DIY Boudoir Photos

When I was younger I took some tasteful pictures for FH using my cell phone and the timer feature, and a black and white filter. They came out ok and he liked them.

I wouldn't advise it. I've seen some amateur photos (on here) and they were NOT flattering.

Boudoir photos cost money because the photographers know what's up.

My only concern is it would come out like a Snapchat… How do you take tasteful pictures of yourself without looking like a selfie you know?

If you have a camera and a tripod this seems like a pretty low-risk DIY to attempt. Could be fun.

Involve your FH... He can be the camera man and you can share in the experience. Sure, you can't surprise him on your wedding day but you would be able to make quite a memory with him during this stressful time!

I would just be leery of people at the print store/online company seeing these photos when they're not professionally done. I like to control who sees me in that way...and that's only DH.

Sooo I did this for V-day prior to getting engaged.

I had my sis in law take the pictures and 3 of us got together and had her stage a shoot for us. It was all tasteful and more fun photos then anything and we had a ton of fun shooting. We all made each of our SO's a photo book (I did mine online with no issue) and I have had pictures from my real wedding present boudior printed locally with no issues regarding privacy. So if you have a friend your comfy with and a nice camera, it could work out nicely!

Otherwise, I kinda love the idea of getting FH to take them. You could get everything set up shoot wise, make it super romantic and have him snap the photos. Tell him he can't see them until you have put them into a book or had them printed!

My sister did this and unfortunately they did not turn out great, and she is a good looking girl. Photographers know what kind of lighting and poses work best, not to mention they also edit the photos.

I'm only paying 75$ for 45 minutes, wardrobe changes, and digital prints. Try Groupon.com! That's where I found a great, local deal.

I did my own I have a professional camera though. I set it up on my tripod and used the automatic timer. I used natural light filtered through my blinds.

Yes I would be using a tripod, and have 2 other tripods I'd be using for lighting if need-be.

Mrs.Goose where did you get yours printed? I've just been planning on buying a photo printer, it's something I'd definitely use again, and as Carlyle said I'm not too keen to the idea of other people seeing me in barely any clothing lol.

Salisott I actually like the idea of involving him, but I feel like I'd focus less on the quality of the pictures and poses if he was there, in the moment he'd just tell me I look great no matter what, haha.

Ehhhh. I mean. Give it a shot. But don't get your hopes up. It takes work to pose well much less pose and get your picture properly. . But as some else said.. It's pretty low risk to just try it. . Because we are long distance I take fun pictures fairly regular and I've gotten pretty good at it... But they aren't boudoir quality.

I don't recommend this, but if you REALLY are going to:

- Get a good camera and learn how to use it. Get some good lenses also.

- Use a tripod

- Yes, you will need diffusers

- You'll need lots of time to set up the lighting correctly/angles between you/camera/lighting

- Learn about composition

- Shoot in high quality JPEG (pros use RAW, but most average people don't have the software to open RAW files).

- Do some editing, but don't do so much that it looks super artificial

- Research different poses, but figure out where the lighting is coming from in those poses, angles etc.

I'd just go for it. Worst case scenario they don't turn out great and you lost a couple hours of your life on it? Best case scenario you get a few great pics and all is well. I do love Mrs. Gooses idea of getting FH take the pics!

Oh p.s my camera has a viewing screen that flips toward me. I put it in live view mode to assure I was actually in the frame, pose was correct. I basically just looked at pinterest for poses/angles and practiced until I got it right. I edited as needed and then selected which ones to print. I risked it by using a kiosk that I knew didn't do live preview on the screen while printing and printed images upside-down so that the paper faced outwards. I didn't have a good printer at the time, but clearly it worked out ok lol

*UPDATE!* Did these this past weekend, had a friend with photography experience come to take pics in a hotel room. Brought multiple outfits, shot around 200 pictures for about an hour and a half. Pictures came out great! (All these things would have cost at least hundreds going through a professional.) I edited the pictures myself, I've been working with photo editing software for years, and uploaded them through Shutterfly, coincidentally they had a promotion for a free 20 page 8x8 book, 14$! Including shipping! Overall I completed this for under $100 dollars and have a beautiful book to give to my FH. Would definitely suggest this route to any bride-to-be's looking for cheap boudoir pics!!