Boudoir Location Ideas
In the past, deciding where to have your boudoir session photographed has been an overwhelming task for many of my clients. With so many wonderful location options to choose from, I’ve witnessed too many of my clients struggle to pull the trigger on a location mainly due to the sheer number of options we have available to us, here in this area.
This post will help you narrow down some fantastic options I’ve had personal experiences with over the years, or help generate ideas if you want something one of a kind.
Popular Session Locations:
Hotel Rooms I like
Hotel rooms are a pretty obvious choice you’ve probably already considered for your boudoir session. Below are some of my personal favorites here in the area that I have no doubt you will love!
This list is the perfect place to start if you’re feeling overwhelmed and need a few suggestions to get you going. I have personally photographed sessions at all of the hotel rooms listed below, and I can tell you for certain that you won’t be disappointed with ANY of these choices.
The hotel Les Mars is among my favorite hotels I’ve discovered in the area. The rooms are very large and beautifully decorated. I honestly can’t think of anything I don’t like about these rooms.
The rooms have 2 sets of french doors with beautiful drapes and other surrounding accents. I love spending time around these doors for the incredible light and background opportunities they offer.
The bed like everything else in the room is also gorgeous and has the added bonus of bed posts which are great for posing with. If you choose this room I guarantee you’ll love it!
The Ledson Hotel is super beautiful with small yet detailed rooms that offer tons of opportunity. All rooms have are beautifully decorated and include a jacuzzi tub if you want some steamy bubble bath shots.
The fireplaces honestly don’t offer much opportunity for photos so keep that in mind if you want that. Each room is very nicely decorated though with beautiful furniture and decor to pose with. If you're into this kind of look like I am you will love this place!
In addition to the main hotel on the Sonoma square, you can also reserve their mountain terrace location in the hills of Sonoma for some breath taking outdoor shots among the vineyards. Below are some examples from the mountain terrace location.
Mt View Hotel - You can't go wrong with this place if you get the right rooms. You’ll want to book one of the “luxury suites” with the attached seating area should you decide to go with this hotel. These rooms are gorgeously decorated, and each room is pretty different.
Note that some rooms have strong red colors that could clash with some lingerie color choices if you aren’t careful. If you decide to go with this hotel, I would reserve a specific room and buy lingerie to compliment or contrast (in a good way) any strong colors or wall patterns for the room you’re booking.
Taking into account the bold colors, this hotel is another choice you just can’t go wrong with! Note that there are no fire places in these rooms and the bathrooms don’t have any photo opportunities likes some of the other rooms if those types of images are important to you. The Mt. View rooms are boldly styled and are an excellent choice if you love this kind of look.
Gaige House | Glenn Ellen, CA
The Ryokan Zen Suites are amazing here! Very asian feeling, this hotel has these amazing granite tubs in the bathroom if you want to leave the opportunity open for a bath and or shower images. This location has one of the nicest bathrooms of all the locations listed in this post. There is also a pretty good size main room with an attached seating area that offers a lot of opportunity. The rooms are nicely decorated and you’ll love this place if you’re into this style.
Note that some of these rooms also have a center outdoor area that the room wraps around. I honestly haven’t found this feature to be super useful for sessions so just keep that in mind when weighing your decision. There is also a back outdoor area that is about the same amount of not helpful, but this is still a super nice room you should consider if you like this style.
Your Boudoir Session in Your Home
I freaking LOVE photographing boudoir sessions in clients houses! There’s definitely a personal flair and intimacy about these kinds of photos that is next to impossible to recreate with commercial locations.
The above being said, use common sense and your best judgement when deciding whether your home is appropriate for a session. Have I created some stunning images in some not so stunning houses? Yes I have. Will the quality and diversity of your images be better if your chosen location is nicer, also yes :-)
Things to think about
Obviously the nicer the decor and furnishings in your space are, the better you can expect your final images to be. That said, DO NOT feel like you need to live in the Taj Mahal to pull off an exceptional set of images.
