Boudoir Photography

Boudoir photography is a great way to give your partner a present that he will treasure. It’s a present that’s intimate, sexy and personal to both of you and will mean the world to him. It’s a growing trend and something that’s becoming popular amongst Brides-to-be, who give the photos to their fiancé just before the wedding.

But boudoir is more then just a great present, as most women will find it gives them a huge confidence boost. It’s a great way to do something that’s a little daring and out of your comfort zone, something that seems to be growing in popularity with the likes of Gok Wan showing us all how to look good naked. It’s for these reasons that many women do these shoots. It’s more for them, a way of celebrating their femininity and sexuality in a relatively harmless way. It boosts their self esteem and makes them feel good about themselves. The fact that it also makes a nice present for their significant other is just a nice bonus.

Boudoir has always been there in the form of Lingerie shoots and fine art nude photography, but its starting to grow into something that the average woman, rather then a professional model, is becoming interested in doing.

There’s lots of theories as to why this form of photography has started to become popular, there’s a lot of factors no doubt contributing to it, but what is for sure is that it’s here and looks like it’s here to stay.

There are a growing number of photographers offering the boudoir service, many of them being primarily wedding photographers. So if you’re interested in doing a boudoir shoot, you should shop around and do your homework before choosing who to go with.

Comfort is a huge part of doing a boudoir shoot, it’s important that you are relaxed and happy with the person behind the camera as it will show through in the photos if you aren’t. For many women, part of this comfort can be gained if the photographer is a woman, feeling that only a woman will truly understand them and be sensitive to their needs. For others the opposite is true, believing that only a male photographer truly understands what’s sexy about the female body. In the end it comes down to personal choice and comfort.

The other big thing to consider when choosing a boudoir shoot is packages. There’s as many packages as there are photographers and a wide range of pricing options. You would probably have to spend a few hundred on a good boudoir shoot, so it pays to make sure you are getting what you want.

Shoots usually take place in one of three locations, a Studio, a hotel room, or at your home. Most photographers offer one or two of these options, and each has its own style, and pluses and minuses. Studio shoots vary in style as some photographers might have a whole bedroom set up with a vintage bed, damask wallpaper etc, where as others might just have a black or white background. The down side to these shoots is that a shoot in a studio, even though it might have a bed etc, will often have the studio feel to it, and loose that homely edge.

A home shoot has the advantage of taking place in a familiar environment, somewhere where you are comfortable and happy. However, the down side can be that most peoples homes will have some kind of clutter around the place which might distract from the mood and which you might not want in the pictures.

A hotel shoot has the benefit of not having the clutter of a home shoot, or the feel of a studio shoot, and yet still feel like a real bedroom, or boudoir. A hotel shoot however can feel a little impersonal. Plus there’s the hurdle of finding a hotel that will allow the photographer to use their room for a shoot.

Every boudoir photographer will offer one of these three options, so take these options into account when you look for your boudoir shoot.

To help with your comfort on a boudoir shoot, it might be an idea to have a chaperone with you, someone who can offer a bit of moral support and won’t judge you while you have your photos taken. Most photographers will be more then happy to allow you to bring along a friend, but it’s always worth checking first as many photographers will have a few recommendations with regards to you bringing a friend.

Once you have chosen to do a boudoir shoot, it’s worth thinking about where your comfort limits are with regard to the shoot. Most boudoir shoots are more about what you don’t see then what you do see, but every client is different and no doubt you will have a few ideas about what you want to wear and how you want to look in the shoot. It might be that you want to keep everything covered up, or at the other end of the scale, you want to do some nude shots, or maybe your limit is somewhere in-between. Whatever your feelings are about this, its worth thinking it through and talking with your photographer about where your limit is and how you want to look.

For the majority, boudoir shoots involve you wearing some kind of lingerie for most if not all of the shoot, and you should pick out several sets, or maybe buy some especially for the shoot.

Finally the last thing for you to think about and consider is the final product. What do you get at the end of the day? Do you want an album, prints, or maybe a DVD slideshow set to music? Or just maybe you’d like a large canvas print for the wall of your boudoir above your bed!

If a boudoir shoot sounds like something you would like to try for yourself, why not have a look at the boudoir section of my website at www.surreyboudoir.com

By Andrew Dobell
www.andrewdobell.com