Boudoir photography is being taken to a new level with creative lighting and posing by some of today’s most talented photographers. The day of the cheesy “put a woman in some lingerie and have her do a silly pose” are gone. [...]]]> By Tammy Cobb
South Carolina Fine Art Boudoir Photographer (published at 411marketsource for Professional Photographers)

Boudoir photography is being taken to a new level with creative lighting and posing by some of today’s most talented photographers. The day of the cheesy “put a woman in some lingerie and have her do a silly pose” are gone. Photographers are bringing back the art of boudoir. It is not about sexy as much as it is sensual art. It is tasteful and beautiful. And women all over are wanting it! Who can blame them? Women have been the object of art for centuries. We all want to be art. Beautiful art. Sensual art.

As women, we naturally are plagued with insecurities and think to ourselves that we will wait until we lose that last 15 pounds before we have portraits made. We put it off for the very reason that we need it. It will help us to see ourselves as beauty and art. If a woman is plagued by insecurities, she especially needs to do this for herself.  Besides, 15 years from now, we may think we looked might fine now. If in 15 years you look even better, have more boudoir portraits made!

Portraits are timeless. We spend so much money on clothing, cosmetics and anything else we can find to make ourselves look and feel beautiful. Most of which we are not still using or even have in 5 years. While boudoir art by professional photographers may be more expensive than doing it yourself or having a friend do it or even a beginning photographer, it is so worth the money and will be timeless. Timeless. How many things do we buy to make ourselves look and feel beautiful that we can say that about? You will always be able to look at this beautiful work of art and say, “That is me. I am beautiful. I am a timeless work of art.”

For a successful boudoir session, communication with the photographer is key. Find a photographer who makes you feel comfortable. It is especially important to feel comfortable with your photographer for boudoir portraits. They can be so much fun with the right photographer. View their work and see if you like their style. While many talented photographers are using creative lighting and posing, it does not mean everyone is. Let the photographer know what you want and see if it is something they do. Ask about props if you are interested in props. Props such as pearls, wine in a glass, hats, and other tasteful accessories make great props for artistic boudoir. Think about what you want to do with your portraits.

Common boudoir purchases are a hardback art book of your portraits, prints for the boudoir, and calendars. Think about this when you are setting up your boudoir session and talk with your photographer. Some of your portraits you may want to be less revealing or even use creative crops, not identifying who you are, or use creative crops just for the artistic factor. Creative crops can make an ordinary image a WOW image.  This is another reason to hire a professional photographer who has an eye for artistic angles and crops. Many photographers have the ability to do this after the shoot, but it is important to discuss with the photographer before the session about what you want. Also, if you have areas that make you feel self conscious, discuss this with the photographer. A professional photographer may be able to make clothing suggestions before the session, plus will be able to keep this in mind while posing you. You may see it as a flaw, but your photographer may be thinking you look great and even notice it unless you point it out to them.

Fine art boudoir photography will help you see yourself as the goddess you are. It can even help give a woman some of the confidence that she has been missing in her life. Be bold. Be brave. Be a timeless work of art.

Find a Fine Art Boudoir Photographer in Your Area

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TOP 5 SMART THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR BLOG

Early winter months like January/February tend to be the time when most wedding photographers re-tool their websites and re-structure their business approach for the coming wedding season. This has certainly been the case for me so far in 2009, along with editing late 2008 weddings and booking new 2009/2010 [...]]]> by Columbus, Ohio Photographer Shannon Williams

Early winter months like January/February tend to be the time when most wedding photographers re-tool their websites and re-structure their business approach for the coming wedding season. This has certainly been the case for me so far in 2009, along with editing late 2008 weddings and booking new 2009/2010 clients, of course. But in the midst of all this busy-ness, I’ve found my creative discipline lacking. Like any other creative-pursuit-turned-business, the business of photography can sometimes crowd-out the creative interests that first sparked the idea of even pursuing it as business. That being the case, I’ve decided one of my daily disciplines for the new year will be a 15-minute shoot-out. Just me and my camera for 15 minutes, shooting for the mere pleasure of it, and crafting images that interest me artistically. My goal everyday is to shoot subject matter that is immediately accessible – around the house or studio. Since this narrows the field of available subjects, it forces me to see mundane, common objects from a different point of view. This is a great artistic challenge for a wedding photographer, because some of the best moments that happen on a given wedding day are unscripted – and can be missed entirely if you’re not “seeing” them more than one-dimensionally.

So far, this has proven to be more difficult than I imagined – primarily because it can be tough to turn off the commercial-mindedness that drives and builds a photography business. Regardless, I do find my creative batteries being re-charged by taking time to shoot some of the simple things you see here. I love detail when it comes to photography, so even shooting a bent bottle cap or a textured, dried flower can be fun. I’m sure as the weeks and months progress, I’ll shoot more than just macro images – but for now it’s a good place to start. I’ll be posting some of my favorites here, for you to enjoy as well. And I hope that whatever your creative interest may be, you might find some inspiration here to push the boundaries of what you do artistically.

If [...]]]> Seriously.  I had no idea so many people were looking for boudoir photographers.  While working to help one of our featured professional members, I tweaked a few additional areas of our site to reflect this type of work and have really been surprised at the number of hits for people searching for a boudoir photographer.

