We are delighted to feature a guest post from the photographers at Strawberry Road.
Boudoir Photography
Boudoir photography has been injected back into the mainstream and become an acceptable outlet for women to show a side of themselves they rarely get to. Sexy lingerie is generally reserved for the romantic interlude. That is where boudoir photography comes into the mix.
A frequent question we hear is, "why are women doing this?" That question, believe it or not, never comes from men :-) It comes from women who haven't really taken a moment to answer the question for themselves. Jennie and I have shot numerous boudoir sessions and I can tell you that the thrill for us is just how happy the women we shoot are during their session.
Exhilaration
To begin, our clients are excited they are taking the leap into a boudoir session. We can sense that excitement, their exhilaration, and most of all, we get a true sense of the empowerment they feel. Our subjects have made the choice to be sexy, to buy something that makes them feel beautiful, to let us professionally capture what they see in their minds eye as the beauty they truly posses.
It's funny, the usual reason for our clients to have a session with us is to give an album to their special someone on a special occasion. It could be a gift for Valentine's day, for a wedding present, or an anniversary. But our experience shows that rationale generally flies out the window the moment we arrive at a clients house! Sure the ultimate goal for any images captured during that session may be a boyfriend, fiance or what-have-you. But while we're there, working with our client, she is on cloud nine.
There are a number of factors that add to the heady excitement of the shoot for our clients. I'm sure there is a taboo quality, after all she is scantily dressed and her significant other is more than likely not aware.
Empowerment
But my guess is the more simple fact that besides beauty and allure, she gets to be special, doted upon with a true sense that she is involved in a process of creating a beautiful image of herself. When a woman chooses, she is empowered. When she chooses to be sexy, she is taking that empowerment to a whole new level.
Should her photographer be talented enough to capture that in her images, then those images go beyond sexy, beyond 'hot,' and are a testament to the fact that she not only had the courage to pose for the pictures, but she really can be as beautiful as she feels.
Cloud Nine
As I said earlier, while shooting, our clients are on cloud nine. They are having fun being the model that they want to be. Lighting, poses, camera shutters clicking, it's all fun and it's all about her.
What Jennie and I really enjoy about the boudoir process is, it really gives us two opportunities to interact with our clients and make them feel beautiful.
The first is the shoot. Our client is posed properly, the lighting is artistic, and as she gets to see her images in the back of our camera's, excitement builds. By the end of the shoot, there is a sense of accomplishment, that "I did it!" feeling that I'm sure someone might feel after having parachuted for the first time.
The second opportunity to interact with our client is when we deliver her images. It is so rewarding to hear her say "wow" and know that she's glad she made the choice to reveal to the camera as side she generally reserves for someone else. I think that is the moment that a lot of clients realize, she did it for her and she's happy.
Strawberry Road is a fun and quirky wedding / boudoir photography company run by Jennie and Dave. They’re friends that work very well together. Dave is technical while Jennie is more ‘feel.’ Jennie works on a Mac and Dave works on a PC. He drinks coke products while she drinks pepsi, but together they shoot with Canon equipment. They can be found at http://www.strawberryrd.com or http://www.facebook.com/strawberryrd
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