Having a boudoir shoot at home is brilliant. You’re in the comfort of your own environment, surrounded by your own possessions – and there’s no travelling! Whether you’re the queen of vintage furniture finds or prefer a modern minimalist aesthetic, if you’re thinking about booking yourself a boudoir shoot at home, this blog post will help you prepare your space for a boudoir shoot – or maybe even a Virtual Boudoir Shoot, helping you and your photographer achieve the very best results.

Choose a location for your boudoir shoot

Firstly, you’ll need to pick your favourite room to shoot in. An obvious choice for a boudoir shoot would be your bedroom, but if you’ve got a great fireplace in the living room, or a roll-top bath in your en suite, why not break the rules a little! The main thing you need to think about is the amount of space around you. Wherever you want to shoot, your photographer will need a good couple of metres sound you to take photos. If you’re struggling for space, you could always try moving some of the furniture out of the room just for the shoot.

Alternatively, you might want to pick out a few key pieces of your favourite furniture or accessories to bring in and dress up the room you want to shoot in. On a recent shoot with Didi Derriere, we took a section of the black leather sofa over to the corner of the living room. This allowed us to shoot in the corner of the room by the window, rather than shooting in the centre of the room where the sofa usually lives. The sheepskin rug on the floor was then used to dress the sofa and add some texture. As for the furniture that usually lived in that corner of the room, it was moved just out of shot.

How to style a boudoir set

The next step is to remove any distractions. Have a good tidy up in advance, make the bed, remove the laundry basket and put anything away that you don’t want visible in the shot. Remove those storage boxes from under the bed, hoover carpets and check mirror angles for any cluttered surfaces that might be reflected. Don’t forget to grab some polish and clean those mirrors too! If you have extension cables or wires, unplug as many of these as possible, as this will also make a massive difference. Your photographer will love you for it.

What is the best time of day for a home boudoir shoot?

Now, let’s talk lighting. When arranging a boudoir shoot at home with your photographer, have a think about what time of day your favourite room gets the best natural light. Depending on the direction the room faces, you may find the light is significantly better at a certain time of day. The time of year may also affect how many daylight hours you have available to shoot in. Talk to your photographer about timing your boudoir shoot with this in mind, especially if you’ll be working with natural light.

On the other hand, you may want to shoot something more atmospheric using ambient light and the glow of lamps or candles. Ambient light is traditionally known for appearing more yellow in photography and giving a soft warm inviting glow, although there area lot more options available in terms of lightbulbs now, both in terms of the colour of the light they emit as well as the amount of light emitted. Although this might seem like a very small thing in terms of shooting, its important to make sure that if you are shooting using ambient light, make sure all of the lightbulbs in the room are working and have the same colour temperature (Kelvin) for uniformity. There is some great advice on B&Q’s website on colour temperature and the mood they create, specifically in the Design section of the guide.

What should I wear for a boudoir Shoot?

Great question! Actually, this is one of my most frequently asked questions I get asked by clients – so I’ve covered what to wear for your boudoir shoot in great detail here – as well as some killer non-lingerie boudoir looks here as well. If you’ve got a shoot coming up, sit back, relax and have a read of my top tips for planning your outfit – and don’t forget, you can get your free copy of my more detailed Prepare for Your Boudoir Shoot PDF guide when you sign up to my mailing list just to the right of this post!

Finally, make an epic playlist of all your favourites tracks, fill the fridge with tasty treats and wait for your boudoir photographer to arrive!

Inspired? Book your own boudoir shoot with me today – check out my boudoir photography packages here and then drop me an email with your preferred date. I can’t wait to hear from you!