2014 Boudoir Retreat Recap

Oh my gosh, where do we even begin!? The 2014 Boudoir Retreat was so much fun… it was a whirlwind week of shooting, talking, learning, sharing, and hanging at a beautiful beach house in La Jolla California. We were honored to host such an incredible group of photographers, artists, and business owners who we now consider friends as well. I (K) am going to do my best to recap the Retreat here, and I apologize in advance because it’s going to be a very long post.

DAY 1: ARRIVAL & COCKTAIL PARTY
The first day began with everyone checking in to the beach house and getting a few goodies that we left on their beds. We also had a ‘cocktail party’ – with our signature Divalicious martini that Marissa created. Although not everyone was able to make it this night (a few others arrived later), we still had a great time getting to know each other and hanging out in a relaxed, casual environment. Marissa & I could tell INSTANTLY that this was an incredible group, and we connected with each person from the get-go.




Now, I hate to be all braggy, but we are pretty proud of our Retreat Workbooks that we created. Do you guys remember those amazing “Choose Your Own Adventure” books from way back in elementary school? Well that was the inspiration for these workbooks. We LOVE teaching photographers and sharing about our business… but the last thing we want is for anyone to think that they have to do exactly what we have done, or set-up a mini Boudoir Divas studio. Our business model, marketing, and studio are all very specific to us, our personalities, and our goals for our lives. We want to be sure that our workshop attendees figure out what is best for THEM. And so this workbook held lots of thought-provoking questions, worksheets, and space to journal, dream, and plan. We are really happy with the way these turned out – so much so, in fact, that we are THINKING about possibly releasing them and making them available to other photographers who may need a little help and direction/guidance in planning and dreaming for their businesses.

DAY 2: SHOOTING AT THE DIVAS STUDIO
Day two was held at our San Diego studio, where we focused on lighting, posing, and interacting with our clients. The entire afternoon was all about shooting, shooting, and more shooting… we had 4 beautiful models with different styling and looks, in order to get tons of variety. Each attendee got to work 1-on-1 with 3 of the models, giving time to work individually on posing and lighting. We love that our workshops give our attendees 1-on-1 shooting time, where there isn’t a fight to ‘get the shot’ with a million other photographers.




We didn’t shoot too many behind-the-scenes images on this day (it was just so crazy-busy!)… but thanks to Agi (Agi M Photography), we have some great behind-the-scenes images to share!








We will also be sharing some photos of our fab models on ANOTHER blog post, so be sure to check back for that!

DAY 3: MARKETING DAY & SHOOTING AT THE BEACH HOUSE
Back at the beach house, this day was a LOT of chatting, sharing, and discussing. We covered a ton of topics, from pricing to marketing, our favorite products, and everything in between. And then in the afternoon, we set up even more SHOOTING! Three more beautiful models joined us, and the retreat attendees had free reign to shoot with these lovely ladies all around the gorgeous beach house. This is also the day where we did headshots & mini-marketing-videos for each attendee. We are ALL about marketing ourselves, and making sure that we put ourselves out there with our business. If you are a photographer, your clients are not just buying your work and talent. Before they book a shoot with you, they need to CONNECT with you. And the easiest way to do that is by putting photos and videos of yourself up on your website, blog, and other social media outlets. (Stay tuned to see some of the headshots and videos from our attendees on a future blog post!)














I know this is the longest blog post EVER, but I have to pause and give a huge shout-out to Caroline of Cucina Coronado, for providing us with some amazing, beautiful, and delicious food! Thank you Caroline!!!

DAY 4: 1-on-1s, BUSINESS BASICS, & SUNSET BEACH SHOOT
Ok, almost done! If you have stayed with us through this entire post, thank you for sticking around! The last full day of our workshop began with 1-on-1 consultations for each attendee to have some individual time with Marissa, myself, and Weston. Marissa did consults on business plan, goals, structure, and pricing. I did 1-on-1s for marketing, to help brainstorm some ideas and get a gameplan for marketing and advertising. And then Weston did 1-on-1 portfolio critiques for each photographer. One of the MAIN reasons why we decided to do a longer, intensive Boudoir Retreat this year was to be able to have more time with each attendee. We’ve loved our workshops in previous years, but it often felt too rushed, and like we didn’t have enough time to really get to know each person and their business. So we absolutely loved these 1-on-1s and having the opportunity to really get some quality time with each attendee.

After 1-on-1s, there was a little more time for sharing and discussing business goals, and then after some yummy appetizers, we all headed down to the beach (just a couple blocks away!) for an evening sunset beach shoot with 2 more beautiful models! (Thanks again Agi for some more behind-the-scenes shots!)




So if you’ve been counting, you’d see that altogether we had 9 – yes, NINE – fabulous women model for our Retreat. We are so thankful that we have so many amazing past clients who are willing to come model for our workshops! Also, each model was glammed-up by the incredibly-talented Miss Peggy Busch! Thank you, Peggy, for beautifying all of our gals. We love you!


This photo of us holding Peggy…….. the look on her face is so priceless – LOL!







To get our group shots, Marissa set-up a camera on a tripod & timer, and used the 70-200 lens (WHAT?!)… so I love this little series of her running to make it in our shot before the timer went off. 🙂

What a WONDERFUL group of photographers and peers! We loved spending this time with you all – thank you so much for taking the time and making the investment in your business… to travel to San Diego and hang out with us. We miss you all already; can we start planning a Retreat Reunion?!



DAY 5: FAREWELL BREAKFAST
Ahhhh, what an amazing week. The Retreat ended with a farewell breakfast, and hanging at the Retreat house for a bit more before checking out. We had such a great time and we are already looking forward to planning our 2015 Retreat! If you would be interested in coming to a 2015 Boudoir Retreat, fill out your info here & we will notify you when we decide on details and launch our next one.

Last but not least – we want to give a quick thank you to our fab sponsors & vendors who gave some really generous swag to our attendees. We will share more about this soon, because really it warrants its own blog post.

UPDATE TO ADD: We’ve also launched our new 2015 Boudoir Retreat!!!! Be sure to check it out and we would LOVE to have you join us. Keep in mind the spots will be taken quickly, so go register today! xoxo, K&M