The Beginner’s Guide to Boudoir

Everything You're Currently Overthinking About Your First Session

If you've never done a boudoir session before, you probably have approximately 700 questions about what actually happens after you book one.

What do I wear? What if I have no idea what I want my makeup to look like? What if I'm awkward? What the hell am I supposed to do with my hands? Do I need to practice posing? Am I just supposed to walk into a studio in my underwear and somehow know how to be sexy?

No.

That's my job.

Most of the women I photograph aren't professional models. They aren't showing up with a secret arsenal of boudoir poses they've been practicing in their bathroom mirror. A lot of them have never even purchased lingerie before they start planning their session.

You aren't supposed to know how to do this.

I am.

I've spent years photographing women with different bodies, personalities, insecurities, comfort levels, and reasons for walking through my door. My job isn't just knowing how to use a camera. It's knowing how to take someone who has absolutely no fucking clue what she's doing and guide her through the entire experience.

So if you've been stalking boudoir photographers, saving pictures you love, thinking about booking, and simultaneously talking yourself out of it because you don't feel remotely prepared, this guide is for you.

I'm going to walk you through exactly what a Hype Girl Boudoir session looks like, from choosing your date to getting your finished photographs.

And I promise, it's probably going to be way more fun than you're imagining.

First Things First: You Book Your Session

Once you've decided you're ready to do this, booking is pretty simple.

You'll choose your session date, pay your retainer, and officially get yourself on the Hype Girl calendar.

That's it. You don't need to have your outfits figured out yet. You don't need to know which studio sets you want. You don't need a Pinterest board with 900 poses. You don't need to know exactly how you want your hair and makeup done.

We have time for all of that.

Your Full Experience includes professional hair and makeup, access to our Client Closet, three outfits, three studio sets, complete posing guidance, and your finished digital gallery.

Once you're officially booked, we can start figuring out what YOUR version of this experience is going to look like.

About 6–8 Weeks Before: Your Boudoir Consultation

I highly recommend scheduling your consultation about six to eight weeks before your session. It isn't required, but if this is your first session with Hype Girl, I really, really recommend it.

Your consultation can happen in person or over Zoom, and you'll meet one-on-one with either me or my studio manager, Marcella.

This isn't a weird sales call where we're going to sit there trying to convince you to buy more shit.

It's planning.

We want to know why you're doing this in the first place. Maybe you're celebrating something. Maybe you've been through a major life change. Maybe you're doing it for a partner. Maybe you're doing it completely for yourself. Maybe you don't have some huge emotional reason at all and you just think this sounds fucking fun.

All of those are valid.

We'll also talk about your body. What do you love? What aren't you quite as fond of? Is there something you absolutely don't want emphasized? Is there something you LOVE and want photographed from every possible angle?

That information helps me photograph you intentionally instead of treating every person who walks into my studio exactly the same.

Then we get into the fun shit: outfits, aesthetics, colors, sets, ideas, how revealing you want to be, and what you're drawn to. You don't need to arrive knowing the answers. We'll show you examples, ask questions, throw ideas around, and give you some homework so you have plenty of time afterward to narrow everything down.

For more wardrobe ideas, see my complete What to Wear Guide.

We'll also walk through what your session day looks like and what happens afterward so you're not walking into the studio wondering what the hell is about to happen.

If you haven't booked yet and want to talk to us first, you can still schedule a consultation. That conversation just looks a little different. We'll focus more on explaining the Hype Girl experience, answering common questions, and helping you decide whether we're the right fit before we start doing detailed session planning.

Session Day: You Show Up at 9 AM

This is when the thing you've been thinking about for weeks finally becomes real.

Your session typically starts at 9:00 AM at our private Jacksonville boudoir studio, and we start with professional hair and makeup.

You don't need to bring a makeup bag. You don't need to buy fake lashes. You don't need to know what foundation photographs best. Our professional hair and makeup team has everything we need at the studio.

You basically get to show up and sit your ass down.

Hair and makeup is still completely under your control. If you know exactly what you want, tell us. If you know you absolutely hate something, tell us that too.

But you also don't need to walk in speaking fluent makeup artist.

