You’ve made the bold decision to schedule a boudoir session. Prepare to experience supermodel sensations! Although a boudoir session may feel like a significant step outside of your comfort zone, it may foster increased empowerment and confidence.

It’s very normal to feel anxious. With the aid of this guide, you can feel better equipped for your session and be ready to nail every shot.

What’s your comfort level?

Every woman has a distinct expectation for her boudoir session. It’s up to you whether you want to go completely nude or prefer to keep most of your clothing on. How their sessions are photographed is decided by our clients. During our free phone consultation, your boudoir experience is covered. We will discuss in advance the kinds of pictures you want and don’t want, as well as the kinds of positions and undress states you are comfortable with. I will be more prepared and you will feel more at ease during our session if I am more aware of your needs and expectations. Every session is customised for YOU.

What to wear?

Not sure of your session’s attire? Bring things that make you feel beautiful and attractive. That can be intimate apparel, a bulky sweater, or even a stunning dress. Boudoir is all about flaunting your thing in your favourite ensembles and wearing whatever makes you feel hot. I suggest clothing items based on your body shape and skin tone. At every step of the journey, I am here to help you.

Oh, just a note. Before your session wear loose, comfortable clothing that won’t leave marks on your skin. That entails abstaining from wearing pants, bras, and elastic-banded apparel. You want your skin to seem as smooth and young-looking as you can because those red marks from wearing tight clothing will show up in your photographs.

What else can you bring?

The little things can sometimes make us feel the most attractive. Perhaps you own a priceless ancestral piece of jewellery or a pair of six-inch heels that give you an invincible feeling. For your shoot, pick out accessories that highlight your individuality and capture you at your most assured. Please feel free to consult with me if you have any prop requests for your session. I am here to make the photoshoot of your dreams a reality.

If nothing in your closet should make you feel attractive or amazing use that as an excuse to go shopping. Choose some of your favourite outfits and intimates. Just make sure to try everything on before your appointment in case something doesn’t fit or doesn’t look the way you want.

Just make sure they all fit, so slip into those hot new (and favourite) ensembles before your session. Make sure all items are clean, ironed, or steam-pressed, and remove any tags and labels.

A few days before your boudoir session

If you decide to get pampered

To prevent any unattractive lumps or redness, wax at least four to five days prior to your appointment. Additionally, now is a wonderful time to get your eyebrows done and, if necessary, return to the salon for a touch-up. Get a manicure and pedicure while you’re there to make a day of it!

Avoid spending a lot of time in the sun on the days before your boudoir session. Sunburn or tan lines won’t look well in your photographs, even though a nice, healthy tan is fantastic. Additionally, spray tanning is not recommended because it will give your skin an unflattering orange hue. Keep in mind that you want to appear as naturally gorgeous as you are!

Drink lots of water

This is sound advice for life in general, but it’s particularly helpful for looking your best in boudoir photos! To ensure your skin looks healthy and hydrated on the day of your shoot and throughout the week leading up to it, drink plenty of water. Alcohol should be avoided, and salt consumption should be decreased.

On the day of your boudoir session

On the day of your session, taking time to unwind and enjoy it is the most crucial thing you can do. Being anxious is very normal. I’ll be available to assist you with poses and positions while ensuring your comfort. You’ll have a great time and tonnes of pictures to prove it!

While I wholeheartedly support wearing attractive undergarments every day of the week, there are certain items that perform particularly well for events like a boudoir photoshoot. The 1920s saw the rise of the boudoir photography trend, which took its name from the French women’s dressing room. It has transformed over time into a far more female-run sector founded on empowering women. If you’re interested in participating in one of these shoots, here are some outfit ideas from us!

Bodysuits

A bodysuit can range from being quite plain to very intricate. It covers the belly area, which can be an area of insecurity for many women and is generally attractive. Since it’s more conventional and can help customers become acclimated to the shooting process, I would recommend using this piece to kick off a session.

Chemises

The chemise is another more traditional alternative; it’s a short dress made of silk most often. It has a loose fit and ends at a pretty high to mid thigh. They may be worn alone with a blazer on a night out or with slacks and a blazer, which makes them really adaptable.

