Boudoir photoshoot. Should I do it?

As a Glamour/Boudoir photographer in Perth I photograph a lot of women and most of them are every day women with insecurities and many have poor body image.

One of the things I love the most about my job is actually showing those women how gorgeous they really are. I love empowering women through my photography but over the years I’ve realised how hard it can be for them to take a leap of faith and book a photoshoot.

Here is an insight into the thoughts of a woman considering doing a professional photoshoot.

“What’ll I dooo..
When you
Are far away….”

I’m not sure why the theme song to the 90’s British sitcom Birds of a Feather gave me an earworm the other day, but the question has certainly come up a lot the past few years.

Hubby travels for work regularly and we’ve tried a few different ways of “keeping the flame” burning when he is travelling. Selfies have taken on a whole new dimension! He loves it, but I cringe a bit – bad photos, poor lighting – but worst of all I just don’t feel sexy enough.

The reality is that I’m a middle-aged mum with 2 kids and a hectic life. I live in jeans. I rarely wear makeup. Doing my hair takes two minutes - usually a pony tail. It’s lucky if it gets a trim more than once a year. Basically I feel like a life support system for two little people.

I’m about as far from Tracey and Sharon’s neighbour, Dorian, as you can get in my view.
Do you remember the Dove ad from a few years ago?

Dove conducted an experiment where a FBI forensic artist sketched pictures of women as they described themselves without him seeing them. Next he sketched pictures of the women as described by another woman – again using only verbal cues.

The results where fascinating. All the self-described portraits were the least attractive and showed the way the women saw themselves is different to how others saw them. According to Dove this demonstrated that we are all more beautiful than we think we are.

It’s different for blokes. Studies in 2011 showed men tend to think they are more attractive to women than they actually are. I’m sure we’ve all been there fending of “god’s gift to women”, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a bit of that self-confidence?

I looked back at some old photos the other day. A friend had taken some of me in the grounds of UWA when I was in my early 20’s. They were photos of me, but they were not me as I saw myself. They were, I thought, a better version of me, me looking serene and calm and strong and beautiful - I was pretty sexy, if I do say so myself, but, that was back then.

Hubby passed as I was taking this trip down memory (misery??) lane. “I love those photos” he said “He did a great job capturing you the way you are. I love them.”

“But they are 20 years old. You really think that’s what I look like?” I asked. “Yes,” he said. “You’re beautiful in this photograph. You’re beautiful now. You’ve always been beautiful.” He’s a good man!
After that comment I went back to thinking about the ‘while you are away’ problem. I thought
maybe I could get some professionally done but it really didn’t appeal much. I think I would be too
embarrassed, but anyway I looked at some photographers’ websites just to see.

I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it’s fair to say I was surprised. I didn’t see any airbrushed
sex kittens, nor did I see Page 3 girls or the sleazy, soft porn I expected. In the most, they were
‘normal’ women and the photos were sleek and beautifully shot. Wow!

I talked about it with a friend who has had some done – and they look great. “Just do the shoot,” she
said. “You’ll feel like a new woman. Trust me”.

I think I will. I really liked some of the Victoria’s Secret style of shoots I saw. I know hubby will be
pleased, but this won’t just be for him. It’ll be for me too. I want to see me looking mature, strong,
beautiful and, yes, sexy too. Naomi White

Are you considering doing a professional photoshoot? What holds you back? What are your fears
and what are your motives? I would love to know.
Mike Beltrametti photography.