Valentine’s Day Boudoir Photography – get your cupid on!

We’re offering a fantastic Valentine’s Day special for those of you who want to give your cutie, or your fabulous self, a one-of-a-kind gift.  This special includes the full Seattle Boudoir Experience – hair, makeup, styling, hors d’œuvre and bubbly; and one of our beautiful 12”x12” silk brocade folios that we have made available for $450.  Of course, all of our regular sessions and packages are also available if you would prefer to do that.  We will do our absolute best to get everyone scheduled who wants to do a shoot, so book early to secure your first-choice time slot.     

I asked Melissa and Merilee to put together a small promotional video for this special.  They decided to focus their creative attention on the …. ahem, explosive reaction that may occur when gifting a Valentine’s Day folio.  I’m sure you all can read between the lines and get the gist!  To book now enter your details here or call us.

The holiday season is here

As some of you may have noticed, we’ve been a bit MIA as far as blogging and web updates in general over the last few weeks.  We’ve been busy little elves around the studio lately getting everything ready for the holiday season!   We’ve been doing lots of studio tours, shoots, client meetings and of course preparing a lot of holiday gifts consisting of our beautiful folio’s, albums and of course wall prints.    One thing is for sure, there is going to be some really happy guys this holiday season as they receive some really hot gifts courtesy of Seattle Boudoir Photography.  

And, in the spirit of the season, we’d like to share this little present with you –  it’s all wrapped up with a bow and everything

New Brag Book video

One of the things that I’m secretly passionate about is being a nerd.  In my own words, being a nerd involves being a crossword puzzle lover, getting the word of the day from dictionary.com, and having an (over) active imagination.  Last week I actually got paid to indulge my nerdiness, and you will all get to benefit from that too – we’ve got a new video up that showcases our brag book package. Melissa and I had a whole lot of fun creating this, we hope you smile when you get to watch my nerdiness.  

Happy watching!

Merilee

A quick preview of Ms R in beautiful natural light

I absolutely love this photograph of Ms R.  While we were shooting, the natural light in our boudoir studio was gorgeous, so we turned off our flashy strobes (heehee!) and snapped some beautiful silhouettes of her.  Aside from the aesthetic appeal of this photograph, it also illustrates how things happen organically here during a shoot.  Every client is different, every day is different, and for those reasons everyone’s photographs are unique and representative of the moment.  It is continually amazing to watch each session unfold, and I always feel like a greedy kid tucking into a bag of Skittles (ok, I still do that occasionally) every time I sit down to process a fresh batch of photographs, still warm from the CF card.  Mmmmm!   

Another thing that was different for this shoot was the reason for her doing it.  We have had quite a few wife’s and girlfriends of military men come visit us with the goal of sending beautiful photographs to their loved ones, but this time Ms R is actually being deployed herself and the gift is for hubby who is staying at home with their son.  It brings home that its not just gals who are being sent overseas these days.   With that said, please enjoy this photograph of her, thanks – Merilee.

Santa knows you’ve been nice!

OK, so I am personally opposed to advertising for the holidays before Halloween has even hit, but in this case I am totally justified. 

The reason is that photography takes a bit of time – after a client comes in for a session it takes about a week to coordinate schedules to get them back in the studio to choose photographs and display options.  From there it can take us a week or more to put the finishing touches on the selected photographs and order the appropriate products.  So, we’re talking 2 weeks minimum for turn-around time for prints or framed pieces.   However our albums, which are very popular gifts, are custom made for each client, because you get to choose colors and materials and they take much longer, in the three to four week timeframe.   On top of that our weekend boudoir dates are limited, so if you are at all considering doing a shoot for a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/George Costanza made-up holiday gift, don’t procrastinate. 

We want to make sure that everyone who wants a shoot gets one, so book asap so that we can do our best to make that happen.  See you soon!

