A very close friend of mine, Chantal who is also a fantastic photographer asked me to help her out and take a nice profile pic of her, that she can use on her website. As you can imagine, as a photographer you are normally behind the camera and not in front of it. In addition, ordinarily you are not used to or do not like to have photos taken of you. So this was a challenge but like I promised her, we would find a fantastic angle that would work even though she wasn’t convinced… photographers…we can be so difficult…lol!
I only took a few shots, and this is the one that we just loved and decided to use. Now, doesn’t she just look stunning. Not only is she going to use it for her website but is also going to print and frame it for her significant other
This is my second fairytale inspired shoot…so if you go down to the woods…you are sure of a big surprise…Snow White is out in true boudoir style
Thought, I would also share an interesting little fact about Snow White, that I never knew…it is a German fairytale known as Schneewittchen. With the best known version being the one collected by the Brothers Grimm (the most well-known storytellers of European folk tales) in 1812. Now you know
Back to the details of my shoot : I paired up with the beautiful Rozi in the Bryanston forest. We actually did the shoot shortly after the Red Riding Hood inspired shoot. It just made sense to do them one after each other. It was lots of fun and we had such beautiful light…which made for some stunning images.
I have always been fascinated with and loved fairy tales and the characters in them. Using this as my inspiration, I decided to start my fairy tale series with little red riding hood…I embarked on an alternative version of this tale rather than the traditional, so I bought a little bit of boudoir to it
I knew a beautiful lady who would be perfect for the role of little red hiding hood (Rozi)… managed to find a super cute outfit and discovered a hidden treasure location in Bryanston…so we were A for Away.
We set off to the forest on Sunday afternoon to shoot…it was great fun, and challenging all at the same time. We had a few people come and see what we were doing but all in all it was quiet and we managed to get some fantastic and magical shots.
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the shoot.
I often get asked by ladies, who would like to book a shoot, if I will assist them with posing during their shoots as they are self-conscious or not sure what they are doing. My answer is always the same: ‘do not worry I will be there with you, every step of the way and help you with all the different poses’.
This, therefore, inspired me to write a blog post about the classic poses in boudoir for those ladies that would like to be ‘prepared’ when they arrive at their shoot.
The purpose of posing is to make you look fabulous by accentuating your assets. Some of the poses below, will highlight your legs or bust, while some hide a tummy, etc. Not every pose works for everyone, as we all have different body types and personalities. I take all of that into consideration and guide you as to which poses will best suit you.
Below is a list of common/classic boudoir poses. I have included images to give you a better idea of what the pose can look like.
Pose 1 – Lying on your tummy
This pose is done by lying down on your tummy, bending and bringing your knees up and finally crossing your ankles. This is the basic pose, however, there are obviously variations of this, such as where you put your hands, the angle of your face, etc. When I photograph this pose, I will take a few different angles, crops, etc. This pose can accentuate your bum (depending on how it is shot), legs and hide a tummy – it will all depend on what we want to highlight and how I photograph the final image.
Pose 2 – Lying on your side
This pose is comfortable and can be flattering, as it elongates your body. All you have to do is lie on your side with your face facing towards the camera, use one arm to stabilise yourself and the other can be placed on your hip, your legs should not be straight but rather bend, lift and bring your top knee over your other leg…this will give your body a great sensual shape. As mentioned previously, this is the basic pose, however there are variations.
Pose 3 – Lying on your back
This pose is done with you lying on your back, your head facing towards the camera and your legs are either against a wall, bent or flat…depending on the location. The shot will mainly focus on your face but can show the rest of your body, however, it will be slightly out of focus. This pose can lengthen your legs and or hide a tummy, again depending on how it is photographed.
Pose 4 – Close-ups
I guess this is less of a ‘pose’ in the traditional sense and more of a photography technique. I have included it, as it is the kind of shot that you will definitely get if you book a shoot with me as it is part of my style. I have a great fascination and love for people’s eyes – they are the window to our souls after all – and like to get a few shots where they are the focus of the image. This kind of shot will accentuating your eyes, upper body and face.
Pose 5 – Sitting/kneeling
The kneeling part of this pose is pretty self explanatory and involves kneeling on a bed, couch, floor, etc. However, the sitting part is two fold, it is either sitting on a surface or on the edge of one of the surfaces mentioned above. It works both facing towards and away from the camera and creates a very sexy pic by showing off your entire body.
