What is the best size bed for boudoir photography? A standard queen-sized mattress measuring 60 inches wide and 80 inches long.
If you have the space for it a king-sized bed is even better because it’s longer, allowing for more variety in poses. A small double is the same length as a queen, but less than 60 inches wide and can look uncomfortably narrow to some models.
A single-sized mattress is obviously too narrow. If you’re shooting at eye level with the mattress you are very unlikely to notice that the model is on a smaller mattress, but if you shoot from the end of the bed facing the headboard, the photos you get will almost certainly look a little off.
One way to use a bed for boudoir photography poses is to place it in the middle of the room and have the model lay on her back atop the covers across the width, with her head at one end and her feet at the other. It’s difficult to do much more without help, but if you have another person to prop up one or more of her feet, it can be interesting.
Another way to use a bed is at an angle- what we call “the cradle.” Position your subject so she’s lying back on a corner of the mattress, with what starts out as her side (or what was supposed to be her side) becoming the top of what is now a perpendicular mattress.
In conclusion, using a queen-sized mattress is that it provides enough space for your subject to lay down comfortably and still get stunning photos.
To find out the best cameras to use for boudoir photography click here