March 5, 2008

Boudoir Portraits

The idea of stripping down to your smallclothes in front of a photographer probably scares the heck out of you! Right now I imagine you have butterflies in your tummy just thinking about it! The latest trend for brides these days is getting boudoir portraits done for their significant other to give as a wedding gift. The portraits are a lot more personal than the traditional watch or cufflinks and is often completely unsuspecting for him to receive! Almost every bride that I have done boudoir portraits for has told me that their fiancé would never expect (read: dream!) of her doing something like that for him! This makes doing the session all that more fun.

What was once a very "fluffy" thing with oversized feather boas and leopard print, boudoir portraits are now more about creating captivating portraits of women dressed in classy lingerie. I approach boudoir photography the same as I do with any of my photography - the photograph should be a portrait and show a bit about the personality of the woman in it.

I get a lot of the same concerns and questions from clients when they first book me for boudoir. First off, every bride that comes into my studio for a session is nervous! I assure them that once we start shooting, their nerves will disappear and that we will have a lot of fun. Before you know it, they do forget that they are standing in front of a practical stranger in their underwear and they start being themselves.

The second concern of many ladies that book me has to deal with their appearance. It seems that everyone wants to lose a couple of pounds. Ladies want to book a session with me months in advance so that they can reach their goal weight before the session. My response to this is: you are beautiful! It doesn't matter the shape or size that you are, all of us women are beautiful. You have a life partner that loves you for who you are so worrying about a couple of pounds should not cause stress and worry in your life. Be happy with who you are, know that you are beautiful and I promise you, that will shine in the portraits. The girls in my portraits on my website and blog are real women; ones that you would see walking down the street in your neighbourhood. Put on some false lashes, a little make-up and some sexy lingerie and we can create some incredible portraits that not only your partner will love, but will also make you feel like the beautiful woman that you are.