When it comes to shooting boudoir photos, one of the most useful skills I’ve learned over the years is being able to rapidly adapt to my environment to ensure a wide variety of pictures can be taken. Nobody wants a hundred shots that all look similar. But when you’re in a confined space, whether it’s a studio, a hotel, or somewhere else, you’ve gotta make the most of your surroundings. The boudoir photos of Riley below were shot at the Omni King Edward hotel in Toronto, which has some pretty fabulous (and large) rooms. That being said, it’s still only one room — one space — and every inch of the place isn’t necessarily photogenic. I carefully utilized the window, the wall, the bed, and the mirror to create a variety of looks even though each one was only within a few feet or less of each other.

While I mainly used my trusty 85mm and 70-200mm lenses, I also incorporated the Nikon 24-120mm lens for a few pictures where I wanted a wider view or when I found myself backed into a corner and couldn’t use a longer focal length. The 24-120mm is my go-to lens for event photography, and it’s the lens that Nikon often bundles with their FX cameras as a kit, but it’s not my first choice for boudoir photos. It’s a little softer and slower than my other lenses, but its wider capabilities come in handy sometimes as long as you’re careful not to let the distortion impact the photo too much.

Everything was photographed with natural light, which there was plenty of in the morning. (Except the photos in the denim vest, which used an AlienBees strobe.) The whole shoot from start to finish was just a little over an hour. The two photos of Riley in the mirror were particularly challenging, as I had to keep myself just out of the frame to avoid being seen by the mirror, while also keeping Riley in a good spot so that the window light reflected off the white walls to illuminate her. Tough, but not impossible.

In case you’re wondering, the sheer lacy tunic that Riley wears was from Forever 21.

Got a question about this shoot? Toss it in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter.

Gear

• Nikon D600 DSLR Camera (get the newer D610 at Amazon.ca or Amazon.com)
• Nikon 85mm FX ƒ/1.8G AF-S Lens (buy at Amazon.ca / Amazon.com)
• Nikon 70-200mm FX ƒ/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Zoom Lens (buy at Amazon.ca / Amazon.com)
• Nikon 24-120mm FX ƒ/4G ED VR AF-S Zoom Lens (buy at Amazon.ca / Amazon.com)