Boudoir Photography How To

Boudoir photography is a unique form of portraiture in which you use many of the skills employed for other types of people pictures, and a few more. In the quick tutorial below you’ll learn an important technique that’s often ignored.

When shooting boudoir you need to nail focus, exposure, and composition, like with all styles of portraiture, but there’s another key goal with this particular genre; namely, accentuating the model’s physical attributes to achieve flattering images that are also sensuous and alluring.

Effective posing is critically important, and some photographers overlook the importance of carefully positioning a subject’s hands in a way that adds to the overall effect. This is exactly what you’ll learn how to do today.

Mike Lloyd is a California-based pro who launched his career as a fashion photographer before narrowing his focus to boudoir. And in much the same way that good pianists make great organ players, accomplished fashion photographers have the skills necessary for excelling at boudoir.

As Lloyd says, “If you’ve ever shot boudoir you know how difficult it to pose hands and have them look good and natural.” This episode simplifies this task by demonstrating how to master the placement of hands using several of Lloyd’s favorite poses.

One reason Lloyd’s work is so compelling is that he’s an expert visual storyteller, a skill that’s common among all excellent photographers—no matter what type of images they shoot. As you see, hands can play an important role in accomplishing this task.

You may want to make a few screen grabs for future reference as Lloyd demonstrates several hand poses. These include placing hands sideways, asking the model to hold various items, positioning the subject’s hands in her hair, and a few more.

All this takes is a bit of practicing directing a model, and you’ll be able to get the job done with ease.

You can see more of Lloyd’s fine work by paying a visit to his very popular YouTube channel. And be sure to watch the tutorial of his we posted back in January, with 10 flattering boudoir poses for women of all sizes and shapes.