having ten years with a camera under my belt — you can bet your hiney that i’ve made mistakes… and when we’re talking about boudoir specifically — i’ve definitely made mistakes….

let’s dive into boudoir marathons.. what mistakes have i made?!?! seems pretty easy right! ha! there’s always room for improvement friends!

the first and biggest mistake i used to make when it came to boudoir marathons is

shooting WAY too many sessions in one day… one marathon day in particular i believe i shot 5-6 girls and things ran over (as they often do) — and my last client had her session in complete darkness, praise the GOOD LORD i was ‘semi’ familiar with off camera lighting and i had it with me that day…. oh my dear heavens — i felt SO terrible that i offered her an album…. can you believe that the album had to be remade like three times — because the album company was new and hadn’t calibrated their colors yet… let’s just say it was a costly mistake i’ll never forget.

beyond my past experiences with shooting too many in one day, we have to be honest with ourselves and ask if we can actually provide the last client with the same level of energy and excitement as we do our very first client…. and if you’re familiar with boudoir sessions – they are beautifully exhausting… you have to 100% be on your game, constantly guiding, encouraging and communicating…. and if you’re shooting ten sessions in a day, i can almost guarantee you’re not offering your final clients the same level of experience.

a couple others mistakes i’ve made…

shooting WAY beyond the time allotted… okay… i hope this isn’t just me, but i have a tendency to shoot way beyond the allotted time — i actually stopped offering marathon sessions for a year or so, so that i could regroup and refocus and offer marathon sessions with more intention…. i have just brought marathon sessions BACK into my collections in an effort to accomodate my girls who truly don’t need multiple outfits and for my girls who want the experience but don’t have an extensive budget…. so on marathon days, i have a boudoir music playlist on my phone and the songs included plays for a certain amount of time and it helps me stay on track and NOT overshoot!

not allotted enough time for chatting and styling… my team and i – when we get together… we talk… we also do weird dance moves and we just truly enjoy being around each other… throw in a nervous and excited client — and we honestly need about an additional 30 minutes to sometimes even an extra hour over what styling could potentially take… because – we’re going to hang out! you also need to consider whether you’re going to include outfit changes during a boudoir marathon, it’s an added bonus for fast action selling… but changing can sometimes take a good 10-15 minutes of your time!!!

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i can tell you that some things our team has always delivered on… and maybe some ways that you can too, if you’re not already!

1) location/ambiance – we make sure the location is private and will make the clients feel comfortable – along with a feel good vibe (we have music playing, we chat all the things, make sure she’s not thirsty or too hot or too cold)

2) over delivering – let’s be honest, i have a hard time honoring the – you’re only going to get 20 images — my girls always get more images… i’m not going to hold onto images if they’re good… and my stylists always offer up insight into hair care and beauty care!

3) the details – i make sure everything on my girls are thought of during their photoshoot, i never leave them wondering how their hair looks.. the stylists always consider each individual client and their desired outcome!