What to wear: Unveiled
The most common question I receive after women have booked their session - other than 'Will there be wine?' - is 'What do I wear?'.
Being that this is a boudoir session, the innocent onlooker might think that this question is one of the dumber questions to ask. They'd cock their head to the side in a confused state and probably utter an exacerbated 'Um.. duh?'.
Well, innocent onlooker, picking out what to wear for these types of sessions isn't as easy as it may seem. I'd like to start a new series of posts where every now and then I will give some insight into what clients should bring!
Today I want to talk about accessories, specifically veils.
A lot of women contact me with the hopes of booking a session for their fiance or spouse. When booking for these purposes, it is pretty common for the girl to have a veil handy - after all she is getting married soon, or has been married before. Veils won't work for everyone, especially if you're like my mother who's veil, though gorgeous, has 80s power written all over it. However, veils do work for a lot of women and for that reason I love when they bring them in.
When a veil is brought into a session it allows us to get a little creative. Depending on the length they can be used to wrap the woman in a way that is slightly suggestive... showing just the right amount of skin. For shorter veils (birdcage and the like), veils are an amazing way to create drama in the face and the silhouette of the client. Shooting through a veil is one of my favorite ways to soften an image. I shoot in a natural light studio (though I have lights if I need them) and veils do an amazing job of catching the light in a way that renders the image ethereal. The client will see herself glowing when she previews the image. My goal is to create an image that shows my client as more beautiful than they imagined they were. We all have an image of ourselves in our head, and I want to crush that image... in a good way.
Here are a few images of 'veiled' clients.
OMG this veil. When she brought it into the studio I think we all melted a little. She wanted to make sure it was incorporated somehow since it was so unique. I love the images were created.
Here is an example of the drama of a birdcage veil. I love that only her lips are completely revealed. The rest of her look is slightly hidden by the veil, adding a little mystery and coyness. Love it.
Back to the chapel-length veil. This image certainly has an element of sass to it, a little harder and edgier than the previous two. Here I used the veil to create a line down my client's body, leading the focus down her body and through the legs.