A couples intimate session is a photograph of two people who are close, made close. It is you two, in the studio or at home, in soft light, being how you actually are together. An engagement shoot announces something. This is quieter than that, and it stays well short of explicit. Some of it involves skin. None of it has to.
The couples gallery on this site gets a lot of questions and not many bookings, and I think that is because people cannot picture what the session is. This page is meant to fix that.
What is a couples intimate session?
Two hours, mostly quiet, photographing the way two people are with each other.
The frames that work are rarely the posed ones. They are a forehead against a shoulder. A hand on the back of a neck. Two people on the window seat, one reading, one not. A laugh that happened between instructions. The photographs look like a good candid of a couple, except the light is right and nobody is holding a phone.
Lingerie, bare skin, a shared sheet on the bed: all available if you want it. A lot of couples do part of the session dressed and part less so. The whole thing can also stay fully clothed.
Is it sexual?
Intimate, yes. Explicit, no.
I photograph closeness. I do not photograph sex, and I do not photograph anything a client would be uncomfortable with a friend seeing on the wall. That is the line, and it is a clear one. If you are looking for something past it, there are photographers who do that work and I am not one of them.
What you will get is photographs that make it obvious two people love each other, without anyone having to perform.
Who books this?
Couples of every kind. Married thirty years. Together six months. Anniversaries, birthdays, before a baby, after a hard year. Men and women, two women, two men. Some couples book it in place of an anniversary trip. Some book a solo boudoir session and add a few frames with a partner at the end.
Nobody is a model. Nobody is used to being photographed. That is normal.
Who is in the room?
The two of you, me, and Marggie.
Marggie does hair and makeup for whoever wants it, and stays the whole session. The studio is closed. Nobody else is present.
I direct with words. I do not touch anyone to adjust a pose. With couples I do less directing than usual, because the point is how you actually are together, and that only shows up when I stop talking.
What if one of us is more comfortable than the other?
That is nearly every couple. It is fine.
Usually one person booked it and the other agreed. The nervous one relaxes faster than they expect, because they are next to someone they trust on the set. If one of you wants to keep a shirt on and the other does not, that works. If one of you wants to stop, we stop.
Talk to each other before the session about what you each want and do not want. Then tell me. I will not push either of you past what you agreed.
What should we wear?
Things that look like you, and that go together without matching.
Bring: an oversized shirt each, a sweater, a slip or a pair of briefs, a robe, and whatever you would wear on a slow Sunday morning. If you both bring jeans and white t-shirts, we can do a lot with that. If one person wants lingerie and the other wants boxers, that is a real frame.
Avoid: matching outfits, logos, and anything either of you would only wear for this. Full wardrobe guide here.
Can we do this at home?
Yes, and for couples it is often better.
Your own bed, your own kitchen, your own morning light. The photographs are more yours. On-location sessions are available throughout Austin and Central Texas, and the studio is always there if you would rather not have a photographer in your house.
What does it cost?
The same collections as every other session here. Sessions include hair and makeup, studio time, direction, retouching, and your images. Full pricing is on the pricing page.
Are the photos private?
Completely. Nothing is shared without written approval from both of you, image by image. The privacy guide covers storage, delivery, and printing.
How do we start?
Send a message and tell me a little about the two of you and what you have in mind. If you cannot describe it well, that is fine. "We want photos of us that aren't awkward" is enough to start from.
Written September 2026.