If the following characteristics sound familiar, you can stop second-guessing if boudoir is really for you and start booking those sessions, Boo! Here are three signs you maybe definitely need to shoot boudoir. 

You’re an established wedding photographer, and your brides are asking you to shoot their boudoir sessions. You want to say yes, but you’re just not sure if boudoir is your thing. (Been there!)

Years ago, I finally said yes to one of my brides on a whim and agreed to do her boudoir shoot. The rest, as they say, is history! I immediately fell in love with boudoir and started planning my next session the minute that first one was over. 

I couldn’t see it at the time, but looking back now, it is glaringly obvious that my personality, values, and bigger why all line up perfectly with shooting boudoir. I wish I had known this sooner…

…..but, C’est La Vie! (sigh)

Now that  I teach other photographers how to start a thriving boudoir business, I’m noticing a trend. A lot of my values and reasons for shooting boudoir are similar to those held by my most successful students. 

I want to share these with you today because, like I said, I wish I’d had a mentor in the beginning who could’ve called these characteristics out in me. Who knows! Maybe I would’ve gathered the courage to try shooting boudoir much earlier on in my photography career. 

Ready? 

 Three signs you’d thrive as a boudoir photographer 

1. Your favorite part about being a wedding photographer is shooting the bride and watching her light up when she realizes how beautiful she is.

This one was huge for me! I didn’t mind doing the big group shots at weddings….

….but get me in a room where it was just me, the bride, and a camera? That’s where I always shined the brightest. I loved telling the more personal, one-on-one stories of the day, and capturing just how beautiful this woman was so she could see it.

Let me put it this way: 

If I had to shoot weddings for free, creating that moment where the bride owns her goddess-like beauty is the thing that would keep me going. 

Does this ring true for you? Then boudoir could be an incredible addition to your wedding photography services. 

2. You have total respect and appreciation for the female body and everything women are capable of.

Before I became a photographer, I was a nurse, and in that career, I walked with women through everything. Infertility. Cancer. Birth. Remission. The good, the bad, and the ugly—I witnessed it all. How could you not be in awe of the female body and everything it does when you see that up close every single day?

I’m not saying you need to be a nurse in a past life to shoot boudoir. But what I am saying is that I think the most successful boudoir photographers are those who see the mysteries and magnificence of the female body. They appreciate it. They celebrate it. They understand the complexities of being a woman, and they want to help women honor their one precious body for all that it does and all the ways that it’s beautiful.

If you read that and thought, “Oh my gosh—heck to the YES!” Then get on the boudoir train, Sista, because that’s exactly what we do. 

3 –  Reclaiming the love for your own body is important to you, and so is sharing that message with others.

Four words: Millennial diet culture trauma. 

‘Nough said. 

Growing up, I felt like every actress, every model, every woman who ever graced the cover of a magazine was thin. The message was clear: To be beautiful, you have to be small. 

It took me a long time to realize that I don’t need to shrink myself in order to feel pretty and that I can love my body and cherish how beautiful it is. 

I am so passionate about shooting women of all sizes, shapes, colors, and backgrounds as a boudoir photographer because (say it with me) All 👏 Bodies 👏 Are 👏Beautiful. There is no status quo you have to meet to feel gorgeous in my studio. (Uh uh! No ma’am!)

If I say: “You can help shatter diet culture and generational cycles of body shaming by showing women how beautiful they are in their own skin.”

And you think: “Don’t threaten me with a damn good time!!”

Then boudoir is absolutely your calling.

If you’re interested in dipping your polished toes into the world of boudoir photography, I recommend starting with my Free Beginning Boudoir Ebook! 

This free guide has everything you need to confidently break into the boudoir market and show up with a game plan for your clients. 
Free Beginning Boudoir Ebook