Pillow Talk
When you spend your day connected to the Internet you’re bound to find interesting things. So when “b-pics” kept appearing on all the blogs, websites, and forums I’m addicted to, I had to find out what these photos were.
B-pics is an abbreviation for boudoir photos. A “boudoir” is the French term for a woman’s private room, so, essentially, boudoir photos are pictures taken in the privacy of a woman’s room. They’re a classy, artistic, sensual, and a tasteful way to photograph a woman. Oh yeah, and I did them a few months ago!
Keeping this secret was extremely hard, but letting the cat out of the bag early would mean my lovely husband would figure out his wedding gift early, and that just wasn’t going to happen.
I researched over a dozen photographers in the Atlanta area, because I wanted to find a photographer with a style I liked (it’s very easy to go from classy to cheesy or tasteful to tacky in the blink of a flash) and a price that fit my budget (FYI: paying over $500 total is ridiculous and you’re getting ripped off, trust me. Do your research and you can find a talented photographer who won’t rip you off).
Like I said, I did my homework and the results were beyond what I ever imagine. I found an up-and-coming photographer named Angie with Suburbanite Photography and signed up for one of her Boudoir Marathons. A marathon means the photographer typically books a hotel room and has boudoir sessions throughout the day. Each girl has an allotted time-frame to have her photos taken.
My session was planned for a Saturday afternoon in Atlanta and luckily I had a friend to go with me (she had a session right after mine). The results were completely worth it in the end, but lying to Kenny was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, lying is definitely not my forte.
I have a few tips for woman interested in having their own boudoir session:
- Research! Like I said earlier, it’s very easy to go from classy to cheesy or tasteful to tacky in the blink of a flash, so find someone with a style you like and who you’ll be comfortable working with.
- Hydrate. Drink plenty of water the week and especially the day before and the day of.
- Skip the bra. On the day of the shoot, wear loose clothing. You don’t want to have bra or panty lines in your photos.
- Accessorize. Bring items of your husband/fiance/boyfriend with you. If he’s into sports, bring jerseys. If he’s in the military, smuggle out part of his uniform. Getting married? Bring your veil and garter.
- Go to the Pros. There’s a difference between looking like a hooker and looking beautiful…just saying…
- Clothes. Bring different outfits, because it’s always better to have more options than not enough.
- Cover up. My photographer suggested wearing the outfit with the most coverage first so I could start out feeling more comfortable.
- Drink some vino. Sometimes a little alcohol can help you relax.
- Perfection. Whether you’re taking these for yourself or a loved one, remember: You’re perfect just the way you are. And a good photographer will be able to accent your best features.
- Have fun! It’s nerve-wracking to have your photo taken while you’re wearing clothes, so the pressure really starts to hit when you’re half naked. Take a deep breath and smile!
Okay, enough talking…want to see some photos? Click “read more” below!
Taking these photos was an unbelievable experience and I think every woman should consider taking some for themselves. I’m clearly not a model, or even skinny for that matter. I’ll just put it out there and let you know that I was a size 16/18 when these photos were shot, so seriously—anybody can do these!
It just so happened that I made a book of all the photos and gave them to Kenny the night before our wedding day. He loved them and I loved doing something for him. Angie took more than 150 photos and I bought 20 of them (although I wanted to buy more!), but I’m only sharing a few below.
The photos are amazing! You look so beautiful! I was thinking of doing something like that before my Hubby gets deployed but in too scared of what the photographer will do with the pics later on:)
Yay Jess I'm so honored to hear your kind words and I'm so glad you had a great experience, it's certainly what I strive for with every client and you were a dream to work with! To comment on The Displaced Baker's comment, any reputable photographer will require you sign some kind of release form before your session indicating what level of privacy you want. Jess was kind enough to allow me to use certain images with her permission on my blog, but many of my clients choose to have all their images kept private. Any respectable photographer would honor your wishes and require you to sign something holding them to that. You should go for it, it's so much fun and the guys LOVE it!
They look great! I agree with you – Every woman should have these done. When you're having an un-sexy day, you can pull out the book and it usually makes me feel better. And yes, a good photographer will make you look great – no matter what shape you're in.
Jess, they look amazing! I figured since I'm never going to have my 'maternity shots' I was wanting to do something like that, and as a nod to his military service, do some like yours and some as the typical 'pin up' girl. Thanks for sharing!
You look AWESOME!! I'm so glad you shared these tips – I'm nervous for my shoot on Wednesday! Yours turned out sooo so well! I'm sure he loved them!
Wow those are stunning!
Great tips! I had never thought of some of that! You are so beautiful! Love that first picture.
I went to the site, and I think they used on of your pictured for the ad! 🙂
http://suburbanitephotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/atlantaboudoir.jpg
My hubby lovely doing photography, and one of the things he was looking forward to after getting married was doing shots similar to these – of me! But he hasn't done it yet! Your photos are so beautiful, though. What a great idea as a gift for your husband 🙂
Great pics. You look gorgeous. I would love to do pics like that. I have been looking non stop to find photographers around my area & think I finally found one.
If my husband stays in the military, then I'm definitely doing these to send to him while he's away. So fun.
Thank you for sharing your pics! Can I just say how freakin' gorgeous your eyes are??? The rest of you is lovely as well, but damn those eyes are striking!
First of all, you look GORGEOUS! I love boudoir photography!
I'm actually getting a session done in April when I go back to the States for Sean's R&R. He knows about it, but I'm still super excited to get pictures taken for him.
You look amazing! I saw this photo style at a bridal show I went to last fall and I thought they looked really awesome. I wanted to do it, but I was really nervous about it. I'm a size 16, so I was afraid I would look…you know…fat. Your photos are great inspiration though, so I'm going to look into it!
Those photos look great! I'll have to consider doing this if and when I get married! Thanks for all the tips!
Dang girl – you look fabulous! The photos turned out awesome…this really makes me want to have some done too!
Wow! You are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! What a great idea, I should look into it while Mr. F is away at Ranger school…
i just did this about a month ago for my man! He is gonna recieve his album during R&R i am so excited. i have trouble lieing to…its so hard to not share the excitment! Yours turned out beatiful!