I have always been a huge fan of classic boudoir photography and have always had the urge to try my hand in it at some point.
I believe there is a certain skill involved with boudoir photography. The trick is to make your images as sexy as possible, but whilst maintaining a high level of elegance and class. There is no point in just taking a random picture of a girl in some underwear or lingerie plonked on a bed and just pressing the shutter button. That in my opinion is classed more as glamour photography, rather than boudoir.
I spent a lot of time researching all aspects of this genre and then went about putting everything in to action. I think one of the most important thing that makes a great boudoir image is the location. Now don't get me wrong any location can be used and turned into a great photo. Your own personal bedroom or living room. But nobody really wants to see your clothes liner or washing up basket in the corner.
For this shoot I did with the lovely Leigh, we were lucky enough to be given access to a 16th century hotel, The Boys Hall manor, based in Ashford, Kent. A stunning location based right at my front door. We had the choice of different themed rooms, but once I saw their french themed room The Debois, I knew that was the one that would make the images something extra special. A lovely cosy room with plenty of natural light filtering through the windows with gorgeous antique furniture and one massive soft comfy bed (something my model appreciated a lot).
I've worked with Leigh several times and for my first real attempt at this type of photography, I wanted someone I knew I could fully trust to help me get a great set of images. Shooting boudoir is all about capturing the female beauty and form, and using beautiful and natural poses to convey a captivating story.
I mainly worked with the attitude that the bulk of the images would be in black and white as I felt it lent to a more classical and timely feel. However I did shoot several images in colour as well. Pictures of those will be up in a day or two.
A huge thank you again to all this that made this shoot possible.