Pose 6 – Full length/standing/leaning
These poses are often done using a wall to lean against, a door or window frame to stand in, etc. As you want to create curves and shapes, it is best to turn your body away from the camera slightly and bend, lift and turn one knee slightly toward the other. This will accentuate your shape and create some very sexy curves. Lastly wear some sexy heels to elongate your legs and lift your bum – creating a curvy and sexy shape.
Lastly, please do not think you cannot smile, your smile is beautiful so show it to me
Close friends of mine asked if I would do a couples shoot for them on his family farm. They have lived on the farm since they were married, however they recently bought a house in Norscot. Therefore, we thought it would be great to be able to take some of the memories of the farm with them to the new house. They grow peaches on the farm, and the peach trees were in bloom and looked so beautiful – so it was the perfect time
I arrived at 6:40am (which if you know me, is very early for any morning – Garith didn’t even come with as it was just too early) to start the shoot. We had a beautiful morning with fantastic soft light. Great fun was had by all … we laughed so much … especially as I practically climbed into the one peach tree to get a few shots and left with half the flowers down my shirt…the lengths I will go to, too get the shot…hehe!
We finally finished the day off by the almond trees, where we hung the chalk board to get a pretty and fun shot.
Below are a selection of the awesome spring blossom images :
A very close friend of mine asked if I would do a couples shoot for herself and her husband (pics will be in another post – they are so stunning…just love them). I obviously agreed but said why don’t we do a pre-shoot the day before…as I am always with her anyway That way she can also get some stunning pics of herself in a different outfit and what woman wouldn’t want that
So we decided to take them in her garden on the farm, as she has a beautiful eco-friendly patch of long grass…I have always wanted to do a shoot in the grass and knew I would eventually get someone into there…hehe
Here are a few pics from our session :
Even Cally, wanted to join in on the shoot and fun…isn’t she beautiful
This is a part 2 of a previous post Lady in Red. I decided to split this shoot over two posts as this beautiful lady had 2 very different outfits which had such different feels to them. This has a slight burlesque feel to me…so we played with more exaggerated poses.
There isn’t much else to add, other than check out the pics of this super sexy blue bombshell.
In the spirit of Women’s month, Spice4Life has chosen and featured a large arrange of women from all walks of life. I am honoured to be one of them!
I filled in an array of interview style questions and submitted a photo of myself…crossed my fingers…and hoped that it would be featured and sure enough it was
If you thought you knew everything there was to know about me, I am sure you will learn something new from this article. It explores every aspect of my life from my passion – photography, family, inspiration to the places I love in JHB.
If you are interested in reading the whole article go to:
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of photographing a smoking hot lady – Bella Rozi. The first thing I noticed about her, was her stunning and striking eyes as well as her long silky black hair! Just love the combo – so sultry.
She brought along a red lace umbrella – such an awesome prop. We really played around with it and think we got some great and fun shots with it.
I just love all her tattoo’s and believe that they too can look sexy – alternative is beautiful – definitely think we achieved that in the pics We had a fantastic and fun shoot…we both enjoyed ourselves so much that we ran over time…by over an hour…however, totally in love with the pics!
There will be more on Bella Rozi soon as I am still in the process of editing her second outfit – blue bombshell, but just could not wait to share these with you as she looks so beautiful, hot and sexy in these.
Leigh Wells, a beautiful model, approached me to take some beauty shots for her portfolio. She loved and wanted to use the concept of peacock feathers, as inspiration for the shoot.
So, I contacted Jana Kriel of Jana Kriel Make-up straight away as her work is breath-taking and stunning. Jana is just great to work with and so professional, she provided us with a face chart, so we had an idea of what the make-up would look like and could have some input. However, that was not necessary as her plan was awesome and we totally loved it (it looked even better in real life).
After we had the make-up face chart and a concept in mind, we all went off and looked for some peacock feathers and earrings to include in the shoot. Luckily, we managed to find and they really added to the shoot. I must just put it out there that peacock feathers really are beautiful.
On the day of the shoot (last week Saturday), it was freezing, as the cold front had blown in. Leigh somehow braved the cold, stripped down to her thin little tee and we got started. I was totally mesmerised by Leigh’s eyes, as they are such an incredible and extraordinary reddish brown colour.
Unfortunately, we did not have very long for the shoot. However, I think we got some really awesome shots and hope Leigh and Jana are as pleased with them, as I am.
