Burlesque performer Didi Derriere joins me for an editorial boudoir shoot.

Having decided that 2016 was the year for smashing my comfort zones, the idea of an editorial boudoir shoot had been playing around in my head for a while. Mixing some of the hard poses of fashion editorial photography with the usual softness of boudoir photography, I suggested the idea to burlesque performer Didi Derriere – who I knew would be perfect for the concept – and we planned a date for the diary.

The shoot took place in my own boudoir. I’d never really considered shooting boudoir at home before as white walls can look a bit sparse in photography, but after a spot of tidying, some fresh bedsheets and finding the right angle, it actually seemed pretty perfect for an editorial boudoir style of shoot. The neutral colour scheme also worked well with the carefully curated selection of What Katie Did vintage inspired lingerie from both Didi Derriere’s collection, dotted with a few Betty Blues Loungewear samples from my own lingerie collection. The addition of the mirrored wardrobe also made for some great shots, allowing me to get a different viewpoint of the boudoir and create more depth of field.

The room has an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows, which was too much light for the look we were aiming for. Pulling down the blackout blinds, we opted instead for a much smaller amount of diffused light, enhanced with the continuous light source of modelling lamps of my Elinchrom ELB 400’s. One of the many great features of the ELB 400’s is that the modelling lamps are daylight balanced, which also means this didn’t cause any white balance issues in terms of post production.

As for the results? I’m so pleased with how this shoot came out. I love the tones and the stronger poses (although the odd softer pose did sneak in there too!) A couple of my favourite images are below for you to view as well.

I’d love to shoot more editorial boudoir, so if you love the concept and fancy your own shoot, please get in touch via the contact page for more information. I can’t wait to hear from you!