Here at The Adore Girls, we believe that boudoir photography should be as multifaceted as our clients. While some women want to unleash their inner seductive goddesses during their boudoir session, we have just as many clients who want their photos to leave a little more to the imagination, like Miss J. who recently told us, “It was important to me and my comfort level. I wanted to look sexy, not be sexual.”

It is precisely for this reason that we often ask our clients before the start of their boudoir sessions, “How sexy do you want to get during your photo shoot today?” Understandably, this question is sometimes met with wide eyes and a stammering reply of, “I…well…um…I don’t know. What exactly do you mean?” At that point, we always take a moment to talk about what we like to call the boudoir “sexy spectrum.”

Yes, that’s right, there is actually a spectrum of sexiness that spans across the boudoir photography genre.

Allow us to explain…

On one end of the sexy spectrum, we have simply gorgeous, intimate portraits that are sexy (obviously) because they’re taken while wearing lingerie, wrapped in a sheet, or even semi-nude, but the poses themselves are not overtly sexual, much like the photography you would see in a lingerie ad. Here are a few examples:

As you move towards the middle of the “sexy spectrum” of boudoir photography, this is where the poses start to get a little more revealing, flirty, and, dare we say, alluring in a strip-tease sort of way. There is a bit more tugging and pulling on the wardrobe, more nudity (if desired), and the poses are a bit more suggestive, as demonstrated in the following examples:

Then, on the farthest end of The Adore Girls’ “sexy spectrum,” we have much more provocative and seductive boudoir photos. While still photographed in a very tasteful way, these photos would be considered “not safe for work” (NSFW) by most standards due to the increased level of nudity and sexuality being portrayed through the posing. The following are some NSFW examples:

Over the years, we’ve found that, when asked, the majority of our clients usually fall somewhere in the middle of this “sexy spectrum,” but as boudoir photographers, we never want to assume or guess where our clients’ personal tastes lie, which is why we’ve always had this particular conversation prior to our clients’ photo shoots.

The main thing to keep in mind is that, while we do encourage women to step outside of their comfort zones from time to time, especially for a boudoir session, we also fully respect every individual’s own comfort limits. That is why we always try make sure we are on the same page as our clients in terms of where their expectations lie, and we encourage our clients to let us know if the poses we suggest during their photo shoot are a little too sexy OR a little too conservative for their taste.