Bra, Panties, and Garter

The 20th century’s femme-fatales wore what is arguably the most traditional lingerie style. The garter set enhances a standard bra and panty set with a decorative belt that draws attention to the natural waist and frequently connects to thigh-high stockings. It is straightforward, elegant, universally flattering, and very seductive. For stunning full-body or detail pictures, use it as-is or with high heels!

Oversized Shirts

Has your partner a favorite button-down shirt? Bring it along!
It may be worn alone or thrown over a bra and underwear for some subtly sensual looks that will mean the world to them.
This also applies to motorcycle jackets and sports shirts; feel free to add personal touches based on what is most meaningful to you. Boudoir is all about showcasing your unique qualities.

I hope that you enjoy your photoshoot.

For years I shot boudoir photo sessions in either a hotel room, air BnB apartment, in my clients’ homes, or even in a rented studio. All of these options were fine at that time. In fact, when I travel, I still shoot in Air BnBs or hotels. Hm, much less in hotels, to be honest. The hotel rooms are always really small unless I pay a lot of money for a room. Air BnBs provide a much better value and a lot more room for my boudoir photo shoots. So while these options are all OK, I found that setting up a “home boudoir studio” is now a preferred option.

I hesitated with setting up a home boudoir studio because I really wanted to separate my home and my work. I’m a very private person, and I needed a little bit of encouragement to finally shoot my boudoir at home. Looking back, I wish I did that earlier. It’s so much more convenient to shoot at my home, and it’s a lot cheaper too. What I also found is that the quality of my images lifted a notch. Simply because I know the space well, I don’t have to look for good spots to shoot, and I know where the light is the best.

The convenience of shooting at home is self-explanatory. I don’t have to travel to a location, I’m already there, just waiting for the client. Where I live is quite convenient too. It’s away from the city so there is plenty of free parking around. It’s also very close to a train station if anyone wanted to catch a train, but I don’t think I even had a client arrive by train. Well, the option is there, if needed. The cost is also a factor.

If I book more than 1 shoot on a weekend, then I didn’t worry that much about the Air BnB cost. However, making a booking just for one shoot is so wasteful. I would only spend maybe 3 hours at that apartment, but I had to get it for much longer. And no, I can’t book an Air BnB for a couple of hours. Also, that would be pretty weird too.

What I also found to be a major advantage of shooting boudoir in the same place is the fact that I know what spots are good to shoot at, and I know where the sun is going to be at a given time of day. When I shoot in a hotel or Air BnB, I always spent at least an hour checking the light in the place. Some apartments had good light, some not so much. I always checked the pictures to make sure I will have enough light, but I could not prevent surprises.

Some apartments would face North, which in Sydney means a lot of direct light. Great for the quantity of light, but not always good to shoot in direct sun, especially if there are no sheer curtains in the room. If the windows were facing South, then I could avoid harsh, direct light, but sometimes there would not be enough of it. I could never be certain that I will have plenty of good light.

Another thing is that new places I had to search for a good place to shoot. Move the furniture around if I had to. Maybe even take down an ugly picture from the wall. Air BnBs were usually big enough to shoot, but hotels were often just around 30 m2, and that is not much at all. Especially since I like the look of my 30m lens.

At my home, I know exactly where the light is coming from, and at what time. I also know all the available angles, so I don’t have to waste time searching for a good angle to shoot. I like the certainty. Of course, this also means that a lot of the images that I offer my clients may look similar. But they only look similar to me, as I see them all. For my clients, these pictures will be fresh and new. I can create a lot of variety in the images in a 2br apartment. If I had a repeating customer, then I would definitely shoot at a different location.

I like the idea of shooting boudoir in my home. I was hesitant at first, but I’m all for it now. I may go shopping soon to get a different floor lamp, and maybe a couple of new indoor plants to give my home boudoir photo studio a slightly different look. Oh, and I saw a nice, vintage-looking French chair. They look great in pictures. Yes, I’ll keep an eye on one of there. Check out my boudoir page if you want to book a session.

When I first started offering boudoir photography, I had a long list of products that I offered in my packages. These would include framed or canvas prints, albums, boxed, individually matted A5 prints, and of course digital files themselves. I would discourage getting just digital files because I like photographs to be printed and displayed, and I understand, that most if not all of digital files will never be printed. It’s a bit of a shame, but the customer is always right.