Start thinking of renting (or borrowing) a location if say your mattress is on the floor of your bedroom or your shot glass collection is you center piece decor.
All kidding aside though, most women tend to think their home isn’t good enough even though it usually is. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE feel free to get in touch and send me some pictures of your space if you want my honest opinion of weather or not your house would be appropriate for your boudoir photo shoot.
If for whatever reason it looks like your house wouldn’t be a good choice, it’s really not a big deal as there are TONS of other places we can do your session as referenced in this post :-)
Get Creative
Check out the the images above from my session with Devon. Beautiful right?!? This entire session was photographed JUST IN HER BEDROOM. Part of the reason I chose to do her entire session here was because of the opportunity she created for me here in this space.
Note the string light head board thing in the first image. She made that for $30 with a curtain rod, some led lights, sheer drapes and a little inspiration from Pinterest.
Pretty much anything you can do to introduce lights in ways like this, will create epic background interest for your final images!!!
Also note the drapes, trunk, candles and other decorations scattered throughout her bedroom. By carefully framing each shot and using a few lighting tricks we were able to create a beautiful, diverse set of images you’d probably never have guessed all came from one room in her home.
Outdoor Boudoir
Outdoor sessions are something I get asked about quite frequently. This is a really cool option given its the right time of year and you are comfortable in this type of setting.
Most of my clients that request an outdoor boudoir session have a private location in mind. This is honestly the best case scenario for outdoor boudoir, but it's certainly not a requirement. Some of the images featured below for instance were photographed on a weekend at a very secluded part of our Sonoma County coastline.
If you’d like to learn more on this topic, click the button below to check out my outdoor boudoir post which has everything you need to know about this option.
AirBnB / VRBO
Closely related to the idea of doing your photo shoot in a hotel, many of my clients rent airbnb’s for their sessions. Honestly I’ve photographed sessions at some airbnb rentals that were amazing, and some that were pretty awful.
Below is a list of my favorite properties I’ve discovered over the years and some pros and cons I’ve personally experienced to help you better navigate this option.
Please let me know if any of the links below don’t work! I try to keep this list current, but airbnb’s come and go at a moments notice.
My Favorite Locations:
Advantages and Disadvantages of Vacation Rentals by Owner
PROS:
Price - If you’re willing to do some leg work (or choose one of my favorite options above), it’s possible to find some spaces here that are SUPER nice and moderately priced. Often for what you will pay for a hotel room for, you can easily find a whole house / guest house / loft which can give us tons more opportunity over smaller hotel rooms for your final imagery.
Flexibility- I have seen some clients negotiate with the owners about renting these spaces out for the day. By doing this you can sometimes lower the cost of the rental fee seeing as how you will not be staying there for the night. Fair warning, you will probably get asked what you are using the space for if you plan to try this, as renting spaces by the day tends to make owners spidy senses tingle.
Check in Times- One of the biggest draw backs to having your session photographed in a hotel room is that check in times are often as late as 3-4PM these days. Most of my clients end up booking hotel rooms for 2 days in many cases so we can get an earlier start on your photo shoot. Many (but not all) airbnb’s have a much earlier or more flexible check in times I’ve noticed which allows us to start your session earlier so we don’t have to push your photo session into the late hours of the night.
Outdoor Opportunities- If you hunt around you can totally find some rentals with both indoor and outdoor opportunities! It’s pretty easy to find full houses in urban/suburban areas with beautiful backyard pool/garden spaces. In more rural areas it’s not hard to find rentals with secluded property (often on acreage) that can make for stunning backdrops as well.
CONS:
Strange Circumstances- Every rental has it’s own rules. Most are awesome, some are just downright strange. Make sure you read the fine print carefully and understand the circumstances of your rental. For instance one of my clients booked a location without knowing it was a shared space rental complete with (you guessed it) other people there while we were supposed to photograph her session. Don’t let this happen to you and make sure to take the time to understand your venue’s rules before committing.
