The page takes a while to read. Grab a drink and have a seat. There’s no rush.
Here’s the rundown
A boudoir shoot experience is actually more than one day. I used to try to cram it all into a single day, and although it’s possible, I don’t think it’s the best way for me to do things anymore. So here’s what happens.
On the day of your shoot you arrive at our planned time. We live less than 10 minutes walk from Haywards Heath train station, and I’m more than happy to collect you.
On arrival you’ll be greeted by me and my labrador, Toby. He’s very happy and loves people. He’ll be roaming around until the shoot begins making sure I’ve set it all up correctly, and then I’ll close him in part of the house we don’t use for shoots.
Your hair and make up artist arrives around the same time as you, and while they’re setting up, you and I will have a wander around the house and studio to show you where we are going to be shooting. We’ll go through the wardrobe options you’ve brought so i can do a last bit of colour matching planning while you’re having your hair and make up done.
That hair and make up usually takes about 90 minutes…ish. I’ll have snacks and drinks available for you to graze on if you want. Some do, some don’t.
I’ll have examples of albums and wall art dotted around the place so you can start to imagine what you might want to buy, but that’s as far as my “selling” goes, on shoot day.
When your hair and make up is done, we say goodbye to the hair and make up artist and we begin shooting.
The most obvious way to do things is to work our way around the shoot spaces in each of your wardrobe choices. We don’t always shoot everything in every space, and I’m very much someone that is always thinking about the light and if we’ve got a day where the weather provides us with some interesting light at different moments, we’ll definitely take advantage of that as it occurs.
Most of the shooting spaces are almost South facing, which means that we get the most pleasing light in the second half of the day. If you are able to, my preference is to start the day at a time that means we’ll be shooting when the light would be at it’s best.
But sunlight streaming into the shoot is by no means necessary for a successful shoot, so if you can’t plan your day in that way, we don’t!
Generally speaking the shoot itself takes 2 to 3 hours. I’ve tried to make it faster and it really doesn’t benefit anyone.
As we go through the shoot I’ll be helping pose you by instructing you on body and limb position etc, and using some reference photos to guide you as to what I’m going for.
When we get to the end, you’ll probably be pretty hungry so you can dive into the snacks and stuff while I do a little re-arranging of the house. Whenever you’re ready to leave, we say our goodbyes and hopefully you leave with a smile on your face and a feeling that can’t really be emulated by anything else.
Your work is over, mine is only half done.
We need a second visit for you to actually purchase any images you like
Before that visit though, I will do an edit on the entire shoot. You’ll end up with as many photos as have been successful. There really is no point me holding any back. I’ve had people buy images that are barely any different, one in black and white, one in colour.
The edit is mainly to make sure they all look consistent with my visual style, and to sort out anything awkward in the shots – which is more often than not the edge of something that looks better not there in the background, a bit of hair that flew away at the crucial moment etc. The whole idea is that you will instantly recognise yourself in the photos. So there will be no wholesale changes made to the way you look. I have a sort of “3 week rule”. If there’s something that would likely have no been there 3 weeks later, I’ll edit it away. If it’s part of you, it’s staying. Part of the way a good photographer shoots is to minimise the bits you don’t like so I really wouldn’t worry about it.
Things that I will not be editing away – scars and cellulite.
Our bodies are journeys.
They have marks and signs of life.
They are you.
I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that I’m not a “bright light glamour” photographer, I’m more naturalistic.
The mini studio does provide us with a chance to be a little different, which we why we do that at the end of the shoot. We’ve already got a complete shoot, so the studio shots are kind of a bonus.
After the shoot experience, is the reveal
You don’t have to buy anything and you can walk away having just done the shoot. It’s not great for me, obviously, and you won’t have any photos to remember the experience by, but the option is there.
If you’re thinking of getting some wall art, I’ll ask you for a photo of the space in your home. That way I can provide a mockup of the way it might look on the wall.
Time for the reveal, at a second visit. If you are able to come back to me, we’ll literally choose the images you want in an album (and/or wall art) and put it together. You can pay there and then and I’ll order it at the end of the day once I’ve done a final check.
If you can’t come to me, I can come to you within a certain distance. We’ll then go through the photos on an ipad with an album or two as physical reference.
If you can’t do either of those, we can do it over zoom. It’s more difficult and takes longer, but it is possible.
Once everything is ordered it generally takes around 3 weeks to arrive.
Then, if at all possible, I’ll arrange a time to bring your stuff to you. (or again, you can come to collect). At minimum it allows me to make sure nothing happens in the delivery. If you agree it also allows me to do a little video reveal as you open your order and see the photos in print for the first time.
If that’s not an option I’ll package everything up and send it to you.
And that’s it. You are free to look at your boudoir photos, printed professionally, beautifully presented whenever you feel like it.