My point of view: a session day as your boudoir photographer

I talk a lot about what the client experience is like on a photoshoot day - but have you ever wondered what I’m doing behind the scenes? Here’s a photoshoot day from my point of view! 

What I’m doing after a photoshoot

If you want to see the highlights, let me skip ahead to the middle of the day: here’s what I’m doing in the afternoon, after a photoshoot, as I’m getting ready for the portrait Reveal! I especially love these artistic parts of the afternoon: choosing and editing the final images, printing my favorite portraits and displaying them on my wall, and packing up my client’s order!

The full photoshoot day from my point of view

Want more details? Take a walk in my shoes, from the night before a session to the end of a photoshoot day!

What happens the night before a session

I like to think about my boudoir sessions as starting the night before the photoshoot day. I pack my gear bag the night before, and I always get a good night’s sleep before a boudoir session - I feel like it’s part of my job to make sure that my brain is well-rested and ready to be on my A-game for every client I work with. 

Arriving and preparing the studio for my client.

I start my photoshoot days with a little quiet coffee-time, sitting by my window with my little pup , Luna, on my lap. I have breakfast with some kind of protein (I’ve been doing a lot of avocado toast or hard-boiled eggs lately) and I’m usually at the studio about 45 minutes before my client does. I tidy up, turn on the lights, make more coffee (did I mention I love coffee?), make sure that the dressing room is ready for them, and turn on some music (I make all my clients a custom spotify station based on one of their favorite artists/songs).

When my client arrives

When  my client arrives, the extroverted side of myself always gets so excited: the day is about to start!  I walk them upstairs, and we start by unpacking the outfits they have brought so I can see their wardrobe choices! A lot of my clients  end up bringing more outfit options than they will actually want to wear for their session, and they want my opinion on curating their final looks - so we talk through ideas and I help them make final choices if needed. 

I will then get my client  something to drink - some tea, coffee, sparkling water, or champagne - and we chat with the hair/makeup artist (who has arrived and set up by that point!) to talk through my client’s hair/makeup ideas. 

Sketching out a session plan while they’re in hair and makeup

Then while my client is getting their hair and makeup done, I fill up my mug with another cup of coffee, and I take a little time to sketch out ideas for the photoshoot. I like to consider each of the outfits we’ll be photographing, and make a rough plan about where in the studio we will use each outfit, and some starting points for the kinds of poses we will do.  There’s still a lot of in-the-moment spontaneous posing that happens, but love getting to reflect on my client’s ideas and inspiration for their session, and jot down some general ideas so that I can make sure each one of my photoshoots is really unique. 

Once the hair and makeup artist takes off, I sit with my client and have a check-in for a couple minutes to see if they have any questions before we start, and I share the ideas I’ve been creating, and then we dive in!

During the photoshoot!

The photo shoots themselves are really relaxed and fun! Throughout the session, I demonstrate every pose and give a ton of direction, and by the end my client and I are always laughing and having a good time, I have their music playing, and we take breaks if they need to have a snack.

I’m also trying to pay attention my my own body’s self-care during a photoshoot: when we pause for my client to change outfits, I try to hydrate and drink water, and sometimes I’ll have a snack during the session as well! Because I’m talking through the whole session (chatting causally with my client but also talking and directing them into poses), my throat gets super dry and parched so I have to work to keep up with it haha!

When my client leaves for the afternoon

When the shoot wraps up midday, my client heads off for their afternoon, and I get down to business. Everyone always leaves my studio saying: “wow I was nervous, but that was so much!” and I love seeing my clients walk out the door standing a few inches taller, super proud and confident. 

Once my client walks out the door, I switch modes completely and start editing and preparing their pictures! I have my afternoon very carefully timed out in order to make sure I am ready for my client to come back just three hours later to see their portraits.

Multitasking: lunch while importing photos

As soon as my client leaves, I grab my memory card out of my camera, grab my bag lunch out of my workroom, and I have a little multitasking moment, eating lunch while I copy the pictures onto my computer and import them into my software.  

Choosing and editing the final portraits

At this point, I’m always SO excited to see the pictures we’ve just taken. I go through all of the portraits from the photoshoot and choose the final images (usually around 40 final pictures), and then I carefully edit each portrait (with my natural, warm editing style - I never want someone to look over-edited, so I’m mostly tweaking light and color tones to make it look like how it felt in real life). 

Preparing for the portrait reveal (including my favorite part: PRINTING!)

I make a slideshow with all of the final pictures, print a couple dozen of my favorite pictures, slip them into white mats, and display those on my wall. Printing is one of my absolute favorite parts of the whole day! I think it is honestly so dang magical to watch each portrait come out of the printer. I usually finish getting everything ready with just a couple minutes to spare before my client comes back for their portrait reveal appointment.

The most emotional part of the day: the portrait reveal

The reveal is honestly probably my favorite part of the day. It is such a powerful moment for each person to see their final portraits - and everyone experiences it differently!  Some people are tearing up, others are totally silent and taking it all in, some clients are giggling and excited, while others are exclaiming over every portrait (there’s a lot of “OH MY GOSH look at my epic butt!”) 

Choosing their order and sending my client home with portraits in hand

After they’ve spent some time just taking in their pictures, we watch their slideshow together and then we plan out their order. I love all the art options that I offer, but it’s always extra fun when my clients choose my wooden boxes because I keep those in stock! So I grab one out of my little workroom, set their matted portraits into it along with their USB, and they can literally take home their portraits that night.  When clients choose an album, wall art, or a nightstand folio, I design those order them as soon as they walk out the door! 

That’s a wrap!

That’s how my photoshoot days flow! They’re a long day for me - and they’re so full of emotion and power. I’ve always been a connector and a social person, so I love to see my client go through their own journey throughout the day, and it’s a total honor to be able to celebrate with them along the way. 

Want to learn more about my client’s experience during a photoshoot day? Want to learn more about my client’s experience during a photoshoot day? Check out illuminateboudoir.com/experience to learn more about how my session days work, or click here to download session info and pricing.