You may think that in order to get a great image out of a boudoir photoshoot the woman in front of the camera MUST have a #perfect body, and while most of us are inundated with images of women with perfect bodies, so it is only natural to think that way, it should also be known that the perfect body is whatever body YOU have. All body types are beautiful, and, that being said, all body types can also look really bad in a photo! But that’s a discussion for another day. However, the most important factor of getting a great boudoir image, and any image, for that matter, is the EXPRESSION the person makes in the image.
If you’ve watched Tyra Bank’s, you’ve likely heard her express
SMILE WITH YOUR EYES
and while that sounds absolutely ridiculous–all hail queen Tyra, though, she is so incredible!–how does one SMILE with their eyes? It IS true that you must express happiness in your eyes when you look at the camera…or sexiness, in the case of boudoir! Your eyes tell nearly all of the story, so while your body could look smokin’ hot in the image, if your eyes look sad or lifeless, the image will likely not be as great as it could be if your eyes SAID something.
So, how, then, does one SMILE with their eyes? Or how does one portray anything with their eyes? Here’s how:
While standing or sitting in front of mirror–heck, you can even lie down if you want; do a yoga pose, whatever, just be in front of a mirror–look at yourself. Don’t try any fancy tricks just yet. Just look at yourself. Pay attention to the way your face looks at rest. Now, close your eyes and think about something that makes you REALLY happy…maybe its a room full of puppies jumping all over you or the way the clean air smells in the spring time. Whatever the case may be, think about it until you feel yourself begin to smile. But don’t smile with your mouth just yet! Open your eyes and look into the mirror. See anything different? If not, you did it wrong! JK. Try again; maybe you didn’t think of something that actually made you feel like smiling. Do this until you find the thing that makes your eyes light up. You’ll know the difference when you see it. Once you’ve got it down, PRACTICE this.
This “smile with your eyes” idea is good for any photo you take, not just boudoir. So if you want your selfie game to be strong, this is the first step in the right direction.
Now you’ve got your eyes all smiley, so what about getting them all sultry?
Repeat the first steps for smiling with your eyes–the mirror part and the closing of the eyes and thinking part. Only, this time, think about something, well, sexy. What is sexy to you? After thinking about that–not too long now!–open those beautiful eyes and look at yourself. Did you just get 10 times hotter?! If not, you’re doing it wrong. LOL. We’re kidding. Practice giving yourself that hot sultry look, and don’t feel like a total moron doing it–this could pay off in other ways!
It’s also not just about the emotion you express in your eyes. The way you hold your eyes is another factor! Photographer Peter Hurley talks about the “squinch” in which you pinch and squint to make your eyes look FAB! Watch his hilarious and instructive video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff7nltdBCHs
These eye games can work for any emotion, so have fun playing around! After you’ve got emotion coming through your eyes and the squinch game on fleek, you’ve got other things to work on! While it is important for your eyes to do the talking, the other parts of your face have to play their part, as well. Just check out these images of Alexandra and Lani we took as an example:
The shape of your mouth will also determine how the image looks, and NO, we don’t want you doing the duck face. No where, anywhere, does anyone think that looks good…not even ducks. So don’t go pouting those lips out! If you don’t have big lips, no amount of trying to make them look bigger by pushing them out will do the trick…you’ll just look ridiculous. If you want bigger lips ask for a photoshop edit, get lip plumpers/fillers, or do the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge–we are not encouraging anyone to get plastic surgery or do the lip challenge, btw. But seriously, the way you hold your mouth will make or break the photo. So here is a great trick/tip to getting that sexy look:
Gently part your lips! Not a huge gap, but just enough for your lips to not touch completely. Basically you want to close your lips together, and, then, allow them to relax and slowly part them. Doing this in front of a mirror will help tremendously. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE until you’ve gotten it down without having to look at yourself while doing it.
NEXT: lift those brows, girl! OK, we aren’t talking “lift them up so high you look surprised, ‘but lift them slightly. If you do this in front of the mirror, you’ll notice your face gets a mini lift!
You know what else gives your face a lift? the placement of the chin!
The slightest tilt up will help to lengthen your neck AND tighten up your face. TRY IT! If you do it too far,though, we’ll get nothing but nostril, so we don’t want you lifting your face alllll the way up. And forget about those HORRIBLE myspace face poses we know everyone did to try and make everything look flattering–no one was fooling anyone! *It’s good to laugh at ourselves from time to time.
Now that we’ve smiled with our eyes, squinched away, parted our lips, lifted our brows ever-so-slightly, and gently lifted our chins, WE ARE READY!!!! Well, almost! Here is the biggest key to making a photo look fantastic:
BREATHE!
This seems like a no-brainer. We breathe all the time; we surely do not need anything that tells us to do so. Except, that we do. Because 9 times out of 10–OK, we don’t REALLY know if it is that specific, but we know it’s A LOT–women come in for their boudoir sessions and they get into their pose, and…nothing. They are holding their breath! DON”T DO THAT! BREATHE! We know it’s nerve wracking, and we know you’ve been practicing away at your poses and facial expressions, and you don’t want to forget or mess anything up, so you are just going to hold your breath! But, when you hold your breath, you look like you are…well, holding your breath! So breathe and have a good time! Bring out that inner tiger!
Oh, and…it never hurts to smile a little too 🙂
If you’re interested in expressing yourself with us, drop us a line at bryan@bellaallurestudio.com or give us a call at 661-772-7468!