Boudoir Photography Las Vegas | Las Vegas Boudoir Photographer

French Model | Las Vegas Boudoir

I received an email about a month ago from a beautiful model in France. She found me on a site that brings models and photographers together for trade shoots and she asked if I would be interested in doing a ‘trade’ session together during her upcoming vacation in Vegas. I wanted to say yes immediately. She was a stunning beauty…and from France? Oh yes, I was smitten! But, I had to pause and really consider this.

See, the thing is, I don’t shoot models. I photograph real women with real bodies, real insecurities and most who aren’t used to being in front of a camera – not to mention being in front of a camera wearing nothing but lingerie! This is where my heart lies, with these women. I find such satisfaction in coaching them into blossoming into a supermodel for during their photo sessions! It’s a transformation that I am thrilled by each and every time I witness it.

With that being said though, I decided to do the session. I wanted to see firsthand what other boudoir photographers are experiencing regularly by shooting models for their portfolios and blogs. And I wanted to do a shoot that was just for my team and me. We were able to just play and style her to our liking. So fun!

Pretty fun session, right? So, in doing this photo session, I found that what I suspected was true. Models are super easy to shoot! This model, in particular, only needed the most basic of instructions, like “act girly” or “lay on the bed right here”. I didn’t have to tell her to move between shots, she just naturally knew to move into another pose and expression. She was also very aware of my lighting and how it fell on her as she posed. Girls who put themselves out there to do shoots regularly as models are just naturally more prepared than the average woman doing a boudoir session, so they need far less coaching and they aren’t as timid. This model knew how to position her hands gracefully, how to move her body, make expressions, and I didn’t have to instruct her on many of these details. For my clients, I take pride in helping you with all of this. And, I love being able to do that!

For these reasons, my advice to new photographers has always been to learn boudoir photography with real women. Please don’t do yourself and prospective clients the disservice of not knowing how to work with someone who hires you by only knowing how to work with models. It’s a world of a difference, believe me. I also suggest photographers mention in blog posts when they are featuring photos of a model instead of it looking like a regular client. Potential clients want to recognize themselves in your photos and they also want to know that you can duplicate what they are seeing in your images with them.

So, will I do a model shoot again? Sure! It was a blast! And it gave my team the creative boost we needed. But, I will always let you all know that it is a model when I post images from shoots like that. I’m so busy with my super fabulous clients though that I probably won’t be able to do another shoot like this for another year or so. Boo!

By the way, if you are a client interested in getting more creative with your own session, I highly encourage you to consider hiring Kat and Whitney (or Rachel) of Hera Beauty to stay on and do different hair and makeup looks throughout the duration of your boudoir session. This is especially nice for the Elite sessions.

• • • • • • • •

Emily Tishhouse says:

September 20, 2011 at 3:01 pm

Beautiful job, Stacie! These images are all stunning, but the first look is definitely my favorite! The makeup and styling is fabulous!

stacie says:

September 20, 2011 at 3:10 pm

Thanks Emily! I think those are my favorites too!

Cathy Empey says:

September 21, 2011 at 9:40 am

Awesome Stacie! I adore that first look so much, but of course the rest of the images are super fine!

stacy able says:

September 21, 2011 at 1:20 pm

What Emily said — and I agree with Cathy, too that stripe outfit and her hair is perfect! The other images are smoldering perfection!

Leah Aubrey says:

September 21, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Gorgeous!! I agree with the others, the first one is out of this world. Great styling and processing.

Bethany says:

September 21, 2011 at 6:40 pm

Beautiful! I LOVE the outfit with the polka dots. So cute. But, I think my favorites are the ones with her in the jean shorts.

Jenny says:

September 21, 2011 at 6:47 pm

Love these! I really like the striped outfit, probably because it’s not the norm, and love her intense blue eye shadow too. What a fun session you did!!

Whitney says:

September 21, 2011 at 9:22 pm

This shoot was super fun and sexy! What a fantastic time the four of us had that day!

stacie says:

September 22, 2011 at 6:57 pm

I know! We need to do more shoots where you girls stay the whole time and do more looks like this!

Lynn Clark says:

September 21, 2011 at 10:45 pm

Another post that makes me love your work, and you! I agree that it’s only fair to mention when you’re using a pro model.

stacie says:

September 22, 2011 at 6:53 pm

Love you too Lynn! xoxo

C-line says:

September 22, 2011 at 12:15 am

I just wanted to say something, as I am the french model of this session.
(Excuse my english if it is not so good…)

First, waouh!!! Thanks Stacie. This is for me my best photoshoot, really!!!

Then, i’d like to say: Yes, i am a model, but not a mannequin… I love posing, i love photogtaphy and i love playing, that’s why i am modelling. But, believe me, many days i cannot stand myself in the mirror… I just try to do my best while posing (even if I feel too small, too large…) and good photographers like you help me being just me, and continue to do what i love. Thanks!!!

stacie says:

September 22, 2011 at 6:52 pm

Aww I love that you chimed in here! We had so much fun with you and I am hopeful that we can make this a yearly thing! You were AWESOME!

Kat says:

September 23, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Awww! This was such a fun shoot! You are a stunning woman- although we all have our up days and down days, you should be proud of the way you look, because obviously you’re gorgeous!

Denise Birdsong says:

September 22, 2011 at 11:58 am

Stacie,

I think it is great you are having this conversation. I also admire the fact that you are care more about the experience for your clients than anything else!

stacie says:

September 22, 2011 at 6:51 pm

Thanks Denise. This just irks me as false advertising when I see it. For instance, there was recently a really cool Playboy photography workshop where the photographers from Playboy who are serious experts with lighting and posing etc, staged shoots for their attendees….they provided Playmates, set up the lighting, etc.

Well, their attendees are showing these images on their websites as their boudoir images, like they did these on their own. There is no way they will be able to duplicate these on their own. It’s highly doubtful they could even afford the lighting set-up like the ones used for Playboy, and even if they could afford it, it’s still close to impossible for a newbie to pull off. The posing is another topic altogether, which I touched on in the post.