What is Boudoir Photography and How to Approach It?

boudoir photography

Boudoir Photography

Boudoir photography’s increasingly popularity is telling us that people are losing their inhibitions, which can be a great thing, but boudoir photography is not new at all, it first started taking off in the early ‘20s. Back then it was only actresses and models who would be shot in skimpy outfits inside their boudoir. Now, everyone’s doing and loving it. Before we start, you need to keep in mind that boudoir photography differs from nude photography or erotic photography. Today we’re going to take a closer look to boudoir photography and give you, the photographer, a few tips and ideas on how to photograph your clients.

Bridal Boudoir Photography

So many brides are doing the bridal boudoir photography thing nowadays. Before their wedding, future brides will go and have their sexy photograph taken to surprise their future husbands on their big day. It’s a practice that’s been going on for decades and it doesn’t show signs of going away. If you want to get into boudoir photography, we suggest you make future brides your main target. Have special price offers for brides or offer a discount for couples, which brings us to our next section.

Couples Boudoir Photography

Aside from bridal boudoir photography, another type of boudoir photography that’s getting quite a lot of attention and popularity is couples boudoir photography and plus size boudoir photography. Couples who want to get their sexy on in photographs are harder to photograph than, say, a single female or male. Together, their needs will change, and so will their energies. When working with couples we suggest you make the woman the center of attention and keep the man on a secondary plane. It’s what works best!

Boudoir Photography Ideas and Tips

We have three tips and ideas for boudoir photography. The biggest tip is for you, the photographer, to exude professionalism. If you do, then people are going to start feeling comfortable around you and when that happens, the magic also happens. Even if you’re just starting out and you’re a bit uncertain of yourself and your skills, don’t let that show. You know how they say: Fake it till you make it!

Another tips is to always use music while shooting your clients. Sexy music will help your subjects unwind, relax and get their sexy mood on. Keep a wide variety of styles and genres, because you never know which type inspires your clients.

An idea for your boudoir photography studio is to shoot raw, this way you can do the best editing possible. With boudoir photography you’ll always need to touch up and even use Photoshop. Your job is to make the subject as attractive as possible. If sometimes that requires a lot of image processing, then so be it!

Boudoir Photography Poses

When it comes to poses, you as the photographer need to guide your subjects well. When people come to your studio for boudoir photos, they come with something in mind. You need to find out what that is and tell them from the start if that is doable or not. A lot of people still confuse boudoir with erotic, so please remind your clients that they don’t necessarily have to be nude and that the best boudoir photographs involve some clothes. The best boudoir photography poses are the ones where your subject isn’t showing something, but implying it. Talk to them beforehand about the poses, so that they don’t get confused once they’re in your studio.

Some great boudoir photography studio can be found in the city of Houston, Ohio, Philadelphia, Austin, TX, Portland, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Omaha, Charlotte, NC, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Jacksonville, FL, Virginia, Minneapolis, Louisville, Phoenix, Sacramento, Orange County, Las Vegas, NYC, Utah, Dallas, Michigan, Denver, San Antonio, Tampa, Nashville, Indianapolis, IN and Harrisburg, PA.

5 Great Ideas for Couples Photography

We know that when you’re in love you want to scream it from the top of your lungs and let the whole world know about it. Because it’s not really socially acceptable to do it, we suggest you try some couples photography, so you and your significant other can capture your love and share it with your friends and family or simply keep it for yourselves. Today we’re going to present you with 5 great ideas for couples photography, so read on and take notes.

Get a Theme!

One of the best tips for creating the perfect couples photography shoot, is to get a theme and try to stick to it. Also, keep it simple and try not to bring too many props into the scene. Let’s say, for example that your theme is military: try not to bring too many guns into your shoot, because guns in loving and intimate scenes are extremely bad. Choose a white background, wear some khakis, look cute and start kissing! That’s pretty much all you need. If you overdo it, your picture will look terrible, take it from us, we know about these things.

In the Buff, In the Boudoir!

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If you know that the pictures won’t be leaked online or that you’re not planning to send them to both your families as Christmas cards, you could try to be a little bit more romantic and sensual and try some nude photography. Naturally, you will need to keep it classy and professional, so we suggest you don’t really show anything, but instead hint at nudity. Don’t make it too sexual, because it’s really hard to pull such a thing off and very easy to make it look cheesy and trashy. Our tip for a beautiful and sexy nude couple photography is to get yourself a good professional photographer. It may cost you a bit more, but it’s definitely worth it. All you need to do is come up with some erotic ideas and let them do all the work!

Family Comes First!

