Posing for Boudoir Photography with a TopLight

What is Top Lighting?

Top lighting, also known as overhead lighting, is a type of lighting that creates a beautiful transition from highlights to shadows. It's often used in boudoir photography, as it can create a sense of mystery and intimacy. If you're interested in exploring top lighting for your own boudoir shoot, here are three poses that work well with this type of lighting.

POSITION ONE: The subject faces the camera. This is a classic boudoir pose, and top lighting can help to accentuate the curves of the body. When the subject is facing the camera the light is coming from directly overhead. This position creates drama and can be very flattering for the subject. Keep in mind that subject must point her nose towards the light to achieve beautiful lighting on the face and to avoid dark shadows under the eyes. In this lighting scenario, most likely you will lose catch light in the eyes, so it’s best to ask the subject to close her eyes and achieve a sensual look.

POSITION TWO: For the second position, the subject faces the light source. In this position, it is important to crate a dynamic pose as the main focus of the image will be on posing rather than lighting.

POSITION THREE: The third and final position has the subject facing away from the camera. This position is inspired by old paintings and is the most popular overhead lighting for boudoir photography. The highlights directly falls on the natural curves and creates beautiful shadows. This is my most preferred position for top lighting, and the final images are the most popular among my boudoir clients. If you want to sell more prints, top lighting with the subject facing away from the camera will always sell. Top lighting with the subject facing away from the camera also works best for nude photography.