Creating pro-level boudoir portraiture doesn’t necessarily require high-powered, expensive lighting gear. You can achieve beautiful, professional results with basic flash units. In this video, I discuss how to create excellent boudoir photography results using lighter, more compact gear.
Why not just use natural light?
Natural light is beautiful, but it has limitations. Usually, natural light means using window light, which can be unpredictable and unusable under certain weather conditions. And, you need to work at the right time of day for your specific location, to get the desired lighting. Privacy concerns can also arise if your client isn’t comfortable posing in front of a window.
Flash, on the other hand, offers several advantages over natural light. You get to control the look of the light and the environment, no matter what time of day or weather conditions. Your client doesn’t have to pose near a window, and you can create any lighting effect you can imagine.
I encourage photographers to become proficient with flash, even if they’re already good with natural light. This way, you won’t be at the mercy of outside lighting conditions.
Keeping it simple
When it comes to lighting setups for boudoir photography, I prefer to keep things simple. A couple of speedlights and shoot-through umbrellas are all you need to get started. If you want to upgrade, a softbox is a nice addition to the umbrella. I recommend using a softbox that’s round and collapsible, similar to an umbrella, for easy setup and takedown.
Here’s what my setup looks like:
- Speedlight: You want a decent quality one with plenty of power. Third-party sources like Godox and brands like Canon and Nikon all make good dependable flash units.
- Trigger: Flash triggers/controllers mount directly to your camera’s hot shoe and control the flash units in your setups remotely.
- Flash Bracket: You’ll need one of these to hold the flash and connect a flash umbrella or softbox modifier to it. There are several types available, but I’ve been using the S-type or S2 type for a while. These allow you to mount an umbrella or a softbox with a Bowens type connector, which is really popular right now.
- Modifier: Get a white translucent umbrella and place it so that the flash shoots through it toward the subject. That’s why we call this a shoot-through umbrella. Get one for each flash and maybe get a collapsible softbox if you want just a little more control over the light.
- Light Stand: You have to place your flash and modifier onto a light stand. The light stand holds everything in place and allows you to adjust the height and angle of the light.
With this minimalistic setup, you can focus more on your subject and less on the gear.
Lighting setups for boudoir
Watch the video for a good overview on how to use one or multiple lights for your boudoir photography. You can get great results with just a couple basic flash units and some simple modifiers like umbrellas or softboxes. Put a little lighting kit together and start practicing — find some good instruction that doesn’t require you to invest thousands of dollars in gear. Learning to create good work with minimal gear is what’s going to put you way ahead of the game.
👉 Check out my premium Boudoir course and my Flash course.
