Why I Still Shoot Boudoir on Film When Everyone Else Has Gone Digital

I’ve been photographing on film for almost twenty years, and I still find myself thinking about how completely extraordinary it is that a little bit of light can leave a permanent impression on something. Light enters the camera, touches the film, and begins a chemical reaction that will eventually become a photograph. There’s something almost unbelievable about that process to me, even after all this time. I remember learning to work with film when I was first studying photography, and I don’t think I could have imagined then how much it would shape the way I see the world. Now, as a film boudoir photographer in North Carolina, I find myself just as fascinated by it as I was when I first began.

Of course, photography has changed enormously over those twenty years. Digital cameras have made it possible to create beautiful images with an immediacy that would have been difficult to imagine when I was learning. I use digital photography myself for some of my indoor work, and I appreciate what it allows me to do. Still, I keep coming back to film, particularly when I’m photographing women outdoors. I love the feeling of loading a roll into my camera, knowing that I have only so many frames before I’ll need to stop and begin again. I love watching the afternoon light move through the trees and knowing that, for a few minutes, my attention belongs entirely to what’s happening right in front of me.

The longer I’ve worked with film, the more I’ve realized that it has shaped my relationship with the women I photograph just as much as it has shaped my photographs. It asks me to slow down and pay attention in ways that feel increasingly important to me, especially in a world where we’re so accustomed to seeing an image immediately and deciding whether we like what we see. I think there’s something worth exploring in that, particularly when the person standing in front of your camera is a woman who has spent much of her life being looked at.

Why I Choose Medium Format Film for Boudoir Photography

One of the things I appreciate most about medium format film is that I have to know what I’m doing before I press the shutter. There’s no screen to check afterward, and I have a limited number of exposures on each roll. I need to understand how the light is falling and make thoughtful decisions about what I want to photograph. The photograph is already there on the film long before I get to see it.

After nearly twenty years, that process feels familiar to me, although I wouldn’t say it has ever become entirely predictable. Light changes, people move, and sometimes a moment happens so quickly that I have only an instant to recognize it. I love the feeling of watching someone turn her face toward a patch of sunlight and knowing that I want to remember exactly how it looked.

Film also has a physical quality that I find difficult to separate from the photographs themselves. There’s a softness to the way it holds skin tones, and the grain becomes part of the image rather than something I’m trying to erase. Sometimes the shadows are deep and a little mysterious, especially when we’re working beneath a canopy of trees. Other times the sunlight comes through so warmly that the whole photograph seems to carry a little of the afternoon with it.

I know these things can sound small when we’re talking about boudoir photography, but they’re part of why I continue choosing this medium. I want to spend my time making photographs that I’m genuinely interested in looking at, and I want to give the woman in front of me the kind of attention that allows me to recognize those moments as they’re happening.

How Shooting Boudoir on Film Changes the Experience

I think one of the loveliest things about photographing fine art boudoir on film is how it changes the pace of an afternoon together.

When we’re outside for a Goddess Session, we have time to wander through the landscape and notice what’s happening around us. Sometimes the light is especially beautiful in one little corner of the woods, and we’ll spend a while there before moving on. Other times, the water catches our attention, and we find ourselves drawn toward the creek, where the air feels cooler and the sound of the current becomes part of the afternoon.

I have to stop periodically to reload my camera, and I’ve grown to appreciate those pauses. There’s a little space between one part of the session and the next, and we can talk about what we’re enjoying or where we might like to go. We can also be quiet for a moment, which I think is something we don’t always allow ourselves very often.

I’m aware that having your photograph taken can bring up all sorts of feelings. Even when you’re excited about the experience, being seen so closely by another person can feel unfamiliar. I never want someone to feel that she has to rush through those feelings because I’m waiting for the next photograph. I would much rather give us both the time to settle in and become comfortable with one another.

Film helps me do that because its limitations are built into the process. I’m paying attention to what is happening with you, and I hope that, as the afternoon unfolds, you begin to feel comfortable paying attention to yourself, too. Maybe that’s noticing how good the sun feels against your shoulders or how the cool water feels around your ankles. There can be a real pleasure in those ordinary physical sensations when we give ourselves time to notice them.

You can see some of the photographs that have come from these afternoons in my Goddess portfolio. I also offer Priestess Sessions, which are shorter outdoor sessions photographed entirely on medium format film. Both give me the opportunity to work in the natural world, which has become such an important part of how I photograph women.

