How To Take a Boudoir Selfie
If you have ever experienced a boudoir selfie disaster then I’m happy to announce that this is the PERFECT TUTORIAL FOR YOU! Hi there!! I'm Christy with Photography & Wall Stylings by Christy located in Kansas City, and today I'm going to share with you some pro tips on how to take boudoir selfies!!
In this tutorial, I share with you 4 simple things you can do to make sure you get some AMAZING boudoir selfies this year!
(You can also watch this tutorial on video plus get some BONUS posing tips right here!)
Before we get started, let's talk about what you are going to need!
#1 : A camera with a self-timer – Either a point and shoot or your smartphone.
#2: A tripod of some sort.
STEP 1: PREPARE YOU'RE BACKGROUND:
Clear away any clutter that might be lying around, and strip your bed all the way down to the sheets. The goal here is to create a background with as little distractions as possible.
STEP 2: FIND GOOD LIGHT:
Turn off all lamps and any overhead lights! Now that you have your lights off, look around the room to determine where the light is coming in. Also, take notice of how the light is filling the room. Is it pretty dark or is there abundant sunlight in the room?
If your room is flooded with sunlight, you want to look around the room and see if there are any direct beams of light crossing over the place you'll be shooting. For example, if you have a direct beam of sunlight going across your bed, then you'll want to avoid placing your body in that direct beams of light. If there is no way to avoid being in the direct sunlight then there are a couple of things you can do to get around this!
The first thing you want to do is either pull some sheer panels together over the window, or hang up a thin white sheet. By doing this you're forcing the light to be distributed evenly throughout the room.
The next way to avoid shooting in direct sunlight is to plan your shoot at the time of day when the sun isn’t shining directly in your window.
On the other hand, if there just isn’t enough light coming in from the windows, like if you’re on the ground floor of an apartment building and you only have small windows in your room, you can go ahead and bring in a lamp. Just make sure it's one you can easily move around the room with you.
***BONUS TIP: DON'T USE YOUR FLASH:
If at all possible, try to avoid using your camera's flash! Your flash will cause very harsh shadowing on your face and body which will not be very flattering for these portraits!
STEP 3: GIVE YOURSELF SOME ROOM:
Try to place the camera far enough away that you see at least ¾ of your body in the frame. You can always zoom in for closeup shots. Just keep in mind, that things that are closer to the camera appear larger than things that are farther away. So, by placing your camera a little farther back you're actually slimming your body a bit in the photos!
STEP 4: GET YOURSELF IN THE MOOD:
Ultimately if you feel beautiful and confident, that is what’s going to shine through in your photos. So, do some prep work before you start shooting. Do something that makes you feel beautiful and confident whether that’s getting your hair and nails done or maybe having your makeup professionally done. Get yourself a bottle of wine and maybe put on some slow jams! Whatever it takes!!
I hope this post has encouraged you to step out see what amazing boudoir shots you can capture of yourself this year! If you have any questions at all just leave me a comment and I'll be happy to answer them!!
If you would like to see a video of this tutorial plus some posing tips then you can grab that here!
~Christy
Photography & Wall Stylings by Christy
Where photography meets home decor in Kansas City!
For more info about Kansas City's natural light lifestyle photographer Christy Jones, click here!