If your direction is basically, “I want dark and sexy, but not TOO dark, and I have no idea what that means,” that's okay. Our team is really freaking good at asking questions, looking at your inspiration, and helping you nail down a look while you're sitting in the chair.

This part of the morning also gives you time to settle in before we ever point a camera at you.

Around 10 AM: We Figure Out What You're Actually Wearing

Once hair and makeup is finished, we don't immediately throw you in front of the camera.

First, we deal with wardrobe.

We'll look at everything you brought, try things on if we need to, pull pieces from the Client Closet, talk through the studio sets you're excited about, and finalize our plan for your three looks.

And please hear me when I say this: you do not need three perfectly planned outfits before you arrive.

Bring options.

If you want to bring three things, cool. If you want to bring ten things, also cool. If you want to drag half your closet into my studio because you couldn't decide, I would rather have too many options than not enough.

Our Client Closet also has a shit ton of lingerie, robes, accessories, shoes, and statement pieces in sizes XXS through 6XL. Technically, all three of your outfits could come from the Client Closet if you wanted.

We'll figure it out together.

And lingerie isn't required either. Oversized shirts, band tees, dresses, sweaters, jerseys, your partner's shirt, jeans, swimwear, implied nude, whatever actually feels like you can absolutely have a place in your session.

Around 10:45 AM: We Start Shooting

And this is usually the part people have been freaking out about.

“What if I don't know how to pose?”

Good news.

You don't.

Please don't practice posing before your session. You don't need to memorize anything. You don't need to know where your hands go. You don't need to know how to arch correctly. You don't need to know what to do with your face.

I am going to direct you from your head to your toes.

If I want your hand somewhere, I'll tell you where to put it. If I want your toes pointed, I'll tell you. If I want your chin moved half an inch, I'll tell you. If I need your fingers softer, I'll tell you what to do with the weird little fingers.

And yes, I'm directing your facial expressions too.

You're not going to hear “Okay, now look sexy!” and then be left there staring at me like you've just forgotten how your own face works.

That's not posing direction.

I'll guide you through it.

Some poses are going to feel completely normal. Some are going to feel weird as hell. Sometimes what feels the strangest in your body photographs beautifully, which is why I don't need you judging the pose while you're doing it.

You just need to follow me.

This is my shit.

You Don't Need Confidence Before You Walk In

I think boudoir gets sold as this thing you do once you're finally confident enough.

I don't really believe that.

If we waited until every woman felt completely confident about her body, knew exactly how to pose, loved every photograph ever taken of herself, and wasn't nervous about standing in front of a camera, I'd have a pretty empty studio.

You don't need confidence to book a boudoir session.

You need courage.

Enough courage to book the date. Enough courage to show up nervous. Enough courage to try the outfit you aren't sure about or let me put you into the pose that feels ridiculous.

Confidence can come later.

Sometimes it shows up halfway through hair and makeup. Sometimes it's after the first few poses. Sometimes it's when you see your finished photographs and realize, “Holy shit. That's ME.”

You can do the thing nervous.

We Work Through Three Sets

Your Full Experience includes three studio sets, and you get to have a say in which ones we use.

If you've already stalked the website and know exactly which three you're obsessed with, perfect.

If you don't know, that's also perfect.

We'll help.

We usually bounce between wardrobe, sets, and the overall vibe rather than treating them as completely separate decisions. Sometimes an outfit immediately belongs in a particular set. Sometimes you love a set so much that we build a look around it.

Your three looks can also be completely different from one another.

Maybe we start softer and get darker. Maybe one look is covered and another has your ass completely out. Maybe you're all black everything for the entire session because that's who you are.

There aren't points for creating three different personalities.

We're building a session that feels like you.

And Yes, We're Going to Have Fun

I know that sounds like something every photographer is required by law to say on her website, but boudoir is genuinely a lot less serious than people imagine it being.

We're going to talk. We're going to laugh. I'm probably going to say something inappropriate. You're probably going to discover that holding a pose is occasionally a workout.

There may be moments where you're thinking, “What the actual fuck is she making me do?”

Trust the process.

You aren't spending two hours silently trying to perform sexy while I hide behind a camera judging you.

We're creating this together.

