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Gettin’ personal

By Personal2 Comments


So I’m trying to be a little more personal on the blog… I know that it’s important to share my personal life on here, but there are days when it’s just so much easier to talk about all of the business projects that we have going on. Oh well… I’m trying! So, therefore… today’s post is personal! 🙂 Do you remember the first week back to school, in like 3rd-4th grade, where you’re supposed to write that essay entitled “What I did on my summer vacation”? That’s what this blog post is. My summer vacation was just a couple weeks ago, and even though it wasn’t so much of a ‘sit-back-and-relax’ kind of vacation, I’m so thankful for the amazing quality time with some of the most special people in my life.

FAMILY TIME: I love my family. They live just a couple hours away from me, so I try to spend as much time with them as I possibly can! Getting away from the busyness of work and ‘unplugging’ from the computer-iphone-twitter-facebook-world is SO important to keep priorities straight, and to remember what is truly important in my life.

SAYING GOODBYE: During my vacation week, we got to spend time with my little brother Tim, who is getting ready to deploy for a 2nd time to Iraq. He’ll be leaving any day now (as soon as the orders come), so this vacation week was extremely important to have a chance to see him, spend time with him, and… say goodbye to him. He’s going to miss the next couple of Christmases, so one day during vacation was our “family Christmas” day, complete with a Christmas tree, Christmas music, turkey dinner, and my brother opening his gifts. I am so proud of my baby brother, for serving our country… but I’m going to miss him a TON! (Love you, buddy!)

BOYFRIEND TIME: As Marissa announced to the blog world a few months ago – yes, I have a boyfriend. Since he lives two states away from California, I don’t get to see him much… but during my vacation week, I got to spend a couple of days with him. So that was fun. 🙂

NEW NIECE: I absolutely LOVE being a “Tia” (that’s what my nephew calls me). During my summer vacation, I had the amazing opportunity to watch my niece enter the world! I love her already. Definitely a MAJOR highlight to my summer vacation!

September 16, 2010
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Spero Lumina

By PersonalNo Comments

Heya photographer friends! We’re writing to ask for your support of Weston’s band Spero Lumina. As many of you know, on the day that we arrived in Paris for our workshop this year, we were hit with the horrible news that Weston’s bandmate and lead singer Aaron Rowan had passed away unexpectedly. Aaron was a dear friend to Marissa and Weston (and SO many other people here in San Diego), and the news of his passing was incredibly heartbreaking and left quite a void in their huge community of childhood friends.

Aaron and Weston and the other band-members have been playing together for 13 years with all of it starting in Aaron’s garage in the small town of good ol’ Ramona, California where Marissa (me!) and Weston grew up. These guys were the home-town heroes. The ones that were always going to live the dream and create music for the rest of their lives (not to mention the whole famous rockstar thing). They practiced three to four times a week as teens and even 13 years later into adulthood. It was amazing to watch these guys write a song together. It was seriously like they could read each others’ minds. What’s funny is they could pretty much come up with an overall killer song and only utter a few words to each other in the process. Along the way these boys came so close to sealing the mega-rockstar deal. They had Virgin and Atlantic both ready to bring them on but they each requested that they bring them one more song, one song to really illustrate who they were as artists and what direction they wanted their band to go. Being more about the passion of the music they hit the drawing board at full steam, and as many artists are, they weren’t satisfied with the songs they created, one after the other, they continued to believe they could create something better. It is safe to say their mad-scientist, you can’t rush art approach, lost them their record deal. But that didn’t phase them, these guys were never in it for the fame, as only a TRUE MUSICIAN is, theywere in it for the music…and as a “make sh** happen” kinda person you can imagine how much this frustrated me 😉

But God’s timing truly is perfect . The “really close to a record deal” record deal was about five years ago and now as I have watched these guys slowly perfect each song, change it a million times only making it that much better in the end, I see that it was all worth it. After every song was scrutinized and made their masterpiece that they could really be proud of and that would affect people, they searched and found a producer who could capture the exact sound they wanted in a full length album. Then they recorded. A grueling six month process that was worth every second of every weekend I lost with my hubby, because days after those last important tracks were laid down, Aaron Rowan passed away. The pain that those who loved him felt was indescribable.

But again, God’s timing is perfect and he will be faithful to complete a good work. I know that God still has huge things in store for this band. The artistry that went into every bit of this album is the legacy that Aaron and the rest of the band will leave behind forever. The band’s name, “Spero Lumina,” means “to hope for light”  and their lyrics walk you through the mind of someone who had every reason in the world to be nothing but dark but fought for the opposite. When he sings, “I’m alive although I am dead,” the words had never held so much meaning as they do now.

To my hubby and his band brothers, I am so proud of you guys. Cheers to your impending success as new listeners fall in love with your music and sing your praise as your good ol’ faithful following always has.

