I don’t know how to pose “sexy”, can you help?

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.