Here’s the truth about boudoir photography: it’s not about memorizing 20 fancy poses. It’s about learning how to flatter your shape using a few boudoir posing tips that work on every body.
The goal? Create or enhance that natural hourglass shape and the curves of your body. That’s it. Whether you’re curvy, athletic, plus size, or somewhere in between, if you can enhance the curves and silhouette of your body, it’ll do more for your photos then any lingerie you can buy.
Key Takeaways
- Every pose should enhance your curves or silhouette. If it doesn’t, re-consider the pose.
- Whatever you push toward the camera will appear larger. Push it away, and it will look smaller.
- If it bends bend it — head, shoulders, arms, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles — to avoid stiff-looking poses.
- It’s easier to pose into the light than it is to light you once posed.
- There are two methods I use for directing you into flattering poses: verbal prompting and gestural mirroring.
- Boudoir selfies are best achieved with a tripod, remote trigger and good natural light.
Boudoir Pose Ideas
The following are some examples of boudoir poses I curated from my work. If you’d like more boudoir pose ideas you can reference my portfolio here.


The Fundamentals of Posing Women
The idea behind posing is simple: we use it to enhance your curves. Anything that emphasizes your curves or silhouette. will flatter you. So instead of just throwing posing flash cards at you, I’d rather give you boudoir posing tips that help you understand how to highlight or downplay any part of your body.
One of the easiest boudoir posing tips? Shift any area of your body toward or away from the camera. Whatever you push away will look smaller. Whatever you bring forward gets highlighted. That one move can completely change how your body looks in a shot.
After that, check the eight main areas of your body that affect movement. As a general rule when posing women, if it bends — bend it. When evaluating your photos check these points for rigidity or stiffness:
- Head
- Shoulders
- Arms
- Wrists
- Waist
- Hips
- Knees
- Ankles
There’s more to it, sure — but those two boudoir posing tips by themselves will usually get you most of the way towards a beautiful photo. Don’t get stuck in the details. I’ll show you how this all plays out with real examples next.
Boudoir Poses For Plus Size Women
If you’re plus size, you might feel like your natural hourglass shape gets lost in photos. The good news? Smart posing brings it back.
Every woman carries weight differently. So what flatters one body might not work for another. The key is knowing what to highlight — and what to soften — based on your shape. Here’s how I pose plus size women for boudoir photos.
Slimming Plus Size Pose Ideas That Flatter
If you’re self-conscious about your thighs or butt — especially because of cellulite — a top-down angle works wonders. Lie on your back, and have the camera positioned slightly above your eye line. That angle brings your face and bust forward while pulling your tummy, hips, and thighs away from the lens. It’s one of the easiest ways to shift the focus to your favorite features.
Another great trick? Flip over onto your stomach. Same idea, just a different pose. Position your face closest to the camera. You can try and bring your hips up to exaggerate your hip to waist ratio or keep your face and bust as the main focus. This cheats the perspective in your favor, naturally minimizing your tummy.
In general, laying-down poses are super flattering for plus size women. On your back, gravity helps smooth your stomach. On your stomach, the bedding gives extra coverage across your midsection — perfect if you want a little more concealment.
Plus Size Sitting & Standing Poses
Standing and sitting poses for plus size women use exactly the same principal. While standing, I’ll direct my client to turn her hips away from me and push one butt cheek back away from the camera. This will help her butt look smaller and will also stretch her tummy out as much as possible.
For sitting poses, I use the same technique. By directing the woman to sit on the very edge of the chair and having her lean slightly forward, we can again diminish the size of her butt in relation to her bust which balances her proportions. By having her lean slightly forward with her chest, we can then further enhance the size of her bust as needed. I adjust the degree of enhancement or diminishment as needed by directing you closer or further from the camera.
Chair Poses For Boudoir Photos
Chairs show up in almost every boudoir shoot I do — and when used right, they’re a game-changer. But here’s the deal: sitting normally in a chair can fold your body in a way that shortens your torso and creates stomach rolls. That happens to everyone, even the leanest women.
So instead of sitting the “right” way, I’ll have you sit the flattering way.
Here are my go-to boudoir posing tips for chairs:
- Sink deep into the chair and bring your knees up to block your stomach.
- Slide down so your butt’s on the edge of the seat, then arch your back to stretch your torso.
- Recline in the chair using the footrest, shifting into more of a lying-down position — this naturally elongates your body.
Each of these boudoir posing tips helps soften or hide the stomach while showing off your shape in all the right ways. With the right angle, a chair can be one of the best props in the room.
Boudoir Mirror Pose Tips
Want to add something bold and eye-catching to your shoot? Mirror poses always a good decision if your space has a nice one. They give you front and back angles in the same shot, which adds serious depth — but they do come with a challenge.
Because you and your reflection are visible at the same time, it’s easy to accidentally cancel out your flattering angles. You might push a body part forward in real life… but the mirror shows it being pushed back. That’s why these boudoir mirror poses take a little extra planning.
