So you’ve decided the old standard boudoir photos of ladies lounging aimlessly in pretty lingerie isn’t your thing. Great! I want to talk to you. Whether you’re just a really creative soul or someone who’s tired of looking at the same boudoir photos I’m ready to help you push the boundaries and let you live out your fantasies with some creative boudoir photoshoot sets!
Regular Old Boudoir Photos Are For Me Either
When I first opened my studio, I didn’t even plan on shooting boudoir photos. The images just honestly didn’t really appeal to me. If I’m being completely transparent, I barely own anything that could be considered remotely close to lingerie myself and the entire idea of trying to look “sexy” when I’m just a big goofball feels uncomfortable to me. As a photographer, naturally, I saw a ton of boudoir photos, and really, they never quite appealed to me.
There Doesn’t Have to be a “Standard” for Boudoir
So I sat down and thought about what the typical “Pinterest” boudoir images made me feel. I’m not a high heels girly (I look like a baby giraffe learning to walk on my best day in heels), I’m not comfortable in most lingerie – it never fits right anyways. And, I saw so many images where these women were just lying about doing a sexy pout. How do they do it?! I try that look and just look like a petulant child. Also, the sets are just so bland and uninspiring. I know they’re meant to evoke a “bedroom” feel but it just isn’t for me.
If There’s One Thing We Can Do To Take Your Boudoir Photoshoot to a Whole New Level, It’s Building a Creative Set
By and large, most clients do want to wear lingerie (for at least part of their shoot) and do the typical “come hither” poses on a bed or couch, but you might be saying to yourself, “I also want more”. I want you to get out of your shoot whatever feels best and most natural to you! I have friends who wear the spiciest lingerie under their scrubs all day at work because it makes them feel powerful and beautiful. Then I have others, who feel most at home with no makeup and in a t-shirt. There’s no right or wrong way, but I want to know what you love so we can create a session where you’ll feel like your best and most beautiful self.
If you decide you want to see how far your boudoir images can go, you want something different, or maybe you want to express your totally unique self in your shoot, a creative boudoir photoshoot set is just the thing for you!
So What’s a Creative Boudoir Set Look Like Anyways?
It’s my absolute favorite thing when someone reaches out and says, “well, this may sound a little strange, but…” Seriously, tell me more! No judgment, total support, your images are going to be killer! I am here to support you and help you craft images you’ll love no matter how different, wild, or unconventional they are. I’ve helped clients build some awesome creative boudoir photoshoot sets, many of them are one-of-a-kind, or one-offs. Here are a few of my favorite creative boudoir sets and how we did them!
You can be the Set With Creative Props and Boudoir Accessories
So you don’t want to wear lingerie but you also don’t want to be nude. Maybe silks and fabrics are just a bit too mainstream? No problem, why don’t we try something else! There’s plenty of things we can use to cover you and, when shot against a flat color backdrop, you become the set!
One of the coolest “human sets” we created involve painstakingly gluing over a hundred butterflies across her body (eyelash glue worked great for this). We followed the curves of her body to make the butterflies shape to her making a creative boudoir photoshoot set.
We’ve done something similar with flowers. This fun photoshoot was part of our bodicelli inspired water shoot (if you’re a water person you have to check out our underwater boudoir photoshoots!). The flowers and the water created a completely unique boudoir set I haven’t seen done anywhere else! This is one of the shoots I collaborated on with another awesome creator, @petunias.florals who specializes in wearable flower pieces.
Perhaps You’d Like Something a Little Steamy for Your Boudoir Photoshoot Set
Instead of the “bedroom” look, why not a shower look? We can get really creative for your boudoir photoshoot with a steamy shower set. The best part is, there doesn’t have to be any steam involved. Your hair and makeup will be perfect!
If you want, we can totally shoot this in a shower. I have a great shower in our studio that works great for some “steamy” photos. If staying dry is more your style, no problem, I can set is a faux shower scene right in the studio against a dark backdrop. You’ll still get a little wet, but not as much as being fully drenched in a shower. We save these images for the end of the shoot, because typically hair and makeup don’t survive being spritzed with room-temp water repeatedly (I’ll heat it up first if you don’t mind waiting a few minutes!). It can feel a little bit awkward to be naked and wet in the middle of the studio, posing behind a sheet of plexiglass, while I’m shooting away and calling out posing tips but hey, that’s where the magic happens! This set is such a creative classic and a fun way to end your awesome boudoir photoshoot day. Plus, afterwards, you can go take a shower for real!
If You’re into Simple but Creative Sets, Silhouettes Make for Epic Boudoir Photos
I’m sure you’ve seen silhouette shots before for boudoir sessions in your research, but I’m talking about Fabric Silhouettes. Fabric Silhouettes differ from your typical silhouettes because instead of lighting the backdrop and keeping you dark, we flip it around and I shoot you through a piece of semi-sheer fabric with you posing behind it.