If you and your significant other are already married and/or have children or are pregnant, that makes for some great couples photography! Nothing says love better than a family photo. Cute family photography poses include your kids on your shoulders, cats and dogs around you and even some pregnant belly kissing.

Break the Boundaries!

If you’re a quirky couple that doesn’t stand for traditionalism, then you should really include that into your couple photography. What is normal anyway? Nothing more than a setting on a dryer, so get your freak on and shine! So, you’ve got a thing for snakes and tattooed men?! Girl, you’re not the only one, so grab your man and show him some love in front of the camera.

Love the Camera!

Couples Photography

So many people get uncomfortable in front of a camera. If you know that you have troubles when a camera comes out, try to relax before a shoot and study your face and expressions in the mirror. It’s the best way to get to know your facial expressions and to know how to act in front of a camera. Some people are born to be natural when they’re having their photograph taken, while others have trouble with it. You should know that posing can be learned and that choosing a good photographer will help immensely with your fear of the camera. Talk to them beforehand and tell them about your fears and worries, a good photographer will always try calm its subjects.

Have you ever tried couple photography? How about erotic couples photography? Care to share your experience with us? Drop us a line in the comment section below, we love hearing from our readers!

5 Sensible Ideas for Couples Boudoir Photography

During your career as a photographer working with people, if you manage to successfully transition from doing this as a hobby to becoming a pro, you will be approached by couples quite often. When two people feel happy together, when they are at the beginning or when they have simply reached a new relationship milestone, it is quite often that they want to celebrate that feeling by commissioning a series of couple photography. But on that note, you shouldn’t be surprised that sometimes they want to try couples boudoir photography, since it’s one of the most popular commercial trends of the present. It can’t be all wedding photography or classic portraits; but on the other hand you shouldn’t feel queasy about it: boudoir photography is by no means erotic photography, which is much more explicit or debatable. To prepare a bit for the time when you’ll receive a request like this, here are 5 sensible ideas for couples’ boudoir photography to achieve the ideal balance between enticing and tasteful.

1. Combine the niches of boudoir photography with maternity photography.

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Sometimes, pregnant mothers want to contract a photographer to help them immortalize their new bodies in a beautiful light. It is a way for them to feel beautiful at a time when their bodies are going through miraculous and tremendous change, and you need to be highly imaginative as a photographer to be able to capture the exact angle that will produce a suitable photo. The final result must be neither too revealing or overtly sexy, nor too abstract, as if you don’t want to show the body at all, nor focusing entirely on the belly. The good news is that if you get this right, your client will love it, and you will add a very desirable niche to your portfolio.

2. Use lights and shadows to highlight only one area or shape of your subjects’ bodies.

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When photographing bodies in a delicate and non-overtly erotic manner, the play of lights and shadows can be your friend. In the example above, the shadows help make the photo not too explicit, while the lights make the contours stand out in an alluring way. Tasteful boudoir photography can be easily achieved through light and shadow play, so it’s a trick you should keep in mind for every such photo shoot.

3. In couples’ boudoir photography, your people skills must be extra sharp.

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Brushing up on your people skills to make sure your subjects are relaxed enough to pose and to also prevent their exhaustion is an important part of any kind of photography work, but in the case of boudoir photography, perhaps it is even more so. A person’s body is the thing they often are the most self-conscious about, and it is your job to make them feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible. They must feel so throughout the photo shoot, and the results have to make them feel beautiful. Perhaps a talk with your subjects about the body parts they feel most self-conscious about or the body parts which they are proud of and would like to bring into focus can prove itself useful, if you are as tactful about it a possible.

4. Try shooting the photos from partially concealing angles.

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If you manage to tactfully find out what areas of their bodies your clients are comfortable with and what areas they would like concealed, you can use this as a guide. If there isn’t anything to be concealed for this reason, then just try to follow this rule of revealing something and concealing something else, in order to make sure the final result is tasteful and just slightly erotic. In couple’s boudoir photography, you have to deliver a result which will make your clients happy with their decision of posing for you even after a long while has passed.

5. As much of a cliché as it sounds, focus on the feeling of the overall setting than on the bodies per se.

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The décor is very important in couple’s boudoir photography, as it will set the whole feeling for the entire series of photos. Not only will this feeling be visible to the viewer of the photos, but the subjects themselves must be successfully be immersed in it to relax properly and glow. This setting includes not only the objects in the room, but also the way you choose to frame the image you want to capture.

If you manage to apply these few ideas for couples’ boudoir photography, your clients should feel very happy with both the shooting experience and the results of your work, and your reputation as a reliable photographer will have nothing but to gain from it.