Here’s some boudoir posing tips to make your mirror photos more flattering:
- Have the camera shoot over your shoulder, and angle your body so anything you want to minimize is cropped out.
- If you’re using a small mirror, use the frame to create a flattering composition that highlights your face or curves.
- Shoot with a wide aperture. That keeps the focus on your reflection — especially the part you’re highlighting — while softening the rest in blur.
Done right, mirror shots can be some of the most artistic and powerful images in the entire set.
Ideas For Nude Poses
When it comes to nude boudoir poses, there’s a fine line between tasteful and too much. My goal is to stay on the artful side of that line — teasing your curves of your body in an edgy way while still keeping the images elegant, not explicit.
One way I do that is by using shadows to hide what you don’t want fully revealed. I’ll often turn your hips away from the light and bring your chest back in toward it. That subtle twist does two things: it casts your pubic area in shadow while highlighting your upper body. With the right angle, this creates shape, mystery, and just enough reveal to keep it beautiful.
As a bonus, this style of boudoir lighting can change how your body looks — in a good way. Even smaller-busted clients have told me their breasts looked noticeably fuller in the final images. It’s not editing — it’s smart posing and light direction and knowing how to leverage shadows to sculpt your curves.
Tasteful, artistic nude photography is as much about what you decide to highlight as it is about what you choose to conceal in shadow. Done right, the result feels intimate, classy, and powerful — never overexposed.
Boudoir Posing Tips for Selfies
Posing for a boudoir selfie can feel limiting if you’re stuck at arm’s length. That’s why I always recommend grabbing a tripod and a remote trigger. Those two tools alone will open up way more flattering pose options — and let you shoot without setting a timer and running back and forth.
Start by setting up near a window or doorway. Natural light from the side or front will instantly upgrade your photos. Then think about your camera angle. Positioning it at eye level or slightly above will slim your body. Want sexy booty pics? Try placing your camera low — around two to three feet off the ground — to stretch your shape and boost your hip-to-waist ratio.
One last tip: plan ahead for how you’ll hide the remote. You can cover it with your hand, tuck it behind your back, or even trigger the shot with your toe if you want both hands in frame. It’s a little awkward at times, but it’s the best option aside from having someone else take your photos.
For more diy boudoir photography tips, you can check out this post for more detail.
How to Pose for Boudoir Photos : The Methods I Use
Knowing how to pose for boudoir photos isn’t about being a model — it’s about understanding the small shifts that flatter your shape. My job is to guide you through those shifts by showing you different boudoir posing tips can can use to enhance your body. I communicate those moves to you with two methods: prompting and mirroring.
Prompting is simply the words I choose to use when I direct you. For example, if I want to highlight your bust, I won’t just say “lean forward.” That usually pulls your whole upper body in. Instead, I’ll say “lean forward with your chest.” That tells you to move your bust forward while keeping your shoulders back — a small difference that completely changes the shot.
Same thing goes for your hands. If I say “touch your thigh,” most women stiffen up and place their hand like they’re bracing for a fall. But if I say “lightly touch your thigh,” the word lightly softens everything. Your fingers bend naturally, and the pose instantly looks more feminine.
My other favorite method directing clients is called mirroring. For this non-verbal direction, I’ll stand across from you and have you copy what I do. If I tilt my head left, you’ll tilt yours the same direction. From that point on, you’re just following my movement. No awkward guessing. No confusion, because we’re doing it together. This method works really well for my clients who are hard of hearing or for those who speak a different language then I do.
Here are some of my prompts I use at just about every session:
- “Point your toes”
- “Shift your weight to your back leg”
- “Bring your knee over the other knee”
- “Push your hip away from me”
- “Turn your hips away from the key light”
- “Breathe in through your lips”
- “Splay fingers, touch light”
- “Trace your collarbone with your middle finger”
- “Lean forward with your chest”
- “Bring your forehead toward the camera and chin down”
These little boudoir posing tips might sound simple, when called out at the right time, shape your body in a ways that looks effortless and stunning.
Want To Master The Art Of Posing Women?

If the boudoir posing tips in this post resonated with you, my guide “Posing Women for Boudoir Photos” goes far beyond just giving you a list of poses. This 41-page PDF is a structured, fundamentals-first resource I created to help you understand how and why posing works.
So if you struggle with confidently directing women in front of your camera, no matter her shape or comfort level, this guide is for you. Instead of throwing out poses shotgun-style and hoping something sticks, this guide teaches you how to read her body, balance her proportions, and use subtle cues that highlight curves, slim lines, and create powerful, flattering images.
You’ll learn how to guide expressions, position the 8 key movement points, and use precise direction to enhance her features without editing. Whether you’re just starting or looking to build consistency and trust with your clients, this guide is made to grow with your skill level and elevate every session. Preview or purchase it now to learn how to direct women with precision and confidence.