Courtney: A Muse is Born – Part 1
My first boudoir collaboration set the bar for all others in the future.
Courtney and I had been friends for some time, but this would be the most time for us one-on-one together and the first time she would be naked part of the time. We had planned the details of the shoot in advance, but it was still nerve-wracking to knock on her door knowing what we were about to do.
We had planned on a casual, relaxed style around her apartment, mostly in her bedroom. After a few photos of her beautiful cats, we picked out her outfits for the day. We started with a soft, romantic look with a knit robe around a lace bra and panties, saving the edgier content for the end of the shoot. I don’t remember who suggested it, but almost immediately, she removed the bra for a more sensual look. We used only the natural light from her windows, which wrapped around her skin with warmth and gentleness.
As we stepped through her outfits, she simply changed in her room while I sat on the bed. Since we knew we were going to be doing nudes anyway, I started taking photos while she changed, admiring herself in the mirror in various states of undress. I gave very little direction, allowing her to do what felt natural. I could already tell this was the kind of shoot that was possible only between people who felt totally at ease with each other, and I knew I’d picked the right collaborator.
At one point, we decided to take a break for coffee, but she didn’t want to walk to the kitchen barely dressed just in case her roommate came home. So she threw on only a crop top and jean shorts, and when we got the kitchen, it turned into its own photo session. These are still some of my favorite photos from any shoot I’ve done.
We tried various lingerie and finally started doing full implied nudes on the bed, only covered by a sheet. I wasn’t sure how to ask her outright to pose for our first full frontal nude shot; even though she’d been changing freely, there was something different about asking for that level of direct exposure while looking down the barrel of the lens. Finally, I gathered my courage and asked her to get up on her knees without the sheet. For the first time, I saw her prepared herself mentally for what came next.
Then, she rose up with confidence, held her hair, and looked directly at me. The next photo would be the most honest and sensual image I would ever take.
