Boudoir Photography How To

There's been a movement in boudoir photography circles lately to keep posing and lighting simple to produce beautiful imagery that highlights dramatic sensuality and we're here for it. Recently, boudoir photographer Critsey Rowe shared her one posing secret with us and now Yuliya Panchenko explains how you only need one light and one pose to capture stunning boudoir photos.

Every company that makes lenses usually designs a few that are ideal for portraiture. The trend these days for studio and boudoir portraits is toward fast prime lenses, while zooms remain popular for location and wedding photography. Wide-angle lenses may get you closer to the subject but perspective distortion exaggerates a subject’s nose and ears.

Boudoir literally means bedroom in French so it's fairly typical to capture boudoir photos of someone posing on a bed. This is more challenging than it may seem, however, since bed poses in boudoir can either look awkward or be a bit all-too familiar.

Sometimes small things can make a big difference in a photo. No, it’s not always getting fancy lens for your camera or adding professional lighting to a portrait – though those things can help image quality – it can be simply about getting a fresh perspective on your subject.

The following is something people tell me when I suggest using a plug-in or specialized software for enhancing or retouching portraits: “But you can do that in Photoshop!” That’s because when it comes to software for wedding, portrait, and boudoir photographs, everyone has an opinion—sometimes a strong one—even if they’re wrong.

Have your model strike the right pose, and your photo shoot could be a success. Have them strike the wrong one and it could end up a disaster. Nowhere is this more important thaen in boudoir and swimwear photography where appealing posing is critical.

If you want to give your boudoir photos some excitement, just remember the three S’s. What are the three S’s, aka the SSS technique? They stand for Shadows, Shapes and Space.