And once you realize you aren't responsible for knowing what you're doing, a lot of that pressure disappears.

What Does the Actual Timeline Look Like?

Every session can vary a little, but a normal Full Experience looks roughly like this:

• 9:00 AM: Hair and makeup begins

• 10:00 AM: Finalize outfits, try Client Closet pieces, choose sets and finish planning

• 10:45 AM: Start shooting

• 12:30 PM: Finish posing and start wrapping up

• 1:00 PM: You're done

So plan on spending your morning with us.

And then you get to go home while I do the part that takes considerably longer than making you point your toes.

What Happens to My Photos After the Session?

Once your session is finished, I start editing.

Your finished gallery is typically ready within one to two weeks.

My editing philosophy is pretty simple: I want to edit you the way your friends see you.

Temporary shit goes.

Bruises, blemishes, rashes, random scratches, and other temporary things will be cleaned up.

Things that are actually part of your body, like scars, stretch marks, and tan lines, are different. Those can be removed or softened if YOU request it, but I'm not automatically erasing pieces of your body because I've decided they aren't supposed to be there.

Then I give everything an overall polished finish. Think of it like makeup for your skin and body rather than rebuilding you into another person.

I still want you to look like you.

Just photographed and polished by someone who knows what she's doing.

And Then You Get the Whole Damn Gallery

This is another place where the Hype Girl experience has changed over the years, so I want to make it really clear.

Our standard Full Experience does not include a same-day image reveal anymore.

Same-day reveals may occasionally be offered as part of a specific promotional experience, but they are not part of the normal process.

And honestly, there's no need for you to sit down and painfully narrow 100 photographs into a tiny collection anyway.

We typically shoot more than 100 finished images during a Full Experience.

You get the finished gallery.

Your photographs are delivered through an online gallery where you can view and download them once they're ready.

No choosing your ten favorites while the other 90 disappear into the abyss.

They're yours.

What If I Want an Album or Wall Art?

Digital photographs are included with your Full Experience, but you can absolutely add physical products too.

Albums, wall art, boudoir gifts, and other products can be purchased whenever you want. If you decide you want something, just email us and we'll help you figure out what you're looking for.

You do not need to make every product decision during your session.

What About Privacy?

This is boudoir. Privacy matters.

You should never assume that booking a boudoir session means your ass is automatically going on Instagram.

How and whether your photographs can be shared is something we take seriously, and we'll make sure you understand your options. Our boudoir photo privacy guide explains model releases and sharing in more detail.

If keeping your photographs completely private is important to you, that does not make you difficult, boring, or less supportive of my work.

These are your photographs.

Things You Do NOT Need Before Booking Boudoir

If you're still sitting there thinking you need to get your shit together before you're “ready,” here's what you do not need:

• You do not need to lose weight first.

• You do not need to know how to pose.

• You do not need to own lingerie.

• You do not need to know what your aesthetic is yet.

• You do not need to know what to do with your face.

• You do not need to love every part of your body.

• You do not need to feel confident.

• You do not need experience being photographed.

• You do not need some huge life milestone as an excuse.

• You do not need to become a different version of yourself before you walk through my door.

You are allowed to show up exactly where you are.

I'll handle the photography part.

So, What Is Your First Boudoir Session Actually Like?

It's a morning where you don't have to know what you're doing.

You show up. We do your hair and makeup. We figure out your wardrobe. We choose your sets. I tell you exactly what to do with your body and your face. We make a shit ton of photographs. You probably laugh way more than you expected.

Then you go home.

I edit the photographs, and within about one to two weeks, a gallery full of images of YOU lands in your inbox.

That's it.

You don't have to walk through the door already transformed into some wildly confident, lingerie-wearing version of yourself.

That's never been the prerequisite.

If you've never done boudoir before and you're nervous, that's okay. Most people are.

Do the thing nervous.

I'll meet you on the other side of the studio door.

Ready to See What a Hype Girl Session Looks Like for You?

If this answered approximately 693 of your 700 questions and you're starting to think, “Okay... maybe I actually could do this,” head over to the Hype Girl Boudoir Experience page next.

You'll find the full experience, what's included, current pricing, and everything you need to decide whether Hype Girl feels like the right place for your session.