You’ve booked your boudoir session, but how do you prepare for the big day? Here are our top 5 tips for preparing for your boudoir session!

1. Start stretching

   In our client guide we joke around that a boudoir session with us is more like a pilates session than a sexy photoshoot. Sure, you’re in lingerie (or not!) and the resulting images are absolutely stunning, but getting stunning images requires a lot more physical strain than you’d think. While many of our clients book with the intention of using boudoir as work-out motivation, I’ll tell you that working out is way less important than stretching. Get your body used to twisting and arching and bending by stretching a few times a week. It’ll help you immensely during (and after!) the session, plus it’s healthy for you!

2. Gather inspiration images

   While we don’t copy other photographer’s work, or even copy exact poses I’ve done with other clients, we love to see images that you’re inspired by. Sending in inspiration images helps us to plan out your session, suggest different outfits, understand your goals, and set expectations (we don’t have a claw-foot tub overlooking the Swiss alps here in the studio, so we’d have to reset your expectations if you sent us a shot like that). Sending in inspiration photos is especially helpful if you really have NO idea what you like. Browsing images will help you to figure out what styles, poses, outfits, etc that you are most drawn to and will give us a great jumping off point for your session.

3. Respond to our emails

   That may seem sarcastic to you, but seriously, we’re just trying to help you out! We send questionnaires (two, to be exact), and planning questions to our clients throughout our planning process. These are designed to make sure that there are no unknowns when you walk into our studio. We will know your favorite music (and have it playing), whether or not you want to go nude, when your deadlines are, your favorite side of your face, etc. Our questions also help your to think of more questions to as us (which is especially great if you have no idea where to begin). So, please.. let us help you!

4. Try on your lingerie/outfits

   This should seem like a given, but so many clients come into the studio and haven’t tried on the items that they want to wear for the shoot. At that point, if something doesn’t fit correctly or has a hole in it then there is no time to order or shop for a new one. I’ve heard “oh man, I don’t like this as much as I thought I would” about a million times. While we have items in our boudoir closet that we often supplement into client’s wardrobe selections, we definitely don’t want that to be your only option (especially if you ordered something you were really excited about). Trying on your wardrobe beforehand gives you (and us) an opportunity to intercept any wardrobe issues, PLUS it gets your more comfortable with wearing it, which in turn helps when you’re wearing it on camera.

5. Speak up

   Have a question about privacy? Wondering if we can cover up the tattoo you got at age 18? Going through a rough patch in your relationship? Wondering if we can accommodate symptoms of your auto-immune disease? Don’t be afraid to speak up and let us know, even if it’s just to ask us not to ask you about something (read that sentence 4 times to understand it, haha!). But really, let us know what is going on with you or if you’ve got a question or an idea that may seem ‘weird’ to you. I promise that after 10 years and over 3000 clients, we’ve likely encountered almost anything you could approach us with AND handled it for the best.

Can’t wait to meet you, and remember, we’re here to help the whole way through!

WELL HELLOOOO THERE! Thanks for coming up out from under the Olympics rock to reach my blog :) If your'e like me then you've been actively refreshing your NBC app in order to catch every single second of gymnastics and diving. I'll let it be known that I also enjoy watching the Women's air-pistol (is that what it's called) because those ladies could DEFINITELY be Bond girls. They are incredible.

That being said, here is the continuation of my boudoir series of the 5 most common misconceptions you might have about your boudoir session. 

Parts one, two, and three, are here.... read those to get caught up on this series! I'm full of tips, and questions YOU might have are likely asked by others! This series is also great for anyone even considering a boudoir session or knows someone that is considering a session. 

Alright. Now let us get on dowwwwnnnnnn to the meat of this post. 

Being that it is nearly the end of summer (kids are back in school, your coworkers are rejoicing that kids are back in school, you are cursing the traffic that comes from kids being back in school....) you've had an entire almost 3 months to be photographed in bathing suits. No doubt this has had you practicing your posing in front of a Target mirror as you decide which bathing suit would look good from all angles. 

Of course, no matter how much you practice the art of concealing the weird back-rolls that come from a certain bathing suit, you inevitably will have about 400 terrible pictures taken of you in said suit. Commence the Facebook de-tagging. Thank goodness FB allows us to review pictures before we accept the tags. Lord have mercy. 

This brings me to an important anxiety about posing in lingerie. If you can't even be trusted to nail your beach-body poses, how on earth could you be trusted to nail your lingerie poses?

This is where I, the queen of all that is good and right in the world, will help you out. 

We'll talk about the 'good and right' later :)

Myth #4: You will have to practice posing before your boudoir session.

1. We’ve all done it. We catch ourselves in the mirror…we do a double-take…we face ourselves…an eyebrow begins to lift… our lips part…for some reason our weight shifts and our hands go to our hair. Nailed it. The sexy face. Cue the selfie.
2. Since we’ve nailed the sexy-face, and no doubtedly practiced it 193 times, we attempt to try it out in public during the ever-present photo opportunities that occur during dinner. We see the end-result, fully expecting to SLAY better than all involved in the image. What do we see? Basically Shrek. No offense to Shrek, but I can think of some more attractive characters. 
3. THIS is why I say leave the posing up to me. There is no need for you to practice. If you want to practice then my best advice is to stretch or do yoga. Posing can be hard. The truth is that my camera angle, the careful awareness and design of lighting, the pattern of the sun, and the arrangement of furniture can make your ‘sexy face’ seem like you’ve been stuck in a bout of constipation. Leave this to me. You hire me to take care of the entirety of the details surrounding your boudoir session and this is a HUGE detail. 
4. There is a great benefit in leaving posing up to me. You’ll never be lost at what to do, I’ll give explicit instructions on how to tilt your head, I’ve photographed in my studio for FIVE years and so I KNOW the light. I'll make sure that my eye and my lens see you from the best angle possible. There is no way for you to know what your best angle is when you walk into my studio. 
5. Lastly: Your wardrobe can have specific influences on which poses look best on you (I’ll see this!). You may not be able to notice it, but when I put you in a position I will be able to see how the boning of your corset buckles, how the lace of your bra rests on your chest, or how the thigh-highs press into your leg a bit too much once they are at a certain height.  Leave it up to me. You've hired me to be the best boudoir photographer that money can buy, so let me be the best boudoir photographer that money can buy. 

Above all, I know that your brain is on fire when you're walking in to your boudoir session. Your heart is beating and your muscles are shaking. Nerves are a given, and it would be really weird if you weren't nervous at the thought of posing in lingerie in front of someone you may have never met. Even so... trust me. You picked me, you hired me, you loved my work. It is in my best interest for me to photograph you beautifully... after all, I want you to WANT the final product! That's how I fund my growing collection of drugstore lip glosses :) 

Kidding, kind of. 

Do you have additional questions or are interested in your OWN boudoir session?! Write me here.