Boudoir Photography How To

We often share boudoir tutorials on how to photograph sensual images of women in lingerie. Today we turn the tables with a new how-to video on male boudoir photography with tips and tricks for capturing boudoir shots of men in their underwear.

Boudoir photos of men aren't as common as those of women, to say the least. However, a small photography movement – sometimes joking referred to as dudeoir – has sprung up around male boudoir and one photographer who is leading the charge is Florida-based Yuliya Panchenko.

In the below tutorial, Panchenko shares her secrets on male boudoir photography workflow while photographing model and musician Ethan Lolley. 

"When we do male boudoir photography, we want to show muscles and definition but that doesn't mean your model or client should have a 'six-pack,'" she notes. "There are other body parts that we can focus on, chest, back legs, shoulders. Usually, clients tell photographers what they like the most about their body and with the right posing you should focus and highlight those body parts."

Before they begin, Panchenko shares some suggestions on working with male boudoir clients, particularly establishing ground rules and setting comfort levels.

"Before you do a male boudoir photo shoot make sure your client or model completely understands your studio guidelines such as: being respectful during the photo shoot, no inappropriate language or comments during the photo session, covering private parts even if it's a nude session," she explains. "There are no standard guidelines. It all depends on your studio and what you're comfortable with."

In describing her photography workflow when shooting male boudoir, Panchenko likes to start with fully dressed, full length portraits of her model or client. After that, she progresses to photos with less and less clothing on her subject to ease into a comfortable flow.

"Once we're done with the portraits, our next step is to take more portraits but we're slowly going to undress and Ethan is going to take off his turtleneck and stay only in his blazer," Panchenko. "And just to clarify: the model is going to undress, not us."

Yes, a bit of levity is always good in dudeoir, er, male boudoir sessions and Panchenko likes to keep things light and fun. Check out her shoot below and then go visit her channel for more boudoir photography tutorials including this one with her top five boudoir photography poses on a chair, which is done with a female model this time around.