I had an idea for a Photography story and the Boudoir theme was hit on via a web search similar to that described in the story, which is the only factual part, this is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. I hope the reader enjoys.
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This was a new concept to me; I had been reading girly magazines for years. Right from being a teenager on my paper round; I knew then that readers' wives would show themselves in various states of dress or undress, however, this was something altogether different. Apparently you can now commission a photographer and have your own photo shoot just like a professional model. You can choose Studio, home visit or even a location shoot; and it appears it is a very lucrative business.
One of our neighbours had a daughter, Katie, who I knew had a keen interest in photography; she is about 28 and rather good looking with a nice figure and great personality. We often showed each other pictures that we were proud of and discussed cameras and lenses etc: what I didn't know was that she had also started a photography business, part time at the weekend, to earn some extra cash. My discovery came about quite by accident; I was searching on the internet for local photographers to look at their galleries for some inspiration and came upon a listing for 'Boudoir Photography' in our town. The website looked very professional, with some great pictures and rather risquΓ© shots, I thought.
Boudoir Photography was, as I have said, quite new to me and I did indeed look at the galleries section and about us pages. This was when I found that Katie was the one taking the pictures; The Boudoir section was only part of the set up as she offered the usual weddings and family packages, I was intrigued to say the least.
About two weeks after my discovery of Katie's new venture, well new to me, we met at the local paper shop whilst buying my monthly magazines; not the top shelf ones now, as there is more than enough titillation in the ether nowadays to satisfy everyone. We chatted about our latest picture exploits and I waited, hoping, for her to bring up her developing new business, which she did, and then I got a surprise. I had always helped out Katie's family with DIY projects as her dad was fairly inept when it came to the toolbox; she explained that she had acquired a small room locally, above a shop, that she intended using as a studio and hoped that I could lend a hand with a few jobs to get it looking the part. I readily agreed and we set a time and date to meet and discuss what was needed, she even offered to pay me for my efforts but I refused and said no arguing as I would be pleased to help.
We met at the agreed time and went in to look at her new 'studio' which was about thirty feet from front to back and fifteen feet wide. Katie explained that she hoped we could put up a partition wall to allow for a waiting area at the front where the access was and then we would be able to screen the back area to allow either daylight or floods depending on what type of pictures she was taking. I also suggested another small ante room to allow her clients to change clothes if they wanted a themed shoot; this Katie thought was a good idea and we agreed No problems, I looked forward to the task and within two weeks we had it looking really nice; she had managed to but some backdrops from the internet for different sets, ranging from a panelled wall to a blurry scenic vista and all in between.
I was back at the shop one Saturday morning, putting in some clothes hooks in the changing room; Katie, dressed in skinny jeans and a loose fitting batwing style jumper, was busying herself in the studio arranging the backdrops and lighting rigs, she really had got some good gear, mostly second hand from the net. I asked why the rush to get everything finished today and was told that she had a client coming in a one o'clock for a photo session, did she want me to leave I wondered; Katie said she would like me to stay just in case anything went wrong with any of the equipment during her first proper studio shoot. She said that she had done quite a few boudoir shoots previously, but only in client's homes and she needed it to be perfect as a lot of this business came from recommendations over girly chats. They liked to surprise boyfriends and husbands with a CD of their pictures and Katie explained that they all wanted to look like glamour models.