Boudoir style photographs can be provocative without being revealing.  They can be revealing without being provocative, as in "art nudes," or they can be both provocative and revealing.  How revealing they are is up to what you would like and how comfortable you are during the photography session. (Provocative pictures are not shown here.)

Most women think of boudoir photographs as being about lingerie (or partial nudes or nudes), but they can also be provocative poses made in normal clothes, sometimes perhaps worn in an unusual way (such as pulled open a bit more or pulled up or down a bit more, or worn missing something, such as overalls or suspenders without a shirt). 

Boudoir pictures can also be fantasy style photographs where you cover yourself with things besides clothes. For example, one woman wanted to give her husband a picture that made the point she wished he would stay home with her instead of playing golf so often, so she did a waist up portrait that was topless except for two golf clubs strategically criss-crossed in front of her, with a devilish look on her face.  Other sports themes have also been popular, from hunting, fishing, football, and sailing to motorcycling, skiing, weight lifting, etc. Women also sometimes wear their husband's or boyfriend's work clothes or uniforms. Office themes, holiday themes, and food themes are  popular.

I try to do all my pictures so they are tasteful and psychologically and artistically interesting. Facial expression and body language play more of a part in making these pictures look great than does your figure or mere outward appearance.  Few women feel they are attractive enough to look good in these kinds of pictures until they see the finished product; most then say the pictures look so beautiful "I can't believe that is me."  Almost all the women who have come in for boudoir pictures said they were really nervous and had never done anything like this before and that they almost did not keep the appointment or wished they had had a bottle of wine, but they became comfortable after just the first couple of pictures. Virtually everyone said, either during or after the photography session that they were surprisingly comfortable and that it was really fun. Most were astonished at how good their pictures looked, and how beautiful they were in them, even before any retouching.  Many women have said this was the first time they ever saw themselves as attractive.  The biggest problem is they then want to show off their pictures to their friends but can't. (Although one woman showed her pictures to her mother; only to have her mother bring out her similar pictures to show her.)

It is really neat to prove to women who are not at all supposedly desirable by Madison Avenue standards that they are not only sexy looking but quite beautiful. Many women who pose for boudoir style photographs are much older (including women in their 60's) and many women who come in are much, much heavier than they would have thought you had to be to look good in any pictures, let alone pictures of this sort.  They were amazed at how well they photographed and how good they looked in the pictures.  Contrary to popular opinion, these kinds of pictures depend for their success far more on your attitude than on your shape or age.  If you simply want to look sexy, you will look sexy in my pictures.

What a true delight you were to work with! From the moment I arrived you welcomed me and made me feel comfortable. I look forward to working with you again. Thank you. -- S.L.

No one who looks at these pictures would ever believe I am 65 years old; you made me look 30 years younger. How did you do that?!  These pictures are really amazing!  -- M. P.

I almost called to cancel. I was so nervous; I've never done anything like this before. But it turned out to be really fun, and I relaxed right away. I am totally surprised how comfortable I felt and how much fun this was. And the pictures are great!  Thank you so much! -- K.S.

The pictures you took were the best present my wife has ever given me!  And the poses you did of her were absolutely perfect. It was like you knew exactly what I wanted.  Thank you. -- K.B. [husband of client]

I always have felt that I was fat, even in those times when I had lost a lot of weight. But you have shown me that I am not fat and that I am beautiful. -- R.M. [through tears of joy]

These pictures are great! And I really enjoyed the session -- after the first couple of pictures. This was well worth the drive [300 miles] to do this.  I already know I want to come back and do some more that are even sexier. -- T.R.

I appreciate that you were very professional. I have always wanted to do pictures like this, but I was afraid to. I finally decided I was just going to go ahead and do it, but I was still really nervous about it. You made me feel very comfortable, and I love the pictures.  I am really glad I did it. -- J.F.

My boyfriend is going to love these! ... And if he doesn't, there are plenty of guys who will! -- D.S. [age 62]

Firstly, thanks for making me feel so comfortable.  You are a true professional.  You make a woman feel worthy and beautiful, though we see so many flaws in ourselves.  Those pictures are going to be a beautiful gift to a very special person in my life. Rick you are not only a professional photographer you are a remarkable person. Thank you. -- Fay

I saw the article you had written for the newspaper, and am just calling to tell you that you took nude pictures of me 30 years ago, and I treasure them now even more than I did then. I always thought they were beautiful pictures, but now they just mean even a lot more to me. -- R.E.

Rick,
 I wanted to personally thank you again for the boudoir portraits that you did for me.  As I told you my fiancé is overseas and this was part of his Christmas package.  He absolutely loved receiving them for Christmas.  In his package was also a telephone card and he called me immediately.  I will always remember the happiness in his voice and how proud he was to receive them.  He told me he could live off those pictures instead of the food that was part of his Holiday Gift.  But his gift to me was asking me to marry him as soon as he gets back to the USA.  You know I was very nervous that day at first but you were so professional and set me at ease it became a very enjoyable day for me too.  I actually felt like I was a model.  I'm also thankful that you gave me the portraits on a disk just in case the originals get damaged.  If anyone else reads this and are thinking about doing this for "their man" I fully recommend it. -- P.K.

I am glad you have the CD packages because we are on a limited budget now, but I wanted to be able to give my husband some special pictures I knew he would love.  You retouched the ones I really liked, but he enjoys all of them on his computer.  He even has made some slide shows for himself and added music to them.  It makes me feel special and beautiful that he likes them so much.  I never thought of myself as beautiful or sexy before and most days I still don't, but I have to say you brought out something in me that I didn't know was even there.  These pictures just amaze me.  When we can afford to have some of the sexier ones printed, we will do that.  I am glad I have them now though.  And we had some of the ones that were not so revealing printed as 5x7s at one of the places you said we could, and, just like you said, they are professional quality for less than fifty cents each.  I even had one of the nice portraits you took during the session printed for my mother in an 8x10 for $1.50. That is even more amazing! She loves it, and thinks I must have spent too much money on her. I didn't tell her that wasn't true -- or about the rest of the pictures. Thank you sooooo much!  -- M.T.