In a regular silhouette image, you would be backlit and pose in ways to accentuate your body shape. When we use the fabric, it gives you something to touch, feel, and interact with giving a much more abstract and artistic look. Fabric silhouettes are a super creative boudoir photoshoot set that’s not only fun, but if you want to show off your artwork, and you have guests in your home often, you can proudly display your work of art and they’ll never know it’s you! One of my clients said she gets so many compliments on the metal art hanging in her bathroom, but that she’ll never tell them who the image is actually of!
You can Shine Like a Precious Metal When We Cover You In Gold or Silver
This is another really fun way to cover up certain areas (think implied nudes) while still creating a beautiful and creative, artistic image. Typically I use gold, silver, or rose gold (yes, that’s an option) flakes to create shapes that follow your body’s contours. To get it to adhere, I use hair gel and a combo of tweezers and q-tips. As you may surmise, we do this at the very end of the shoot so you can shower off afterwards. You’ll love how the metallic accents catch the light and really elevate a typical boudoir image into something else entirely! This is one of my most requested options for a creative boudoir photoshoot set because it really emphasizes you as the artpiece.
We can also do liquid silver or gold. If the gilded look isn’t for you, we can mix up a batch of the liquid and either drip or paint it over your body. It’s skin-safe and made for cosmetic use, but it can take a little bit of effort to get off afterwards. You might be a bit shiny a little longer but it’s totally worth it (we can usually get it all off with a shower and some makeup remover). You can even do a combination of the liquid gold and gold flakes. There’s still so much more to experiment with. You’ll look like a statue!
If You’re More of a “Colorful” Person, Maybe a Body Paint Session Sounds Like Fine (Spoiler, It’s Totally Fun)
I had a client approach me about using paint to make a totally creative boudoir photoshoot set. At first I was like, sure, I’ve painted custom sets before, but then she told me what she was envisioning. She wanted to paint herself. It was hard to find any decent examples online of body paints used for boudoir photos so I was worried it would be a cheesy, chaotic mess. One f the first things we had to do was research and find water-based skin-safe paints (and by we I mean me, because if you want something special, I’m do everything I can to make it happen!). I also wanted to make sure the colors we used made sense so a bit of color theory was needed. We definitely didn’t want them to mix into an unflattering brown; that’s NOT the look we were going for.
Keeping the paints under control was an art in itself, but to make this super creative boudoir photoshoot set even more epic, we used a piece of plexiglass and we started slowly, adding one color at a time. The boudoir photos were super fun to create and looked amazing even in camera. By the end of it, I would have to “slide” her into place because the plexi was so slippery with paint, and we were laughing so hard, we could barely get the posing and shots done, but it was so worth it! This was such a fun set for something totally unique and creative for a boudoir session, and I would love to do it again!
If You Have A Big Vision, I Have the Space To Create a Totally Custom Boudoir Set, Just For You
Set building is one of my absolute favorite parts of creative boudoir photoshoots. We’ve made everything from simple boudoir sets like I’ve talked about in this post already, to very complex sets that required scaffolding and a team of seven people to construct. Some other simple custom sets we can do for your boudoir session may include flower beds, cloud scenes, and an assortment of color options and styles. Again, these are totally unique to you so if you want a specific flower or colors of flowers, consider it done. One of my favorite floral sets involves a bed of rose petals (think Valentine’s day gift, hint hint).
Some of the more elaborate sets have included creating a cave with floating candles, constructing a jungle (think Garden of Eden) inside the studio, and building some incredible underwater sets like the recent stained glass set we did (yup, I said underwater…if you’re looking for the ultimate creative photoshoot idea for your boudoir session). While I prefer the authenticity and natural emotions we get with physical sets, sometime we just don’t have the time, resources, or budget to create something, but there’s always AI. I’ve traveled the world shooting incredible locations and created a huge gallery of epic backdrops. I’m also proficient in using AI to create completely unique and one-of-a-kind backdrops. That’s an option as well, to composite an image. I promise it’ll look real and no one will know it wasn’t really there.
So Forget Those Cookie Cutter Boudoir Sessions and Let’s Make Something Creative and Unique Just For You
All in all, the point of boudoir photography isn’t to make everyone look like the same Barbie doll. The point of boudoir is to celebrate ourselves and what makes us unique, keeps us laughing, makes us feel confident and sexy. For some of us, it’s rocking the heels and angel wings (yup, I have two sets of those you can use also). For others, it’s finding a way to incorporate your unique personality and creativity. I would absolutely love to create with you at my studio in North Florida. It’s a safe, fun, private space where I promise to do my absolute best to give you an experience you’ll cherish for a long time…and hopefully lots of funny memories too!