These days, I can almost assume that what the customer wants is a set of high-resolution images. In some cases, it’s also a boudoir album, but a lot of women think that they can save some money by getting the albums printed themselves at a later date. This is probably true, but I think most images they purchase would only live on their phones, or laptops, or maybe a few of them will appear on their Instagram feed.

This is not a criticism of my customers. I am very happy if they like and buy my images, but I know that pictures in an actual album that we can hold and touch look much better than on their little phone screen, or Instagram.

So, it’s safe to say that most of my customers order individual images from the shoot. Just high-resolution pictures and nothing else. I think it’s fair to say that a number of my customers are escorts, so for them, digital images are all they actually need. They need something to display in their online profile. They don’t need an album. However out of all the rest of my customers, half of them would order just digitals, and the other half would order an album as well.

The thing is, with an album, they can get the digital files for not much at all. Most of my album-buying customers got the digital files as well. I deliver high-resolution files and lower resolution images, that are perfect for Facebook or Instagram.

The least popular product that I currently still offer is framed prints or canvas prints. I guess, if someone bought digital files they can easily get them printed and framed. The only issue I see with this is when someone wants to print a wall-size picture. The high-resolution files are perfect for prints up to A3 format. If someone wants to enlarge them larger than that, the files will have to be professionally enlarged otherwise they will look pixelated, and that is a very bad look.

I think some printing places can process the image files for larger prints, or they can be enlarged in Photoshop, which is what I do before I send them to the printers. This is not a difficult task. I do use special software that will keep the quality of the print even if it’s enlarged to a huge size, but someone with basic skills in Photoshop can still get good enough results.

So this is all I actually offer now. Digital files, albums, and framed prints. There is simply no demand for anything else. Of course, if someone wants to get something else, I can work with them, but my official pricing list contains nothing else. This way my pricing list is easy to understand and there is no hard selling. I am simply not good at it. I can’t push products my customers didn’t want. I am more than happy if they buy my images even if they are just digital files.

Have a look at my boudoir photography page and if you like my work, email me and we go from there.

I don’t know if there is such a thing as a typical boudoir photo session. Most sessions are kind of unique. And it’s not just because the boudoir client is different. It’s also because of the location of the shoot. I do shoot more and more sessions in my own home studio, but there are a number of women that prefer to do their boudoir photo sessions in their own homes. And no 2 homes are really the same. There is a difference in size, different furniture, and most importantly different aspect, which then determines what kind of light we get. However, most sessions have the following parts pretty much the same.

Pre-session posing guide

I do that before every session. Even if the client has been photographed before, I want her to know what I expect her to do. How to pose nicely. What to do with her hands, etc. These short posing guides are invaluable, in my opinion, because it gives me an opportunity to explain and show my client how I pose, which helps improve proper communication during a photo session. There are a few rules of boudoir posing, that can be applied to almost every picture. For example, pointing toes and walking on tippy toes is pretty much mandatory in every shot. Whether it’s a standing or a sitting pose, the toes have to be pointed to make the legs look longer.

I just need to mention and show it to my client once, and they usually remember it for the rest of the session. This short posing guide goes for about 10 minutes, but I think it helps us save a lot more time during the shoot.

The boudoir photo-session

My boudoir photo sessions go for about 90 minutes. I don’t like to rush things. Before each new pose, I show my client where I want her to be and what I want her to do. This is so much easier than explaining them. What I also do is I ask them to mirror my body. I move my arms or legs and they just need to mimic me. This also cuts speeds up the session.

I start my sessions with my clients wearing their lingerie or even some favorite casual clothes. There is enough time in the session to change into about 3 different sets of lingerie. Depending on my client’s comfort level we then move to more daring or risque poses. There may be some topless shots, some implied nudity, or full nudity. Everyone has a different comfort level and I leave it up to my clients to decide how far they want to go.

I shoot most of the images in the bedroom and the living room if that is available. There will be shots on the bed, on the sofa, on a chair, and against the wall. Some more daring clients are happy to pose on the balcony or in the garden if there is privacy.

Most sessions go over an hour, but they also don’t go much over 90 minutes. Boudoir photo-sessions are actually quite physically demanding. There is a lot of stretching, walking on tippy-toes. I warn everyone that they are going to be quite sore the next couple of days. I have to make sure that we have enough shots before they get really tired.

