Things To Consider When Choosing The Perfect Boudoir Photographer

Over the past 10 years shooting exclusively boudoir, we’ve heard some horror stories from our past clients related to boudoir experiences they’ve had elsewhere. And believe us when we say we’ve heard it all and we want to make sure you never have a bad experience so we put together a list of things you should look for when choosing the right boudoir photographer. So whether you choose us or another company we want you to be safe and have the best experience possible.

Tip #1 – What Are Their Reviews On Google/Yelp Like?
You have to do your homework, photographers with low ratings or none at all should raise red flags. Reputable photographers will have many reviews and they should all be 4 stars or higher! Also, look at the length of reviews too, if a photographer has only short reviews those reviews could be fake. Longer heartfelt reviews are much more likely to be genuine and will tell you a lot more about the experience. A bit of a brag on our part, but we have over 100+ 5 Star Google Reviews.

Tip #2 – Where They Are Located?
There are MANY people that will offer boudoir services that will do this out of their home or come to you. Now we’re not saying that you can’t get results out of a house but it will radically reduce the diversity in the shots and it seems questionable that they don’t have their own shooting space. If they say they will come to you, red flag. A great boudoir company will have their OWN studio with props, offer hair and makeup and a safe environment for your session. Never underestimate how a photographer with their own studio can make your experience amazing! We’re going to toot our own horn and say that our studio is the best in the city with 6 distinct, luxurious sets and all kinds of props. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything as stellar our studio in Toronto.

Tip #3 – How Long Have They Been Doing This?
Boudoir is arguably one of the most difficult genres of photography to shoot for a few reasons. Firstly, the photographer is going to be working with someone who is likely never been in front of a camera before. Much less in their underwear. So having a lot of experience in posing different body types that flatter the form is critical to getting great results. After doing what we do for over 10 years, we’ve refined a process that not only makes this whole boudoir experience fun it also makes it easy. We firmly believe that it’s not always about what you do when you press the button to take the picture it’s what you say to get people to open up in between the clicks.

Tip #4 – Can They Work Will All Types Of People?
Everybody shape is different and everyone is a little bit different. Knowing how to work with different body types is what makes a good boudoir photographer. When you are looking at any given photographers portfolio, you really have to pay attention to the diversity of body shapes. If all you see are people that look like thin models you might consider that a red flag. It’s very easy to put together a photographic portfolio using only experienced models but when the photographer is confronted with regular people they may not know what to do. A true photographer is going to know how to pose YOU, direct YOU and make YOU feel comfortable in front of the camera. Remember, you’re entrusting a very intimate set of pictures with the photographer you choose and if done incorrectly, the results can be demoralizing. If done right however, they will leave you with the most amazing feeling you could ever imagine. So it’s worth the money to invest with an experienced photographer.

Tip # 5- How Do They Edit The Images?
Retouching is a very important part of boudoir photography but it shouldn’t be something that’s used to make people into something they’re not. It’s very easy to see some very heavy handed retouching when you search boudoir photography images. When you look at the images of yourself after your session you should be saying,”I can’t believe that’s me” not, “that isn’t me” there is definitely a fine line between those two statements but at least for our part, we never want to have someone retouched past the point of reality and have them feel that the image is not a truthful representation of them. We’d much rather be accused of un-editing an image than taking it too far. We also don’t want to contribute to society saying you have to be a certain measurement and by using tools like Photoshop to manipulate someone’s figure to achieve that look. We firmly believe editing like that to be unethical. How much experience your boudoir photographer has will in many respects reduce the amount of Photoshop that they actually have to do and create a gorgeous photo of you with all your perfect imperfections.

Tip #6 – Do You Love The Look Of The Images?
The overall aesthetic of the images you see on a boudoir photographers site is going to largely mirror what your images will look like. If you are deciding between a few photographers you  MUST ALWAYS go with the one that has the image aesthetic you vibe with the most. Every photographer is going to have their own unique style and way of shooting. If you ignore that and try to get a photographer to shoot in a way that is different from that style the results usually don’t pan out. When you see a look that you absolutely love, you will know it right away so book that photographer!

A the end of the day, we want you to have an amazing boudoir experience and if you like our look reach out and set up a consult where we can go over all the details of a boudoir experience with us.