The Unpolished Experience- Like I said above, my overall experience with Airbnb has been overwhelmingly positive. That said, I can recall more than a few instances where owners were, shall we say, overly helpful. Clearly new to the Airbnb game I’ve seen owners (more then one) come back after letting us in to “check how things were going” in the middle of sessions. Be aware that some rentals are literally peoples homes they are renting for a little extra cash and sometimes you’ll get odd customer service experiences as these individuals bumble though the process.
Airbnb & VRBO | Tips & Things to Consider
Quality- Cheap rentals often offer lower quality, which is why they are inexpensive. If you're planning to book an Airbnb or VRBO for your boudoir photo shoot, be cautious. Ask yourself: is this place genuinely good value, or am I considering a small, poorly furnished room?
Never choose your location based only on price to save money! Low-cost rooms might be okay for a night's stay, but they're not the best choice for your photo shoot. Don't cut corners! Both of us are working hard to create stunning photos of you. Choosing a low-quality venue could compromise the quality of your final images.
The Superhost- Whenever possible I recommend you rent spaces from “superhosts.” Superhosts always have a good rating and a lot of them which is a pretty good indicator that you’re getting a good place run by people who’ve done this before. Search these places first and branch out from there if you’re not seeing something you like.
Airbnb Luxe- For extraordinary homes with five star everything take a look at these. The choices are crazy beautiful and will give us the opportunity for images that are next level beautiful.
Vacation Rentals by Owner I love
Occidental Guest House “The Tree’s” | Occidental, CA
Occidental Guest House - Designed by some famous architect of the 70’s I can never remember the name of, this place is among my favorite venues I like to recommend.
If you want a gorgeous location you can have, sexy indoor pictures done, AND stunning outside images among the redwood trees, this place is your location. It’s located on a secluded 3 acre property for total privacy and has tons of indoor and outdoor opportunity.
This location has a beautiful bedroom and common area, an epic fire place and claw foot bath tub and a very nice shower that all provide great opportunity for stunning images.
Trust me when I say you want to have your session photographed here!!!
Villa Montebella | Glenn Ellen
I’ve only photographed one session at this location and unfortunately the client requested her set be kept private.
This premium rental is a beautiful Tuscan style compound complete with arches, epic views, fountains, pool, theater and even a wine cave. The decor is beautiful and the natural light opportunities are endless.
For the session we did there, the clients husband rented a Ferrari to have her pose with next to the entry fountain. Even if this is too over the top for your taste, this place is still worth the click to know places like this exist.
Creative Location Ideas
Even though everything mentioned in this article would be a fantastic choice for your session (so long as you heed my warnings). Inevitably there are still those reading this that want something way outside of the box different.
I wish I could share the session I did for my client in her boyfriends barn (way cooler then it sounds, it had an elevator in it) or the session I photographed that one time on a yacht, or the really epic session I did in the luxury San Francisco penthouse. I wish I could share examples of all of these, but I can’t as all of those sessions mentioned are private.
Some of the coolest locations I’ve photographed sessions at weren’t because my client owned a yacht, or that her husband did. No, it was because she thought outside the box and made shit happen. Basically her dad was a yacht mechanic and was able to pull a few strings for her.
Some of the most gorgeous locations I’ve photographed at were borrowed from clients friends, family and in one notable case that comes to mind, my client’s boss.
If you want something really outside of the box it will honestly require you to think and often do something outside of the box to make your vision a reality. Have fun with the possibilities and have the courage to ask!!! Having the courage to ask someone that can make your ideas happen is seriously the difference between most of these examples happening and not.
Finishing up this post I’ll leave you with a few images from Laura’s session which we did entirely at her work. Now if having your session photographed at your work isn’t outside the box thinking, I’m not quite sure what is!