After the session

I don’t show every picture to my clients as we shoot. I believe that a boudoir image is done once it’s properly edited in Photoshop and Lightroom. I may not be doing much retouching, but I do crop all images. I color-correct them if necessary, and do some enhancements in Photoshop. I will show my clients some images after the session, just so they know what to expect. With this the session is over. I usually need about a week to process and edit all the images. Visit my boudoir photography page for more information or to book a session.

I think shooting boudoir in a specifically designed and furnished boudoir studio would have to be a number one choice for most photographers. It’s convenient, always available, and would always have great light for the shoot. If I was set on a location to live, I would most likely create a boudoir studio for my sessions. I, however, don’t live in one location and have to choose other places to shoot boudoir. It’s really not a great disadvantage when I think about it.

The places I shot all of my boudoir sessions were as follows:

  • My client’s own home
  • Hired photo studio
  • Hotel or Airbnb apartment
  • My own home

I am a natural light boudoir photographer. I do not use any lights or flashes in my sessions. I just need decent light coming from the window. That means that the sessions have to be done in daylight and there should be a decent size window which would produce the light we need. Rooms with small windows found in many modern hotels or places with buildings very close together would probably not give me enough light to create my images. I do carry a handy LED light and a flash, just in case, but I only ever used it a couple of times.

Shooting boudoir at my client’s home is actually a really good option. It cuts down on the cost and it’s a familiar place where my clients already feel comfortable. Most people have a bedroom with a big bed and a living room with a sofa and a chair. I normally ask my clients to send me a photo of the room and the window to see if the room is adequate. In most cases it’s more than good enough, however, there were instances where the room was either too small, or the window was too small which means that we had to make other arrangements.

When I shoot at my client’s home they have access to all their makeup, all their clothes, and their wine, which often comes in handy, but most importantly it’s a place where they are already comfortable and familiar with. Comfort is very important in a shoot because it affects the mood and with that the quality of the images. They also don’t have to carry all their clothes with them which allows us sometimes to shoot wearing pieces of clothing that women may not bring to a shoot, like a leather jacket, ripped jeans, comfy sweater, etc.

Here in Sydney, I have a friend who is also a boudoir photographer, and she has a decent size apartment in the city which has really good light too. It can’t be described as a proper studio, but for me it kind of is. I can hire it for a few hours. The bed and sofa are prepared. The windows have nice curtains and that is pretty much all I need for a shoot. I looked for a studio specifically designed for boudoir in Sydney, but could not find any, and setting up a normal studio with the furniture would definitely not be practical.

Things were very different when I shot in Vietnam. There, I was able to hire a proper boudoir photography studio for about 200,000 Dong an hour. It looks like a lot of money, but it’s actually less than $10 an hour. Boudoir photography is quite popular in Vietnam, so it was easy to find a nice-looking studio. In Hanoi, there were actually a few photo studios I could choose from, so it was probably the easiest place to shoot.

A hotel or Airbnb is the place where I shoot most of my boudoir sessions when I travel. I always check the hotel or the Airbnb apartment to make sure it has good available light. I check the guest’s pictures because they best show the room’s size. Hotels often hire professional photographers who, with wide-angle lenses make tiny rooms look quite big. I hate those “surprises”. This is also the reason I prefer to shoot in Airbnb apartments. An apartment will always have more room than a cheap hotel.

When I stay in Europe, I almost always shoot in Airbnb apartments. I will book my shoots on a specific day and try to do at least a couple of them over the weekend. I don’t shoot much in clients’ homes in Europe because the houses in Europe are actually a lot smaller than in Australia. If the apartment is new, it’s much more spacious, but those built 50 years ago or older, are tiny. Often smaller than a hotel room. And the windows are small too. They look nice and cozy, but not really suitable for a boudoir photo session.

The last option that I listed is shooting in my own home. I only really shot in my own apartment while in Vietnam. In Europe, I stay with family and in Australia, I share an apartment, so it’s really not possible to organise a photoshoot there. In Vietnam, however, I rented a very nice 1br apartment that was perfect for photography. Well, I chose it to be suitable. Spacious, with big windows and decent-looking furniture. I rented it in a “western” part of Hanoi because traditional Vietnamese houses are also very small and often built very close to one another. With not much daylight available.

