Studio Boudoir Lighting

Hi everyone! Today is the final episode in our boudoir lighting series. Grab a cup of coffee and relax while we look at this. 

Last week I told you I would show a mistake and what came out of it. Well, here it is. When I was at my mentor Don Hales' studio in Denver, I was working with Micayla. She is a beautiful girl who was great to work with. Don went into another room to photograph which is fine. I've done this before! But shooting in another's studio is like cooking in someone else's kitchen. You cooks know what I mean. So in the first image, I was quite surprised at the result when I looked at the back of the camera. What I saw was a bright, cheery well-exposed image. It looked great, but was also more like I used to shoot when I began portraiture. I photographed high school seniors and some adults with type of lighting. However, this is not the mod I was looking for in a boudoir session.

After Don came back, he told me what I needed to change to get the effect I wanted. As you can see, we got the moodier, shadows I was hoping for. The first, brighter image is a good one, but for boudoir photography, I like more emotion. These lighting effects gives me that. While the first image may be great for pin-up, I like the shadows for boudoir. Boudoir photography can have such an intimate feel. I like the warmth and the alluring feel in the second image. It almost feels voyeuristic.

Notice her pose again. Her legs are stretched with toes pointed to elongate her body. This should be done with or without shoes. Her back is arched which accentuates her breasts. The pose is very alluring, but for the model is not the most comfortable. When you have your boudoir session, some of the posing may feel kind of weird because it is bot something you do every day. I even told my brides that, and it is more true with boudoir posing. 

This concludes the lighting series. I hope you enjoyed and learned from it. I know I did. It is always good to review! Have a great weekend everybody!