IN THE RED ROOM: A curvy boudoir photoshoot (featuring a leopard and snake)

Boudoir Photo Shoots

Dramatic, edgy silhouette of woman with very low light and red backlighting, London

I’m excited to share this dramatic, experimental curvy boudoir photoshoot with you today. It has a very strong viewpoint; you’re either going to love it or hate it.

I randomly saw an image on Pinterest sometime last year, and I just could not get it out of my head. I proceeded to collect every similar image I could find onto a mood board at 1AM one night. Then, in a very Richard Branson “say yes and then figure out how to do it” moment, I put the idea out there to you all, well before I had any proof I could pull it off.

Spoiler alert: it worked!

Curvy boudoir photoshoot silhouette against a red studio backdrop
Dramatic, edgy silhouette of woman with very low light and red backlighting, London

CREATING THE RED ROOM FOR A CURVY BOUDOIR PHOTOSHOOT

There are basically two ways to create lighting like this: traditional studio lights with gels, or RGB lights. The studio room I wanted wasn’t available on our shoot date, so due to space and blackout constraints I planned to use gelled studio lights. These are your normal run of the mill flashes, except with a fancy piece of coloured plastic clamped on the front. You have a lot more control over the light this way. It’s hard to see what you’re doing though, and it can be difficult to get a lot of strong colour. I felt pretty good about this plan. I had a couple of lighting setups in my head and figured the rest would come with trial and error.

Then, I arrived at the studio and the people who’d booked the room I wanted never showed up! So I took their spot in a much bigger, darker room for our curvy boudoir photoshoot. Now that we could kill the daylight, I switched course and went with RGB lights instead.

THE WAY OUT IS THROUGH

Friends, it worked, but lemme tell you, RGB lights are so weird. They seem simple. Just turn on the light and you see exactly what you get, right? No sync speed, no triggers, should be dead easy. I don’t know if I can explain it properly; they behave like little aliens who don’t breathe air or drink water. I must have moved those suckers around 350 times trying to find the best placement and combinations. My inner monologue was just a stream of constant questions: I’ll use this constant light to add some brightness, wait where did the colour go? I only changed one little knob, why is the skin GREEN now? Is the face blown out or just really saturated red? And is that going to look great or terrible later? How much of this is alterable in post production?

Anyway, I learned a lot obviously. I’m so pleased with how everything turned out. Experimental work is really important, and I know so many working creatives never have time to do it and end up dreading their craft. If that sounds like you and you’re contemplating quitting, may I kindly make a suggestion? You might not need to retrain and get a 9-5. You might just need three whole test shoots in a row where you make whatever you want and answer to no one:)

Woman posing in a black dress with hands on hips, red studio lighting
Editorial boudoir portrait, red backdrop and all red lighting
partial silhouette portrait with RBG studio lighting, black bodycon dress and dramatic pose
Editorial portrait, red lighting
Low lit portrait in pink and red studio lighting, dramatic pose, long black dress
Boudoir portrait in London with curvy woman, moody red lighting, Lola bunny vibes
curvy woman, deep red lighting with light flare, black bodycon dress
Curvy boudoir photoshoot portrait, deep red lighting, black fitted dress in London

I have to hand it to my client Natasha, because she was an absolute superstar and none of this would have been possible without her. There was a bunch of difficult drama that happened right before we created these images, and I was so impressed with her professionalism and ability to focus and make the best of things despite that. I could not have asked for a better subject.

Close-up boudoir portrait with hand on chin, red lighting
Red on red portrait of a voluptuous woman sitting in a chair, RGB light in a London studio
Provocative photoshoot of curvy woman with hand on chin, red lighting and red background
Seated portrait of laughing woman, pink lighting, black cat at her feet
portrait with mixed lighting and pink backdrop
professional photo shoot of a woman in pink lighting, black cat at her feet
Editorial woman's portrait, curly hair, red backdrop, dramatic and moody
Curvy woman on a chair during a boudoir photo shoot in a cyclorama studio, dramatic red, pink, and yellow lighting
Dramatic editorial image, full length black dress on a curvy woman, in pink studio lighting, black dress

THE ANIMALS AREN’T REAL

Some of you know I’ve been doing a dance with AI for a while, trying to work out where I stand on it. I’d like to use it in my work, but ethically and obviously. If that’s possible?

Some of our reference images had wild cats. Now, I have a lot of weird contacts, but I don’t know anyone who can get a leopard through Central London for a photo shoot. I figured this was a pretty safe place for AI to step in. I’m almost certain the original reference images were AI anyway. I did a bird, and a snake too. The prompting took ages, and the compositing took a really long time too. In fact, while I was doing it I was thinking, “I should have just called the snake guy.” It would have saved so much time, even if they don’t listen or take direction and scare people half to death lol. There’s a fun shoot with a python called Sunny in my featured galleries.

I’m including before and afters, because I think it’s fun to see the difference.

Portrait with a snake wrapped around the shoulders, red studio backdrop in London
Curvy boudoir photoshoot portrait, deep red lighting, black fitted dress

Boudoir photoshoot with a hawk in flight overhead, red backdrop, London studio
photoshoot of a woman with RGB light and red backdrop, London studio

Natasha wore a simple black bodycon dress with sheer mesh panels and black heels for this curvy boudoir photoshoot. We were focused on the red room idea, but we spent a little time on more traditional images too. I’ll save those for another post.

Experimental image from a curvy boudoir photoshoot with a woman and a leopard, pink and purple lighting in a white cove studio in London

I’m not sure about this one to be honest. I didn’t plan for this composite like I should have. Is it cool, or does it look dumb? I guess time will tell!

Provocative photoshoot of curvy woman wearing heels with a leopard, red lighting and red background, shot in London

If you love this shoot and would like to create something like it for yourself, I’d be really keen for a round two. Get in touch and let’s talk about how we could interpret this idea for you (real or fake snakes both welcome!).

I’m thinking about a fog machine next time.

xx

Stormy

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