Bold, Beautiful Boudoir: Finding Your Niche and Voice

Boudoir photography is in vogue again. With more and more photographers creating gorgeous images for a wide range of clients—including introverted and extroverted men and women, same-sex couples, plus-sized, tattooed, etc.—building a highly creative and profitable niche in the boudoir business has never been more compelling. Here, three photo studios share their secrets to boudoir success while staying true to their distinctive styles and attracting clients who share their sensibilities.

GABE MCCLINTOCK

For Calgary-based wedding and portrait photographer Gabe McClintock, shooting boudoir is a way to express his fine-art style and create images for his clients that show them how naturally sexy and gorgeous they really are.

Gabe McClintock uses available window light and a natural approach to posing in order to create intimate imagery of women at home. Photo © Gabe McClintock

McClintock, who shoots about 80 percent weddings and 20 percent boudoir, says, “I don’t encourage my clients to have their hair or makeup done beforehand, I don’t have a wardrobe selection of lingerie that they can choose from, and I don’t shoot in a studio. I shoot all the people I work with in their homes, just as they are. I want my clients to feel beautiful as they just grab a tank top out of their closet. I want them to see their enduring beauty, the way it is today and how it will be tomorrow, next week and next month.”

Photo © Gabe McClintock

Shooting all of his sessions using only natural light on a Leica M240 with his Leica 35mm and Summilux 50mm lenses, McClintock takes softly sensual images that celebrate the essence of his clients’ beauty. Attracting mainly women who are still attending university, young professionals and stay-at-home moms, his posing techniques are as relaxed and natural as his approach. He may gently direct a client as to where to sit or look, but his main goal is to encourage his subjects to be as real and at ease in their bodies as possible.

Photo © Gabe McClintock

McClintock also doesn’t sell albums, doesn’t upsell products and doesn’t worry about it. He’s content with his work-life balance right now. “You need to shoot boudoir in the way that feels right to you,” he says. “I shoot my way because that’s how I feel it should be done, but that doesn’t make it the only way. It’s just what works for me and the clients who hire me for my look.”

TIP! “Try creating alluring shadows in your work,” McClintock says. “They are just as important as highlighting your clients features. For me, sexy lies in the imagination—it is what you don’t see, or almost see, that is much sexier than seeing it all.”

CHERIE STEINBERG

For Los Angeles photographer Cherie Steinberg, who, with partner Hedley Jones, owns CherieFoto and The Boudoir Cafe, the increased interest in boudoir has been a big boon to business. Says Steinberg, “I started shooting boudoir 20 years ago but at the time there was no name for what I was doing. Some people called it glamour, some called it pin-up, some called it fine-art nude, but no one understood the term ‘boudoir.’ Naming boudoir as an art form has allowed people to connect with it, and that’s been a huge part of bringing it to the mainstream.”

Steinberg lights her client with a ProFoto Monolight in back and a large umbrella and reflector in the front using her 24-70mm lens. Photo © CherieFoto

Success, for Steinberg and Jones, has come from honing their artistic style and creating a dynamic team of photographers and business associates that help to support their boudoir business. As the lead photographers for The Boudoir Cafe, they create one-of-a kind photographs that range from sultry minimalist images in black and white to totally outside-the-box photos of women with wings, masks and stiletto heels. Says Steinberg, “We just want to make images that look amazing and work with people who vibe with what we do, so that they will trust us to play in whatever way we see fit.”

Capturing the allure of a masked woman, using natural window light and an 85mm lens. Photo © CherieFoto

Steinberg’s clients are generally women in their late 20s to early 40s who feel confident about their looks and want to document how beautiful they are—mainly actresses, models and professionals. They often come in with their own clothing and The Boudoir Cafe team designs their hair, makeup and accessories for each look, adding props and jewelry as inspiration takes over. Employing every kind of lighting imaginable, including flashes, gobos, bounces and even flashlights, Steinberg and Jones (who shoot mainly with a Nikon D750 and 85mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.4 and 24-70mm lenses) tend to use classic posing techniques—like positioning the hands to be relaxed, moving the head forward and down to eliminate wrinkles in the neck, and placing the hips to create an hourglass figure—but many of their clients come in with their own poses in mind as well.

Photo © CherieFoto

Albums, prints and carefully sourced, personalized products make up a big part of their profit, though Steinberg admits she isn’t that into sales, so she has a kind, thoughtful salesperson on staff who guides clients through the product offerings, including large prints with custom frames, lacquered wall art and an array of album styles from five different outsourced companies.

TIP! “Practice until you perfect your craft so you play in the moment,” Steinberg says. “Having fun with your clients and being spontaneous is how the magic happens.”

EWAN + BRIANNA PHELAN

Forging their own path, wedding and boudoir photographers Brianna and Ewan Phelan, of acclaimed Ontario photography studio The Last Forty Percent, design and shoot over 100 bold, brave and seriously sexy boudoir sessions per year. Individuals and couples come to their large, light-filled space from every walk of life, in every color, size and gender. Some want to see themselves as beautiful again after going through an abusive relationship, some are from the LGBT community who want to be photographed without being judged by their sexual orientation, some are couples looking to reignite their sexual relationship, and some are just looking to celebrate life and the sexual side of it.

Shot with natural light directly to the upper right of the subject, Ewan Phelan shows off the rugged and vulnerable side of one of his male clients. Photo © The Last Forty Percent

With over 200 racy outfits on hand, tons of shoes and experienced makeup artists and hair stylists at the ready, the Phelans let their clients play dress-up if they want to while encouraging them to carefully prepare for shoots to look and feel their very best. As the lead photographer for The Last Forty Percent, Ewan Phelan says, “Boudoir is the illusion of sexy. Sexy is the illusion of sex. So why not just skip the middleman and make the viewer think about sex? It evokes more emotion and brings the conversation to the forefront.”

The Phelans create the illusion of sexiness and sex without using props or photographing actual sexual acts. Photo © The Last Forty Percent

Their photos are typically shot with a Nikon DF and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens, poses are meticulously scripted so each angle and expression works to create an outstanding print. Rather than making their clients feel uncomfortable, their attention to detail and total acceptance translates to clients feeling adored and empowered, while couples often report feeling closer and more connected to one another. (And while the Phelans never judge their clients, they don’t use props, photograph sexual acts or men without their pants on.)

By hiding her face and keeping a lot of the image dark, Ewan says he is exploring his work’s theme, of why some parts of sexuality can be open, but others have to be hidden. Photo © The Last Forty Percent

Because Brianna and Ewan are passionate about helping photographers run exciting, sustainable boudoir businesses, they’ve created an app—The Boudoir Shoot Companion—to find great posing and lighting tips on the fly. It’s a quick, comprehensive guide broken into seven sections that shows you everything to look for when you pose a client—from their hair to their toes. (The app can be purchased on their educational Do More Wear Less website.) Next year, along with co-founder Walter Van Dusen of Mystic Seminars, Brianna will launch the all new Mystic Boudoir conference. (Her two-day platform in Portland, Oregon, will focus on both the artistic and business sides of the boudoir industry, and all of the photographers in this article, plus eight others, will be on hand to share their insight and tips.)

TIP! “Creativity is about seeing things that others don’t and creating connections that show the viewer how you see the world,” the Phelans say. “Posing with boudoir should not only be about making the client look their best, but should also take into account what you, as an artist, are trying to say.”

RELATED LINKS

Hip Action: Boudoir Posing Tricks from Jen Rozenbaum

Hey, What’s Your Specialty?

Going the Extra Mile—Adventurous Wedding and Engagement Shoots [Gallery]

What Is Boudoir? The Boudoir Photography Empowerment Movement