Steam, Flash & Film

There is something so fun about photographing another boudoir photographer, especially when that photographer also happens to be your best friend.

For this session, we wanted to do something completely different from my usual bridal boudoir work and play around with a much more raw, retro, almost vintage-film-inspired look. We shot part of the session right in my shower, which immediately gave everything this steamy, intimate, slightly undone feeling that I absolutely loved.

Instead of keeping everything soft and polished, I pulled out direct flash and leaned into that imperfect film look. The final images were edited with more grain, warmer tones, and a nostalgic retro feel that made them look like they could have been pulled from an old roll of film. The direct flash mixed with the water, glass, and steam made the entire set feel so editorial and completely different from anything I normally create.

Of course, I also had to photograph some of the session on my DSLR in my usual moody style. I love deep shadows, soft window light, movement, and images that feel intimate without feeling overly posed, so getting to shoot both styles during the same session was such a fun creative challenge.

That was probably my favorite part of this shoot. There really were no rules. We were able to experiment with lighting, angles, flash, editing, and movement without worrying about making every image fit into one specific look.

The result was this mix of steamy shower photographs, grainy retro flash images, and the darker romantic boudoir photographs that feel much more like my signature work.

It was sexy, a little messy, super creative, and genuinely one of my favorite sessions I have photographed recently.

Sometimes the best shoots happen when you stop trying to make everything perfect and just create something different.