulties our entire creative team faced throughout the entire trip. 

What Is Included In This Digital Download:

  • 8 Hours of On-Location Shooting and Teaching
  • 12 Hours of Post-Production
  • 30 High Res Raw Files
  • Joey's Custom Photoshop Presets, Brushes, Actions, and Workspace
  • Complete Overview of Joey's Camera Gear and Accessories
  • 7 Full Behind the Scenes Episodes
  • 43 Video Lessons (1080p, 23.9fps, H.264 mpg4, over 33 GB of material)
  • Access to Joey's Private Facebook Page for Further Learning
  • Unlimited Download Renewals 
  • Optional USB Delivery for Customers with Limited Internet Access (2-4 weeks delivery)
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24 Comments

Let me start by saying, the posing section alone is worth the price of admission. I have never seen anything like it. Even if swimwear isn't big in your market, his technique and style can still be applied to other genres which adds more value to this tutorial. The business section lacked a little bit in my opinion, but it didn't bother me too much since the rest of the tutorial is cram packed full of information. Joey also includes his tool presets, which I found to be ridiculously useful. If I had to give a rating, I'd say it's a 4.9 out of 5. I definitely recommend checking it out.

Thanks for the review Micheal.

interesting! I have no interests in the swimwear photography but I like Joey's retouching and posing techniques!

I have to say thank you to Joey Wright and Fstoppers for putting together this program. The posing section was a great help which I was very happy to watch several times. The part I thought that was a big help was his lightroom section and culling the images. The amount of time spent here and to hear his ideas while looking at the images has been so helpful to myself to stream line the process of picking the best of the best while also having several choices to show the client. The next section with the batch corrections was a big help also. I have not finished all the sections but so far each section has been getting better and better.

Again thank you to everyone that worked on this project it is a great product and hope to see more like this done where you show everything from start to end because it helps so much to give each of us a better understanding what we need to focus on to become a better photographer and produce better images.

Thank you

This is hands down the most detailed photography tutorial that I have ever watched. It's hard to explain how much information Joey shares through step by step demonstration. From gear selection all the way to post-processing, it is worth every penny! You even receive Joey's tool presets and RAW images to follow along with him in the post-processing tutorials. A big Thank You to Fstoppers, Joey and Crew for putting this together!

Wow I just purchased this series (and shooting the world will be next ) I just made it thru the 1st few videos, but wow I couldn't believe how much stuff Joey carries with him, all those cases and bags and didn't even get to lights or any of that other stuff lol. There is so much to learn and I can't wait to dive into the rest of these over the next few days, especially the post processing which is what I am having the hardest time with right now, photo shop CC, computers drive me crazy lol

This is one of the BEST videos tutorials I have ever seen. From the posing to the education on business, makeup, clothing, scouting, and everything else that is offered through this video set is amazing. Truly worth the money.

My comment seems to have disappeared so I'll repost it. Is this the tutorial that is the prize for winning Nino Batista's C1 retouching challenge? If so, is Nino going to be choosing a winner in that contest any time soon, it has been 2 months according to the date on the article since the contest was opened or have I missed the announcement.

I deleted the comment because it has nothing to do with this tutorial and you had posted the comment on Nino's actual post about that contest. I asked him about it and he said he was still working on judging the contest and a winner will be announced soon.

Hi Patrick, I purchased this tutorial yesterday,but never received the tutorial. I contacted customer support, but have not heard back. Are you able to help?

I hope you have been helped with this...I am just now personally seeing this comment. Let us know if you never received it; it should be associated with your Fstoppers account.

Just bought it and can´t wait to start watching this amazing tutorial! I´ll comment my thoughts once I finish it, but I have no doubt that this is going to be one of my best investments so far!

Absolutely fantastic and mind blowing shoot and editing.... never seen anything so professional before.... full marks... I salute all of you there in the team. Waaaah!

Just took advantage of the Spring Sale and so should you. I look forward to going through this course and I sure will post again once I complete it. Patrick recommended it on Monte's course comments and should not disappoint. By the way, go buy Monte's course if you haven't. Worth. Every. Penny. And stay away from Mike Kelley's courses, we don't need more competition. Just kidding.

Ha, yeah Mike's community is really great and Monte's....wow, can't believe all the great business advice in there. Hope you enjoy Joey's tutorial. It's probably the most beautiful one we've ever shot and the tips are really really valuable regardless if you shoot swimwear or not.

Promised review: The Posing One and a Half Hours lesson is a jaw-dropping OMG for gosh shake MasterClass. And the best thing is that it doesn't just apply to swimwear. You can use for fashion and to pose females in different scenarios. Some of us are parents, have daughters, and appreciate that he keeps everything tasteful in a don't be creepy kind of way. Due to his thoroughness I own a book on Posing that I no longer have to go through because of this class. And that makes me happy.

Now, the Photoshop automation and structured workflow is also great, and welcomed, meaning that you will save a long time on some repeated tasks. I should mention that it opens a can of worms for me as a programmer, but I digress. He goes into so much detail in retouching that I feel I can use some of those tricks for architectural photography, landscape and, yes, -insert here- any photography that you currently practice.

In a nutshell, there's a lot of value in this workshop if you don't even think about the topic, and going back to Patrick's recommendation, I sure endorse it. The course is well worth your hard earned $$$. For all that, I am giving it the Tascon seal of approval, if such a thing existed.

I would buy this if it was the same in Australia dollars. I am based in Australia. $U.S. for me I can’t justify, As it’s alot more.

Can anyone tell me how many photos Joey retouch and post process in this tutorial ?

Thanks

Honestly, I just started the posing tutorial... this is already worth the money. Its undervalued. that's coming from someone who is pretty broke. The amount of information i have already gotten is just so so valuable. Fstoppers has some of the most high end, well put together tutorials I have purchased. Highly recommend these guys

Has anyone else noticed that Chris, aka the reflector dude, is the true star of the show? His style is magnificent. The cargo pants pulled up to be shorts, the array of lenses strapped to his belt, the checkered scarf, the bucket hat and the grandma shades put him miles above any other reflector holders I've ever worked with. The adventure knife strapped to his breathtaking calf sealed the deal for me. This man must have more children than Genghis Khan! (07 Reflectors, 21:01)

PS This course taught me (a novice) a ton and is well worth the $299!

Wanna buy it just for this

I've been looking at Joey's course for a couple months now. I'm a very tough critic! I'm going to buy the tutorial, and it better stand-up to all the accolades being posted. If not, you'll hear about it!!

Can anyone tell me if these videos are a download or do you stream the content? I have tried to reach customer service a couple time but nobody is responding. For $300 I would hope I can download a copy to keep and not have to stream. Thanks for your help.

Everything is downloaded to your computer. You can then sync it to any of your devices. Hopefully someone got back with you but I'm just now seeing this comment.