What Film Photography Has Taught Me About the Female Gaze

I’ve spent a lot of my life thinking about what it means to be looked at, and I know from my own experiences how easily a woman’s attention can shift toward imagining what someone else wants to see.

I think many of us have learned to do this without even realizing it. We see a photograph of ourselves and immediately begin considering how we appear in it. Sometimes we remember the experience of having that photograph taken, but often our attention goes straight to the image and what we think it says about us. I’ve certainly experienced that myself, and it’s something I think about often when I’m photographing other women.

My relationship with film has become intertwined with my feminism because it keeps bringing me back to the importance of actually seeing the person in front of me.

I can’t look at the back of my camera and immediately decide that something needs to be corrected. I have to be present enough to recognize the photograph while it’s happening, and I have to trust my understanding of the light and the woman I’m photographing. Of course, I still make artistic decisions. I’m a photographer, and I care deeply about the images I create, but I want those decisions to come from genuine curiosity about the person I’m with.

There’s something about the honesty of film that I find especially meaningful here. It records the light that was actually there, including the little imperfections and surprises that are part of working with a physical medium. I can’t go back and recreate a moment once it has passed, and I wouldn’t want to spend the entire afternoon trying to make everything happen exactly as I imagined it.

I think women deserve that same freedom in front of a camera. I want the women I photograph to have room to discover what sensuality feels like when they’re thinking about their own experience of it. I know that can mean something different for every woman, and I find that endlessly interesting. There’s no single way that a woman is supposed to move or express herself, and I don’t believe there’s one particular version of femininity that we’re all trying to achieve.

This is something I’ve written about more personally in The Female Gaze Has Never Mattered More. My understanding of sensuality has changed so much throughout my life, and I think that history is part of what makes me care so deeply about giving women the space to experience it on their own terms.

When I photograph someone, I want to be fully there with her. I want to notice the things that make her interesting to me as an artist, and I want to remain curious about what she’s experiencing rather than assuming I already know.

Film has been a very patient teacher in that regard.

Is Film Boudoir Photography Worth the Slower Process?

I suppose that depends on what you’re hoping to experience, and I think it’s a fair question to ask. There are certainly easier ways to make photographs, and I know that the slower process of film isn’t going to appeal to everyone. For me, though, the time it asks of us has become one of the things I value most.

I love that we can spend an afternoon together without constantly stopping to examine photographs on a screen. I love the little stretches of quiet that happen when we’re walking between locations, and the feeling of coming upon a beautiful patch of light that we hadn’t planned for. Sometimes the photographs I remember most clearly are the ones that happened because we were paying attention to something unexpected.

There’s also something moving to me about the physical existence of a film photograph. The light from that particular afternoon has touched the film inside my camera, and the image carries a trace of a moment that really happened. Years later, when you look at those photographs, I hope there will be little things that bring you back to how it felt to be there. Maybe you’ll remember the warmth of the sun on your back or the sound of leaves moving above us while we talked.

I think about those things because I know how quickly life changes. The women we are today will continue growing and becoming, and there is something precious about having photographs that remind us of who we were along the way.

After almost twenty years with film, I still feel incredibly fortunate that I get to make this kind of work. Being a film boudoir photographer in North Carolina has given me the opportunity to spend time with women in some truly beautiful places, and I don’t take lightly the trust involved in asking someone to be vulnerable in front of my camera.

If you’ve been thinking about having your own photographs made, I’d love to hear what has been on your mind. You can spend some time looking through my session and investment information, and if something about this way of working speaks to you, I’d be happy to talk more about what an afternoon together might look like.

Frequently Asked Questions About Film Boudoir Photography

What is the difference between film and digital boudoir photography?

With film, light creates a chemical change on the film inside my camera, and I won’t see the finished photographs until the film has been developed. Digital photography allows me to see the image immediately. I love the way medium format film renders natural light and skin tones, and I’ve found that working without that immediate preview encourages me to be especially attentive to the moment we’re sharing.

Are all of your boudoir sessions photographed on film?

My outdoor Goddess and Priestess Sessions are photographed entirely on medium format film, which has been part of my life for almost twenty years. For my indoor Luxe Sessions, I use a combination of film and digital photography, choosing what makes sense for the photographs we’re creating and the light we’re working with.

Do I need to know how to pose for a film boudoir session?

You don’t need to have any experience being photographed. I know that being in front of a camera can feel unfamiliar, and I’m happy to offer gentle direction as we go. We’ll have time to talk about what feels comfortable to you, and you can always tell me what you’re thinking or feeling during our session. I want this to be something we create together, with room for you to be yourself throughout the afternoon.