If this is a type of photography that you do, please be sure to list that in the description of your artist profile or if you have more than one profile, maybe even set up a separate one just for that.  Some potential clients are quick scanners and generally will look toward the top of the page (good reason to be a featured member) and will look at titles and descriptions first.  Words that I am seeing come up more often that people are using when looking for this type of photographer are: boudoir and intimate. If you are already a featured member for your other work, since this is so different and would generally attract someone looking for something very specific, it would even be a good idea to set up two different accounts and have a separate one with another featured membership for marketing your boudoir photography to potential clients. A client looking for a photographer who does children will generally assume most photographers do, but one looking for boudoir work will probably not assume it is something most photographers do, which is why this one would need to be very tailored to the boudoir market.

I hope this 411 helps photographers who do boudoir photography and are looking for ways to market to that clientele.  There seems to be a pretty big market for it and just wanted to pass that along.

If any of our members would like to share some experience in an article on boudoir photography for us, we would love to do a feature on you!

Let us all look for the good. Let us all learn and keep our hearts open to what God is saying to us.

Take pictures of someone doing something good or someone who just needs a picture taken of them because of a connection you made with them [...]]]> Project Idea #4 – Random Acts of Photography

Let us all look for the good. Let us all learn and keep our hearts open to what God is saying to us.

Take pictures of someone doing something good or someone who just needs a picture taken of them because of a connection you made with them or a stirring in your heart. It could be someone whose story touched your heart. It might even be someone you didn�t get to speak with but God showed you something special through this person.

Do this for one year. Set a goal for how many images you would like to use (one a day, week or month) At the end of the year make a collage of your images and print it out or put it into a book and write a little about what moved you in each image. At the end of the year you will have a special memento of the the things that have touched your heart throughout the year and maybe even a few life lessons.

What a great coffee table book this would be!

I had a friend who did this, and it was gorgeous. She took an old table, painted it and bought a piece of glass cut to fit it. This can actually be done pretty cheaply at a hardware store. She then took lots of old black and white pictures her [...]]]> Project Idea #3 – Photography Table

I had a friend who did this, and it was gorgeous. She took an old table, painted it and bought a piece of glass cut to fit it. This can actually be done pretty cheaply at a hardware store. She then took lots of old black and white pictures her dad had taken and put them under the glass. It was so beautiful. I can’t remember if she used spacers, but I am thinking that might be a good idea. This could be done with any type of table….and end table, coffee table, foyer table, etc.

I’ve been working on this one for a while and need to get busy on it again. I have bought a lot of the 4×6 clear magnetic photo frames from Wal-mart and have been slowly filling up my fridge….completely. People are always drawn to it. It’s different. It’s not just [...]]]> Project Idea #2 – Photography Refrigerator

I’ve been working on this one for a while and need to get busy on it again. I have bought a lot of the 4×6 clear magnetic photo frames from Wal-mart and have been slowly filling up my fridge….completely. People are always drawn to it. It’s different. It’s not just a few scattered here and there, but I am trying to cover the refrigerator completely. It’s on my list of things to do this year….update some of the images and completely cover the refrigerator.

I have been looking for one of these on sale locally for a while and finally came across a cherry one this past week for $30. It will hold 12 images matted 5×7s or 12 8×10s. I thought I would use family images when I thought about getting one but [...]]]> Project Idea #1 – Photo Screen

I have been looking for one of these on sale locally for a while and finally came across a cherry one this past week for $30. It will hold 12 images matted 5×7s or 12 8×10s. I thought I would use family images when I thought about getting one but really have a LOT of those on my refrigerator, piano, and walls…lol…so I am going to use this one to stretch myself creatively. It may have people but I think I would prefer no faces. I just want this one to be more fine art. I think this would be great for stretching myself to see outside the box. With 12 spaces, I could try to do one for each month.

Beautiful, diffused portraits in bright sunlight?

Contributing Artist: Lena Hyde

Lena specializes in modern lifestyle child photography & photographer’s design resources.

Lena Hyde Photography

Design Aglow

Design Aglow is an online resource for information and products directed at professional wedding and portrait photographers. This site was created to inform, to teach, and to inspire.

This [...]]]>

Beautiful, diffused portraits in bright sunlight?

Contributing Artist: Lena Hyde

Lena specializes in modern lifestyle child photography & photographer’s design resources.

Lena Hyde Photography

Design Aglow

Design Aglow is an online resource for information and products directed at professional wedding and portrait photographers. This site was created to inform, to teach, and to inspire.

This technique is not for the shy. If you are willing to look a little silly and get really close to your subject, this tip, dreamed up by John Santerre, is a handy one to keep in mind. The look produced is gorgeous and flattering because of the very mild shadow areas produced by the sheet’s super-diffusion. You might compare this to the “light boxes” used by professional product photographers.

You will need bright sunlight or another intense light source coming, ideally, from above and behind you.

Have your assistant stand behind the subject with two pieces of cloth. One is an opaque black cloth (this is a must for every location photographer) and the other is a regular, old white bed sheet. The black cloth should hang down behind your subject and the bed sheet should drape over the top of both of your heads.

Make sure to crop close, taking advantage of the flawless softness this technique creates. The black cloth will keep the background simple and mysterious and will create a huge contrast between it and the subject.

I would recommend that you shoot wide-open or close to it to draw attention to the eyes and to blur out any stray sheet that may be present in the background.