Six Mistakes People Make When Planning an Intimate Photoshoot

and How To Avoid Them

I love my work and I've been doing it for a long time.  Over the years, I've come to notice patterns in the way many people go about researching and planning an intimate or erotic photoshoot.  As you might expect, the same mistakes keep coming up over and over, so this blog post is devoted to helping you avoid wasting time and energy going down the wrong path.

Please allow me to list the most common mistakes that I see so that you can try to avoid them.

1. Looking through the photo galleries of other photographers for photos that you want to duplicate exactly.

Unfortunately, you can never duplicate those photos.  For one thing, the model(s) you see are not you.  Also, the photographer probably retouched the photos heavily with Photoshop in ways that we can't determine.  I think the goal should be to create unique images that capture your spirit in the moment, not duplicate the work of others.

2.  Assuming that I won't photograph a particular sex act if you don't see it in my portfolio.

Humans are very creative when it comes to sex and there's no way I can display photos of every naughty thing you can do.  Please take my word that I will photograph anything that's legal and doesn't get fluids on me or my photo gear!  OK, that's not entirely true... I really don't like shooting blood play or snakes.   

3.  Falling in love with a particular outdoor location that you see in some of my photos.

Outdoor locations come and go.  The biggest reason that one might not be practical is weather.  You can't do a naughty photoshoot in the rain or cold.  You can't shoot at the nude beach when the regular crowd calls the cops on you.  No matter how sneaky you are, you can no longer do guerrilla nude shoots in downtown Portland now that the city is packed with hipster condos, security guards and homeless folks.  I always keep a few possible outdoor locations in mind from May to September in the Columbia River Gorge area, but I just can't guarantee access to a particular site when you need it.  The most reliable place to do an intimate photoshoot is your own hotel room or, even better, an upscale Airbnb vacation rental house.  My studio works, of course, but it's a photo studio, not a bedroom.

4.  Trying to pack too much into your photoshoot.

Most people who are not professional models or actors get tired of being photographed after about two hours - less if you are engaged in sexual activities.  It's OK to prepare a list of poses for your shoot or even bring some example photos on your phone.  Just keep the list reasonable so you won't feel rushed.  I recommend no more than six poses per hour if you are doing a posed studio shoot.  Consider scheduling two shoots on different days, especially if you have more than one theme you wish to include, ie: artistic posed studio photos and raunchy sex photos.  That way you can easily make use of two locations as well.

5.  Asking if I can provide a male model to have sex with you during your photoshoot.

Please, ladies, that just isn't possible and probably isn't legal.  When I see this question, my experience tells me the person asking isn't really serious about booking a photoshoot, they just enjoy fantasizing about what could happen.

6.  Not having a backup plan.

It's always good to have a plan B.  Sometimes your partner backs out, the weather doesn't cooperate, your period starts unexpectedly or some other minor disaster.  A sexy photoshoot is a complex project and you can't count on everything going according to plan.  A good professional photographer will go with the flow, work around the surprises and still create great images.  

If you have any mistakes to add, please drop me an email. I'm sure I've forgotten a few!