Category Archives: Feature Posts

Swimsuit or Lingerie for Boudoir Photos?

One of the most frequently asked questions my clients ask me before their photo shoot is: “Do I have to wear lingerie?” The short answer: NO.

How about a swimsuit instead?

There seems to be a strange taboo about wearing lingerie in private… like, it makes us feel dirty or it’s associated with pornography? I’m not quite sure what it is. But, famous performers like Beyoncé wear it publicly onstage at their concerts all the time.

Sure, what they wear is considered a costume. But, they look like lingerie/swimsuits to me. Heck, most of them are laced and super sexy, almost see-through, so that’s pretty much lingerie. Right?! To be honest, I don’t even know anymore. With the culture trend of social media, nothing is really private nowadays. Everything goes!

But, wearing a swimsuit out in public is just fine yet there are some that I question— in particular, thong string bikinis. String Bikinis, in general, show way more skin et al than most of the lingerie I’ve seen. There’s really nothing left to the imagination. So, yeah, I’ve got lots of questions why that’s not taboo but lingerie is.

The one thing that never changes for me is this: Wear whatever makes you feel your best. Not for others. For you. Do you love how you look in that swimsuit? Then bring that for your photo shoot with me! Together, we will make some pretty great images and no one is going to think it’s silly to wear a swimsuit for boudoir photos.

Swimsuit Editorial Style at Mission San Juan Capistrano

This is an actual fact.

At first, it was kinda funny… until it wasn’t. A lot of people thought I was just joking… until they realized that I wasn’t. The fact is the weather gods do not like me and always rain on my photo shoots. Did you book an outdoor photo shoot with me? Sorry, but it might rain. Bring an umbrella.

For this particular photo shoot, I had planned it for weeks and weeks prior to flying out to Los Angeles to shoot. My friend Renée tagged along even though she was just there a fews weeks prior for her own photo shoot. She said on the day of her photo shoot in January it was such a beautiful and sunny day as it is on any given day in Southern California. And according to Tony! Toni! Toné!, it never rains there. Until I came along.

It was raining and high winds of 60 mph, breaking rooftops off homes here and there. It was insane!

As we were getting everything ready, plus hair and makeup by Hikari Murakami, we watched news about the chaos that swept the city within minutes. No warning. I drove out to our shoot location on the beach to see if we could still make it work; checked a bike shop about renting a vintage bike for props. It wasn’t going to work, there was just no way we could safely shoot there.

So we headed away from the crazy weather… to Mission San Juan Capistrano. But, they wouldn’t let us shoot inside. Seriously!?

Time was ticking and the weather was barely holding up. What do I do now?! We traveled all this way to create art, but everything is working against us! So, I decided to drop everything— literally! We put everything down on the sidewalk and just started shooting right along the walls of Mission San Juan Capistrano, with oncoming cars, and we just made it work. These are the images I photographed in this narrow spot in, like, 15 minutes. This is what I mean when I look for SPOTS, not an entire location.

Photo Shoot Spots vs Locations

I am looking for new spots for photo shoots within 30 minutes drive from the Portland International Airport, so I’d love any suggestions that you may have!?

Spots? Yes, because I don’t need an entire location; that one awesome spot you always pass by during a drive or walk is just perfect for me.

Sometimes the best place to do a photo shoot isn’t at the most obvious places. Well, at least not for my style of photography. The first thing I look for is light then background. I try to avoid other people and cars, and even buildings unless I’m doing a specific photo shoot in the city or something like that.

What I crave for is those hidden gems; the kinds that you’d find while driving here and there and then you’d see it along the way, but didn’t really notice it before because it’s not an obvious place for photo shoots. But, the light. Ooh! And this angle, that angle— thinking to yourself, “Bunn would love this spot!” Yes, that’s what I want. :)

I shot those photos at IKEA, could you tell?!

I would drive along I-205 from Vancouver, Washington and see this big field behind IKEA, but thought what a crazy spot to do a photo shoot. However, the more I saw it the more that I wanted to do it! So, this family met me at IKEA and this is what we created that day. I love how these photos turned out on film!

These hidden gems don’t have to look exactly like this field— and it doesn’t even have to be a field. It can be a driveway with a cool garage door, or a stunning lonesome tree nearby a schoolyard. Oh, what I would really love to find is a driveway with a beautiful tree line like from the scene in Rain Man with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.

If you see anything that would make a lovely backdrop for my style of work, then please do not hesitate to let me know. Thank you in advance!