Hubby’s wonderful birthday present

We have been really lucky to spend lots of time with Ms G recently, who came into our boudoir photography studio a little while ago.  Now we are able to share a couple of Ms G’s photographs here, only she is the photographer this time!  She and her husband jaunted down south to Portland and stayed in lovely hotel for his 40th birthday.  Little did Mr G know what was in store!  

Ms G went on to say  “Things with the birthday celebration and gift went really well.  I decided to give him the photos before dinner hoping to give him something to think about all evening.  I also put the black lingerie outfit [from the session] on and wore it under my dress the whole time too!  It was so much fun!!!  He loved the pictures and was very surprised.”   We have now met Mr G as he came back into the studio to look at all their photographs together and we are working with them to come up with some other ideas to display them, yeah!  

So – here he is, getting his wonderful birthday gift.  Thanks a lot, Merilee.

Our clients words – introducing Ms E

Hello ladies and maybe a few gents, its Nicole here and I would like to introduce Ms E to you all all.  We had to wait an awful long time to show off these gorgeous and playful pics because she did the shoot 4 months ago as a wedding present for her (now) husband.  We all had such a great time that we asked Ms E to talk with us on the record about her experience.  I think this video demonstrates a few things:

1. If you don’t think you’re photogenic, we’ll prove you wrong.
2. Any misconceptions you have about boudoir photography will be dismissed.
3. The experience alone is well worth the trip to the studio. 

And without any further ado…

Some beautiful Seattle Boudoir Photography previews of Ms C

If it’s possible for a pixie to have long legs, than that’s Ms. C!

She, with her sassy haircut and beautiful brown eyes, came to Seattle Boudoir in order to create a special gift for her boyfriend.  She wanted to do something original, and during her quest she came across our website online, made a spur-of-the-moment decision and decided to just go for it!  She was a teensy bit nervous when she first arrived, but she soon relaxed, had a great time, and she has an awesome set of photographs to show for it. 

Check out just a few of her faves here as well as a cute candid that we took of her when she came to pick up her wall display piece.  That beautiful piece is now on display in their bedroom and reminds him how lucky a man he is, both the framed prints and Ms C are simply gorgeous!  

Photographs from our recent Boudoir Appreciation Party

Here at Seattle Boudoir Photography we are truly blessed with an amazing clientele.  We are constantly meeting people that we love working with and getting to know.  In an effort to celebrate and thank our ever-fabulous clients, we recently hosted our first appreciation happy hour party here at the studio!  It was a ton of fun, replete with cocktails, awesome shoes, and a hilarious bout of YouTube-ing (isn’t that how all parties end these days?!).   Along with the magic of the internet, we all just had a plain ol’ good time chatting, laughing and taking silly pictures. 

We’ve classified the unmentionables, but a few of the best are below for your viewing pleasure.  Hope we’ll be seeing even more of you for round two – enjoy!    Merilee  

Passionately Pink breast cancer fundraiser posters

Things are really getting underway as the dates for our Passionately Pink breast cancer fundraiser are fast approaching – we’re so excited!  All the profit will be donated to the Puget Sound Susan G. Komen chapter, so we are working as hard as we can to raise as much money as possible. 

First Jen and Nicole put their futzing skillz to the test – on each other! – for the first pink sheet shoot that was posted to our website.  Then we had the fabulous Ms. Kim, breast cancer survivor extraordinaire, into the studio for an amazing and emotional boudoir session.  Now we are officially launching our beautiful posters and fliers (designed by yours truly!) for the event.  We’re putting a sample here in this blog so you can see them and, hey, you just might catch a glimpse of them at your favorite local coffee shop.  

So mark the date, pass the word, and help us in the campaign against breast cancer!

A few photographer friends

Hawaii’s Premier Portrait Photographer

Specializing in fine portraits of Families, Children and high school Seniors for over 30 years in Hawaii. We GUARANTEE you will be Thrilled with your portraits!

Babydoll Pinups in Phoenix, AZ

The Boudoir Maven in Denver, CO.  and Erin Michelle Photography

lindeymagee photography

Belle Femme Boudoir

Caution: Sassy breast cancer survivor below!

