We have fun! Maybe you get your hair and makeup done, we chat and become acquainted or catch up on old times, get dressed up and dressed down, and we make it one heck of an experience for everyone involved. And by we, I mean me, my client, and a makeup artist to get you ready for your session. I don't have a team during the session; it's just me, you, and a camera. No one is running around with a clipboard, and no one else is fixing lights for me. Clients get to have fun and feel beautiful while I use light and direction to make you look and feel confident and amazing.

Once the makeup artist is done, it's just my client and me, and we get right down to business. And by business, I mean oo-ing and ah-ing over beautiful lingerie, checking over our inspiration/mood boards, and going over posing pointers and what she can expect to hear me say during our session. Simple as that.

When does the Boudoir Experience start?

The boudoir photo shoot experience starts at the first inquiry. After we get to chat for a bit and nail down some basic info, I send a more detailed questionnaire. The questionnaire gives everyone a chance to start thinking about how we want to run our session. Is she going for a dark and moody look, or a light and airy look? Are we keeping it casual with natural light and cotton pieces, or are we glamming it up with sequins and fancy lighting? I would say that if you checked out my work on my website or Instagram, you'd agree I have a pretty consistent style of lighting and shooting. But curveballs are my jam. I love new locations and different ideas from clients. I also love it when they say, "You're the expert, I trust you!" because that leaves me open to exploring the ideas that are always jumping around in my head.

I've been a photographer for a long time, and even before that, I assisted my parents throughout my childhood. They supported our family as professional photographers within their business, but were also Master Photographers and International print competition judges. I've photographed weddings, events, family portraits, newborns, seniors, and everything in-between. I can quickly adapt to personalities and new settings and I think that's what makes it all so exciting for me, but also reassuring for my clients.

Once we book a shoot date together, I'll send my client an onboarding email with all the next steps to help you prepare for your session, as well as a questionnaire so I can get to know her better before we shoot. I want to make sure I'm making her vision come to life and giving her all the necessary information on what she can expect, and getting on the same page ahead of time is essential. Whether she wants to share her vision with me ahead of time, or just trust me to do my thing, we're going to make some beautiful photographs together and the experience will be unlike any other. I'll also be providing a lingerie guide to shop from or at least help her get some ideas of what she wants to wear for her session. I also send a prep email the week before we shoot so she knows exactly what to do upon arrival.

The morning of the boudoir session, my clients usually start with hair and makeup services. Hair and makeup application is optional, and she may choose to do her own or book with someone she knows personally, but I will provide her with booking information for the makeup artists I work with most often, who are very convenient to the studio and are sure to hype her up for a great experience. Typically hair and makeup start about 9am and run for about 60-90 minutes. If you decide to do your own, we'll meet in the studio at 10am ready to start shooting.

Once we get done with makeup, we thank our makeup artist and send her on her way. I've only had one or two clients insist on paying a makeup artist to stay throughout the session, and it's so great to have the help! And while I'd love to have that more often, it's not the norm.

After hair and makeup, we'll look over the outfits she brought so we can decide how we want to go about our session. I usually recommend 1-3 looks, and those should be consistent with her own style and what feels best on her body. I always suggest bringing a layering piece, like a loose white button down shirt, robe, or slouchy open sweater to start with over her lingerie.

It's also important that she knows that lingerie is not completely necessary for a boudoir session. Some women just don't feel comfortable in lingerie or like how they feel in it, and that's completely fine. I like to say that I photograph women in an intimate way, "in some state of undress",  but that doesn't always mean she's showing lots of skin. I always have a few sheets on hand in the studio, and I can do a beautiful, variety filled, full session in just a sheet. You might think of "just a sheet" as basically nude, but a sheet can be used in many ways, to cover as much or as little as she's comfortable with. Many of my clients who end in a sheet say they wish they skipped the strappy lingerie and did more of this set! She may also opt for what I like to call an "undressing session" where she starts loosely clothed, removes her clothing little by little as I shoot, and then we end up in the sheets or with some nudes at the end. All very fun! We usually begin more covered-up outfit option to ease into the whole shoot process and end up with the least clothed option.

You might not think so by looking at my photos, but every person I photograph comes in nervous. They've likely never done something like this before, and like you, they aren't sure what to expect. They could read all of my blog posts and get the low down over and over again, but they'll still be nervous until a certain point after the shoot begins, and it's totally normal. To help her know what to expect and ease the nerves, I like to start the session by going over all the most common posing pointers she'll hear from me while we're shooting, and that will help her relax and know she can trust my process.

I know some photographers do the same posing flow from one session to the next to keep their work consistent, but I don't adhere to a strict posing flow. I believe that every client moves differently, and not every pose works for every body. I'm also taking into consideration any mood boards she's shared with me, her reasons for wanting to be photographed, and any observations of her body language and personality from the moment she walked into the studio. These sessions are meant to be personal and unique according to each woman.