Choosing a Male or Female Erotic Photographer

When a woman or couple begins to contemplate a sexy photoshoot, one of the first decisions they make is the gender of the photographer.   This is a very important question and it has three parts.

The first part concerns the comfort of the client(s).  Some women get very nervous being nude in front of a man, perhaps due to some event in her past.  Other women are more nervous being nude in front of a woman.  They feel that women are more critical and may be thinking unkind thoughts that they don't reveal.   

Men generally don't care that much, but some think a female photographer may help them feel sexier.  And some men prefer a male photographer, because they feel a man will be more accepting if they wish to act out a pornographic sexual fantasy.

The most important aspect of a successful boudoir or erotic photoshoot is being comfortable with your photographer, so this question can't be dismissed.  You should give it some thought and imagine what is best for you. 

The second part of this question is if a male or a female photographer is more likely to get you the kind of images you want.  This concept also applies to erotic couple's photoshoots.  If you browse several photographers' web sites, you can see that a photographer's style is influenced by their gender.  Here at Beyond Boudoir Photo, it's pretty obvious that I'm a male photographer.

Female photographers tend to gravitate toward standard commercial boudoir photography.  This style is mostly about the photoshoot experience.  The client is pampered, made up, and dressed in expensive looking lingerie.  It's much like spending the afternoon at a spa.  If the photographer is good at her job, the resulting images are a woman's fantasy of how she wants to see herself.  The goal is to make her look like a celebrity.  The photos are pretty tame and can easily be shared with friends and relatives.

Male photographers are more likely to bring out a woman's sexuality in a way that a man would appreciate.  This can mean more nudity and more suggestive poses.   Lingerie and makeup are useful, but they play a secondary role.   I like to describe the difference in styles as "lingerie catalog vs. men's magazine."  Some women seek out a male photographer because they feel they will get sexier images if they can flirt back and forth with the photographer and flirting with a woman doesn't work for them.  Male photographers are more comfortable complimenting a woman on her body, which encourages her to turn on the sexy energy.

The third part of this discussion applies especially to couples who want a photographer to come to their location and shoot professional photos of them engaged in adult activities.  There aren't many real, experienced, pro photographers who will do this at all and almost all of them are men.  I think this is largely because women are not comfortable walking into what is at least theoretically a risky situation for them.

Erotic Couple

Tip for women:  Let's say you want hot photos to excite your man, but you aren't comfortable posing nude with a male photographer you hardly know.  A great solution is to bring along a trusted girlfriend, that way you get the best of both options!
 

Another tip for women:  Many nude photographers actually shoot art nudes rather than erotic nude images.  A typical example will have a nude model posed in some unlikely place- an abandoned building, in a forest or even on a deserted city street.  The models are often not looking at the camera and are not in seductive poses.   While these can be very artistic and demonstrate the photographer's skill, they may not evoke sexual feelings in the viewer.

Obviously I have oversimplified this rather complex situation.  There is nothing to keep male photographers from shooting the commercial boudoir style images that are typically done by female photographers and in fact many do, since there is more money to be made in that genre.   Most men who do this have female partners and assistants who help create the pampered experience that goes with this style.

Now here's a tougher question:  Can female photographers shoot the more sexual images typically created by male photographers?  On a technical level, of course they can.  But from what I've seen, very few are comfortable or experienced with this style.  It's an interesting example of the complex psychology involved in erotic photography.