This image is part of a shoot with model Kimberly Boenker. A video of this shoot is part of the Practical Pinup Online Workshop.

Here’s the Animoto video of the images from the pinup shoot.

This image is part of a shoot with model Kimberly Boenker. A video of this shoot is part of the Practical Pinup Online Workshop.

Another image, another look for Kimberly. This is one of my favorites.

This image is part of a shoot with model Kimberly Boenker. A video of this shoot is part of the Practical Pinup Online Workshop.

She had this military outfit, a classic pinup prop. The salute just sells the whole thing.

This image is part of a shoot with model Kimberly Boenker. A video of this shoot is part of the Practical Pinup Online Workshop.

This pose is closer to Kimberly’s original concept.

This image is part of a shoot with model Kimberly Boenker. A video of this shoot is part of the Practical Pinup Online Workshop.

I wasn’t sure I had it in me. I don’t normally do a lot of photoshop magic. I clean up skin, (without blurring), do some sharpening, color correction, and that’s about it. But Kimberly had this idea for a Japanese pinup girl.

She wanted to hold the sword and then have a big red circle behind her, making it look like a Japanese flag.

Well after watching a couple of video at Planet Photoshop I had a new way of cutting a model out of the background using channels and levels. I also shot it knowing that I wanted her on a plain white background so I could cut her out easier.

I think it looks pretty good.

Model: Kimberly Boenker

I do have a question though. Do you think I need to glow to separate her from the circle?