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!

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!