You’re planning a trip to Paris, and the idea of a boudoir session has crossed your mind. Maybe for a birthday, maybe as a gift to yourself, maybe simply because you love beautiful photographs. And then come the questions: what actually happens, what to bring, and whether it’s really for you.
I’m Steve Hubert, a boudoir photographer based in Waterloo, near Brussels. Since 2020, I have photographed more than 350 women, and most of them had never posed before. Here is, concretely, what a session with me in Paris looks like.
Is a boudoir session for me?
You don’t need any modeling experience, and you don’t need a particular body. So far, the women I have photographed are between 23 and 64 years old, of every shape and size. Some come to see themselves differently. Others come to celebrate a milestone, or simply because they want beautiful portraits. All of these reasons are equally valid.
What you do need is the wish to give yourself this moment. Guiding you is my job.
Before your trip
It starts with a message: you tell me your travel dates, even approximate, and what you have in mind. We then set up a video call to get to know each other. You ask your questions, I explain how the session works, and you decide, with no pressure.
Once your session is booked, we prepare it together at a distance: your outfits, what you’d like to see in your photographs, and the practical details of the day.
What to bring
- Several lingerie options. What feels like “too much” in your bedroom often looks perfect in front of the camera. Solid colors (black, white, red, nude) work very well.
- A bodysuit, if you only bring one piece. It works on every body.
- Something that feels like you: a piece of jewelry, a perfume you love, an oversized shirt or sweater for the breaks.
- Loose, comfortable clothes to arrive in. Tight underwear and waistbands leave marks on the skin that take time to fade.
We choose your looks together. You don’t need to arrive with everything figured out.
A few days before
- Moisturize your skin every day for about a week. It changes the way the skin catches the light.
- Skip self-tanner in the 48 hours before the session.
- Waxing is entirely up to you. If you do it, do it two days before, not the day before.
- If you’re flying in from the United States, give yourself at least one good night in Paris before your session. Jet lag shows in the face more than anywhere else.
On the day
Eat normally. Skipping a meal doesn’t change anything in the photos, except your energy.
The session takes place in a Parisian apartment reserved for you, with tall windows, moldings, parquet floors and a real bedroom. It begins with professional hair and makeup. This is often the moment when the nerves settle: we talk, you get used to the place, and you can ask me anything.
Then I guide you through every pose. Before asking for it, I explain it and show it to you myself: where to place your hands, your feet, your gaze. I regularly show you the images on the camera, so you see what I see. You set your limits, and I respect them. Nudity is never required.
Your privacy
Your photographs stay private. Nothing is published without your explicit written consent, and you can allow some images, decline others, or share nothing at all.
After the session
We choose your photographs together, and your handcrafted album is shipped to your home. The Signature Experience includes a 20 × 20 cm album with 20 retouched photographs, 10 of which are also delivered as high-resolution digital files.
In short
A boudoir session in Paris is not a quick photoshoot squeezed between two monuments. It’s a day set aside for you, prepared in advance, guided from start to finish, in a setting chosen for its light.
If you’d like to know more, discover the Paris Boudoir Experience, read my clients’ stories, or write to me with your travel dates.