How to prepare for your Boudoir Shoot

For most of us, we are lucky if we get to experience one boudoir shoot in our lifetime. I’d love to see every woman do this for themselves every year or at least every decade! How amazing would that be?!

To prepare, you can choose how extreme you want to go with diet restrictions and beauty treatments. Here is a timeline and guidelines of what to do and when. Please note these guidelines are OPTIONAL and for your information only.

72 hours before your shoot, avoid the following items that may give you oily skin or cause bloat and swelling:

Red Meat

Alcohol

Caffeine

Spicy Foods

Retin A and Alpha Hydroxy Creams (causes the skin to peel and will show up in photos)

Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate! Drink plenty of water. Carry it with you everywhere you go and keep sipping.
Exfoliate your skin a week prior and also the morning of the shoot.
Have your brows professionally shaped and then keep them up by plucking the strays every few days.
Dark roots will look even darker in photos (unless that is the look you are going for). Refresh your hair color a week before your shoot. If you do not color your hair, try “shades” or a toner just a shade lighter than your hair to make it shine. If you need a trim, do it a week before the shoot.
Fingernails and toenails should be one length, well-manicured, and polish should be colorless, red, or French unless this shoot calls for color.
Avoid dry lips by putting dry lip treatment on your lips before bed and the morning of your shoot.
For body (lots of skin showing) shots, be sure you get rid of tan lines by getting a professional spray tan two days prior or using a tanning bed a few times.
If you have facial hair and you are a woman, we recommend having it waxed before the shoot. Peach fuzz will show up on your skin, it actually shows more in photos than it does in person.
Get rid of body hair. Anywhere and EVERYWHERE it could possibly show - unless of course, you prefer to go au natural!

Check out these articles for more ways to prepare for your next Boudoir Shoot:

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HOW TO: LUXURY SOCIAL MEDIA & MARKETING TEMPLATES FOR CANVA

Throughout my photography career, I’ve fallen in love with complimenting my imagery with graphic design. I’ve developed a suite of elevated design templates specifically for the Boudoir Photographer compiled of all my business documents, email interactions, price lists, and my favorite magazine-style album designs into easy-to-use Canva Templates. I can’t think of a better way to revamp or jumpstart your new boudoir business and it works with Canva’s FREE app!

Have you tried Canva?

CANVA is such a brilliant tool—my absolute most used app/software for my business. All of my design templates work with the Free Canva App. Try Canva PRO for 30 days Free with this link → www.canva.com

The price is worth it, however, all elements and fonts used in this Template come with the free version. Always make sure you hold the rights and have permission in writing to use professional images for your marketing materials (images shown in templates are not included).

Once you get acquainted, you will quickly realize that the PRO version is completely worth it — hello advanced editing tools, professional fonts, endless templates, and a giant library of stock images and graphics! I invite you to browse my gallery Canva Business Tools are available on my Etsy site → https://roguewestdesign.etsy.com

For step-by-step instructions on how to use these templates check out my video tutorial on YouTube https://youtu.be/SO32ZxqQnVE

→Once you sign up for Canva Free with this link → www.canva.com

Open the Template and Make a Copy by Selecting ‘File’ and then ‘Make a Copy.’ Give your new Copy a name and begin using the new template.
Select ‘Project’ then ‘Folders’ from the menu on the left. Click the + for ‘Create Folder’, give the folder a name, and drag your selected images from your desktop into the folder in Canva.
Now you can simply Drag your images into the Image Frames (JS Image with ‘Drag Here’ Button) of the Template.

→Selecting an image that works best for each design can take some time. Additionally, you can lighten or darken an image in Canva using two different methods:

Select Edit Image and Decrease Exposure & Contrast (See below for examples)
Click on the Image and move it out of the way a tiny bit. Select the background and change the color to black (to darken). Place the image back in the desired spot then select the Transparency Tool and reduce the opacity to your desired amount.

→For images that have text layered on top of the image—select a darker image with some blur or black space where the text will show well. You can move the text to your liking, change colors, play with fonts, etc. If you need to darken your image - reduce the opacity. There is a black box layered behind. You can also switch the look by using a lighter image and Black or Colored Text.

→If you prefer not to have the text you can simply delete it or you can copy/paste it into a different spread. Feel free to play with fonts as you wish to reflect your brand’s individual aesthetic.

Have any questions? Email me! studio@jenniferskog.com

Finding Inspiration for your Boudoir Shoot

We find inspiration everywhere around us, from fashion magazines to music videos to real-life occurrences. Think about your most favorites things: hobbies, pieces of clothing, movies, etc. Whatever evokes emotion or feeling; it doesn’t necessarily have to be a happy feeling, it could be a thrill or a fantasy or an addiction, whatever it may be, write it down. With your thoughts and ideas, we will create an inspiration board to set a storyline for your shoot. Magazines that we browse frequently include Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, W Magazine, and European Fashion Magazines. Set up a Pinterest Board! If you are unfamiliar with Pinterest, it’s an amazing tool for keeping track of everything that inspires you. Pinterest is a free online virtual pinboard that allows you to “pin” images that you find online and share with others what you are passionate about. You can find me under @jenniferskog! Here are some fashion blogs that we recommend checking out and pinning anything that grabs you:

ONLINE FASHION BLOGS

Vogue
Harpers Bazaar
The Fashion Spot
Fashion Gone Rogue
Who What Wear
In The Frow
The Vou
Bldg 25 / Free People Fashion Blog

ABOUT this SHOOT

With most of my shoots being on location in my client’s home, I’m first seeing the surroundings in person on the day of the shoot, so I never truly know what I’m going to get as far as light and space. As soon as my sister and I walked up the driveway, I saw an entire wall of ivy that gave privacy from the street. I immediately knew we had to take advantage of such a beautiful backdrop and create a look.

She was a bride-to-be, so I had brought lots of white sheer and lace pieces to play with. This Free People Slip was perfect for a space that wasn’t 100% private. It was sheer enough to give a tease, but covered enough to wear no one can tell you aren’t wearing undergarments!