Just like so many things in Vietnam, a decent size apartment in the center of Hanoi was only $500 a month. And it came with cleaning 3 times a week. I never lived in a cleaner home. 🙂 Hanoi also had a number of old French-era hotels, so I had the most places available for my boudoir shoots. And quite a few customers too. Unfortunately, it looks like I will not be returning there any time soon. I am based in Sydney now and do most of my boudoir photo sessions in my client’s homes or Airbnb. Can’t complain, as Sydney has a lot of nice apartments available to shoot over the weekend, but I do miss the traveling.

If you are interested in a boudoir photoshoot, you can find more information on my Boudoir photography page. Call or email me, even if you are in Hanoi or Wroclaw, or Krakow. I will be back there sometime soon.

I don’t know how to pose “sexy”, can you help? This is one of the most common questions that I get from women booking a boudoir photo session. They often tell me that they looked at my portfolio and they thought that all these photos were of professional models. Granted, some of the images in my boudoir portfolio are of models, but most of them are of ordinary women who did a boudoir shoot and gave me permission to use their images on my website. This question always makes me smile because I know how important it is for my clients to look “sexy”, and I also know how easy it is to achieve that “sexy” look. The quickest answer I can give is Yes, I can help you pose sexy, and it’s easier than you think.

Before every boudoir photo session, I do a quick 10-minute posing crash course. This is a very important part of the session because it gives me an opportunity to explain or show how to transform a boring pose into something much more beautiful. It also helps break the ice, as seeing a grown man doing “sexy” poses never failed to get a smile out of my customers. Creating a nice boudoir pose means paying attention to the way a woman stands, what she does with her feet, what she does with her hands, and where she looks.

Point your toes.

This one is actually really simple. Point the toes. Always. Point forward, not back, I mean. What it does is to make the legs appear longer, and give the calves a much nicer, leaner look. This is why they invented high heels. Actually, even if a woman is wearing high heels, I still want her to point her toes. I demonstrate it during the posing guide and I make sure she does it in every photo. In fact, once they see how much nicer the legs look with pointy toes, they will walk on tippy toes the entire session. And yes, I want them to point the toes when they sit and lie down, and get on their tippy-toes when they stand. No exceptions.

Arch your back.

This one is also extremely important. Arching your back will make you look so much more athletic. It will also help accentuate your bum, and nice bum pictures are the most sought-after images from the entire boudoir shoot. I learned posing at a time when photographers were asked to make the bum look smaller. I did that by making sure that a woman puts her weight on the leg which is further away from the camera. Those days, however, are long gone. Today the exact opposite is expected and demanded.

Drop your weight on one foot.

Photographers call it creating the S curve. The S curve looks so much better than a rigid straight line. What it means is that when looked straight on, the body should resemble the letter S. Curvy, not straight. And the easiest way to achieve this is to drop the weight on one foot. It doesn’t matter which one, actually, the one that is the most comfortable and looks the most natural. I always ask women to drop their weight on one foot, then the other to see which one looks better. Often the foot that feels the most comfortable and natural will create a more pronounced S curve too.

What to do with the hands.

No, I do not pose hands. It’s very difficult to pose them. That is why there are hand-models making a good living just posing their hands. I do not try to pose hands, I give their hands something to do instead. I ask them to play with the straps of their underwear, pulling it up, or pushing it down. I get them to play with their bra straps. I get them to slowly unbutton their shirts or bra straps. I get them to play with their hair, and often times I will just ask them to run their fingers up and down their bodies. Lifting arms up in the air also adds length to the body and can look really classy. What is very important is to make sure the hands are nice and soft and naturally curved – ballet hands I call it. Straight fingers look very unnatural and kill every shot. Hands that are just hanging next to their body also don’t look that good.

Where to look.

I often start a session with women posing with their eyes closed. This creates a very nice, sensual mood, and once they get more comfortable being photographed, I can get them to interact with the camera. The eye contact with the viewer needs to be very strong. These images will be seen by their partners so the look in their eyes needs to reflect a deep and intimate connection. I like the piercing look into the camera. A look of a strong woman. A bit of a tease, a coquette. I want to see a flirty look, too.

Looking away from the camera is also nice, as long as they look at something specific. Often women would just look into the distance and the picture just looks weird. I prefer them to look slightly to the side and down, and I would often find an object on the floor on which they can rest their eyes and that created a bit of a mystery in the image.