We are so thrilled to be sharing Ms. Kim’s extra special photographs with all of you today!  She was incredibly moved by the whole experience both during the shoot itself and then again after viewing her photographs.  To quote her, “This whole thing has been one of the best experiences ever.  It’s almost like the icing on all of what I’ve been through to see myself like that.  I felt so empowered after.  This is definitely something every woman should do for sure.”     To see a quick video of her reaction to first seeing the photographs click on the video below

“For other women to see photographs like this of someone who’s survived cancer has had successful reconstruction and still looks great, hopefully it’s empowering and (…) takes away some of the anxieties of having to go through something like this.”    Ms. Kim we can’t thank you enough for your kindness and generosity.  You’ve certainly left an amazing impression on us in the studio, and we know that your story is impacting other women, women with breast cancer, survivors, and the people in their lives.  Her are some of her favorite photographs from the shoot.

Ms. Kim says don’t forget your mammogram appointment

A couple of months ago we decided to do a fundraiser that would benefit breast cancer research and awareness.  A friend of mine, the lovely and amazing Ms. Kim, is herself a breast cancer survivor.  She went through about a year of diagnosis and treatment, including chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and a hysterectomy, and today she is healthy and cancer-free.  When I first told her about the boudoir photography fundraiser we were planning she immediately offered to help us out. 

She has generously and fearlessly decided to share her story with all of us and even had her own boudoir session post-reconstruction here at the studio.   I genuinely hope you take a few minutes to watch her video.  Her experience and outlook on life is moving and compelling, and you’ll get to hear about her reaction to her boudoir session and final photographs (direct quote: “I am blown away!”).   And speaking of photographs, there’ll be a sneak peek of a few of Ms. Kim’s great shots in the video, but keep an eye on our blog as we’ll be posting the photographs soon.  

If you or anyone that you know are interested in joining us for this wonderful fundraiser you can check out the details here.  Please pass the word. 

That’s it for now, Merilee.

How to choose a boudoir photography studio and photographer

By Merilee – Chapter One

Boudoir photography is making a serious retro comeback these days, and it’s about time!  While antique boudoir invokes visions of svelte Parisians, contemporary boudoir is truly for any and everyone who wants beautiful, artistic, sensual photographs of themselves.  Once you’ve decided you want to do a boudoir photo session your next step is to figure out what kind of experience you’d like your shoot to be.  First, you’ll want to think about what kind of environment you’d feel most comfortable in.  It can be a bit unnerving at first to strip down in front of strangers, so you want to be sure that you have lots of confidence in the professionals around you!  Start by doing research about photographers and studios in your area.  An internet search will likely lead to several possibilities, so check out the websites that interest you and see what information is available.  Pay attention to the style of the sample photos and see if they jive with what you have in mind for yourself.  Also do a bit of reading in the about section, which is where you can usually find out more about who the photographer(s) and assistant(s) are and what they are like.  It can be helpful to take a look at objective resources, such as Yelp.com or Google listings, where you can find consumer postings about the studios/photographers you are interested in. 

Some silly outtakes of Merilee – the lighting maven

After taking a couple days off after an amazing boudoir weekend here in our studio in Seattle we gearing up for another busy week.   We’ve started to go through the many 100′s of photographs that were taken of our amazing clients that visited this weekend and are super excited to see them later this week and next to show them our selection.   I realize that I’m a little bias (really ?!?!?)  but from what I have seen so far we got some lovely shots- thank you for being so beautiful and wonderful to work with our lovely clients  

As part of the process we always have a bunch of outtakes of the team and tonight I thought I would post these, mostly of Merilee this time, with a brief cameo from Nicole.   Before each client comes on the different sets Merilee and I test and make any last minute adjustments to the lighting based on the outfits that clients are wearing and the mood we are going for.   Seeing as I’m typically behind the camera, I torture Merilee with her sitting, standing, climbing or her favorite laying down and ask her to pose for me.  And at times it gets a little silly as you can see from these – fun times for sure!