These tips I include in every boudoir session I shoot. It only takes a few minutes to do but it sets the tone for the entire session, and I don’t have to repeat myself and explain every pose in detail. I still remind them about pointy toes and arched back, especially at the end of the session. And when I see that they can no longer do these things, I know that they are tired, and it’s a good time to end the session. Boudoir sessions normally take about 90 minutes. They can be quite physically demanding, so 90 minutes is more than enough for anyone. And that includes me.

One of the advantages of being a portrait and boudoir photographer is the fact that I don’t need to have a lot of gear. I shoot all of my boudoir photography and portrait photography images on a Fujifilm X-t4 and either a 23mm f1.4 or 35mm f1.4 lens. A camera and 2 prime lenses. I also have a backup camera which at this time is my old and trusted X-T2 and I also have a set of 23 and 35mm f1.4 lenses as backups.

Boudoir photography is not like wedding photography where I carried with me 2 bodies with large lenses and I kept another backup camera in the car, just in case. At a wedding, I had to make sure I document as much of the ceremony and the party as I can, and also capture the emotions, the facial expressions, close-ups, and wider shots to deliver to my customer a good memory of that day. That’s why I had to carry a wider angle lens and a telephoto lens, to make sure I don’t miss too many moments. And backup was essential because it’s not really possible to reschedule a wedding shoot. With Boudoir Photography it’s very different. Sure, I have a backup camera and a backup lens, but I don’t have to carry them all the time. Just need to have them with me in case the main camera or lens fails.

Sydney boudoir photographerI shoot all my boudoir portraits with a Fujifilm X-t4. I used to shoot with Canon gear but decided to change the equipment because Fujifilm is a much smaller camera and their lenses are also half the size. At a wedding, which often went for 16 hours, I would carry about 10kg of camera gear, different lenses, flash, extra batteries, etc. Now, on a boudoir shoot, my camera equipment weighs less than 1kg. And that is one of the main reasons I no longer shoot weddings.

My lenses are primes, fixed focal length. I don’t use zooms at all. Zooms are usually much larger, much heavier, and much more expensive. And they are all at least f2.8 in the widest aperture. I don’t think I took a boudoir image at an aperture higher than f2. I like the blurry background bokeh I get when shooting at f1.4. And my customers like it too. Both my 23 and 35mm lenses are f1.4. Most of my lenses are Fuji as well, but today I received a 23mm backup lens made by Viltrox. I really like the build quality and the image quality as well. So much I like it, that I’m ordering their 33mmf1.4 as well. 23mm on my Fujifilm cameras works out to be 35mm in Full-Frame cameras and 33 or 35mm are close to the 50mm in Full frame.

I try to shoot most of my boudoir sessions with the 35(50mm) lens. It’s a perfect portrait lens that produces very little distortion. I just think that people look better when photographed with a longer focal length lens. Unfortunately, I have to stand at least 4m away from my subject to get a full-body image. Some bedrooms I shoot at are big enough for that. Sometimes I shoot in a living room, which is usually a lot larger than bedrooms too. However, most of the hotel rooms that I shoot at are not big enough to only shoot with a 50mm lens. I can get nice closeups, and half body images, but if I want to get a full-body shot, I have to shoot with the 23(35mm) lens.

That is the reason I carry 2 different lenses to a boudoir photography session. I have no problem with that. Compared with a wedding shoot where I had to have 2 cameras on me and 2 sets of very heavy lenses, I’m ok with having to swap the lens every now and then. The image quality of these lenses is superb, and they are tiny compared to the Canon gear. I also have a 56mm f1.2 lens, but I never use it on a boudoir shoot. It creates a very nice, blurry background, but the rooms are just too small for this lens, so I only really use it on my portrait shoots outdoors.

That is it, actually, a camera with 2 lenses and a backup. All that gear fits easily into a backpack, together with some extra batteries, chargers, etc. So much easier to carry and also so much cheaper than my old Canon gear. I know that I will no longer shoot any weddings and even if I get a family shoot from a previous customer, I can still deliver using the simple Fuji setup. Add a decent laptop to this list and that is all the tools I need to capture, edit and deliver beautiful boudoir photographs.