For those of you who like Incubus or Muse (which are two of these bands influences) please go pre-order the Spero Lumina CD today! We would seriously REALLLLLLY appreciate the support from our community of photographer friends. Thanks you guys! xoxo, Kimberlee & Marissa (and Weston, and the rest of the Diva Team). 🙂

September 14, 2010
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Article: Why Every Woman Should Pose Nude

By PersonalOne Comment

Although we already think “every woman should pose nude”, we found this article and think it was worth sharing to support our theory. 🙂  Crushable.com posted this article and we highly recommend you talking 5 minutes to read it. If you have ever thought about doing a photo shoot, or shoot boudoir and are trying to figure out how to get more girls in the door, take a look. Here is an excerpt from the article written by Kat Rosenfield:

“As an artist’s and photographer’s model, I’ve spent substantial portions of my early-to-mid twenties standing around in front of strangers with no clothes on. And while it might be initially nerve-wracking, it’s also one of the most interesting and worthwhile experiences I’ve ever had — so worthwhile that I firmly believe it belongs on the bucket list for any young woman, no matter what her shape, size, or level of confidence with her own naked body. Why should you take a photo or two in your birthday suit?

* Your body is beautiful. Really, it is. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re plump or slender, reedy or Rubenesque; your whole self — top to toe — deserves its day in the spotlight. Women put in huge amounts of effort each day just to meet society’s standard of beauty, only to get bogged down by stress and insecurity over failing to fit within that narrowly-defined (and often unhealthy) ideal. Stripping down and showing it off is a celebratory, powerful, even subversive act — and it’s exhilarating. And when you see those photos in the days, months and years that follow, it’ll be with a lasting appreciation for your body as the glorious, gorgeous machine it is.
* It’s a confidence boost. Between diet culture, celebrity obsession, and the airbrushed images that we see every day on billboards and in magazines, women have developed an utterly warped idea of what a healthy body looks like. And the effects go way beyond simply disliking what we see in the mirror; at this point, many women are battling body dysmorphia and/or too afraid to even look at themselves naked. Seeing your own body given just a fraction of the star treatment — with makeup, lighting, and a skilled photographer to help you pose — is a powerful way to fight back against that fear and insecurity. Basically, you are so much hotter than you think you are.
* It’s totally vain… and completely awesome. When it comes to balancing your busy life, you’re always being told to take care, take time out, and take one day a week to do something nice for yourself. Well, go big or go home, lady. Your “just for me” weekly manicure only lasts as long as it takes your nail polish to chip, but a private album of drawings or photos that show you at your prime — young, healthy, and before childbirth, gravity, and the vagaries of time have taken their toll — is a memory you’ll have forever. (Not to mention a great conversation-starter when someone pulls it off your bookshelf in 2072 and says, “Grandma! Was that YOU?”

You can check out the rest of the article HERE.  Happy reading!

September 14, 2010
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Bay Photo Books!

By Boudoir Tips, Personal5 Comments


We love these little beauties from Bay!!! (10×10 press printed books from Bay Photo) We give our clients a few different options for their boudoir books… most clients were opting for the more classic style, 8×8 leather books a few years ago when we were first starting out… BUT more and more gals are getting these 10×10 books for a more modern style. It’s also a great way to get a duplicate book (one 8×8 to give as a gift… and then add another 10×10 press printed book to keep for herself & show off to her girlfriends). Bayphoto.com


September 12, 2010
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One of my favorite boudoir images

By Workshops6 Comments


LOVE this shot! There are SO many awesome images from my photo shoot today with Denise Birdsong of Sweet Cheeks Boudoir!!! Denise came to us from San Francisco today for a Full Photoshoot, and then afterward, she also had a 1-on-1 mentoring session (which we will be launching and announcing on the blog & website very very soon!) Thank you so much, Denise. You are such a sweetheart, and you completely ROCKED your photo shoot. xoxo, Kimee (& Marissa)

September 9, 2010
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Boudoir photography during the recession?

By Personal, Speaking ProgramsNo Comments

Last week a photographer asked me (via her wall-post-comment-thing on my Facebook page) if I would share the quote that we talk about during our speaking presentation, related to the recession. It’s a good one, from our dear friend Donald Trump… and we think it’s so incredibly inspiring! As we shared during our “Boudoir Is The New Black” presentation, the recession started to hit us here in SD last year. It was around the time when we were ABOUT to raise our prices (with a pretty large increase!), and we were definitely nervous (hey, we’re human!). We’re happy to say, though, that we were able to almost double our gross income for the studio last year – and the demand for the DIVA BRAND is only growing. We’re not saying this to brag, but only to say that you CAN make it through by being resilient through hard times. Don’t let the fear stop you, and don’t settle just because things may seem uncertain. Keep pushing through. So, here you go… the famous Donald quote…

September 8, 2010
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Friday night working in the office…

By Personal13 Comments

Yes, it’s true. We were at the office on Friday for 15 hours. I think that might be a record for us ‘workaholic divas’… we didn’t leave until midnight, but we’re happy to say that the big project we were working on finally DID launch. (Still working out little quirks but it’s well on its way to looking freaking fabulous!) Amidst the late night working, there were a few times where the deliriousness started to hit… and there were also a few moments where we had to wait for our website to launch, so we grabbed the video camera to pass the time. The resulting nerdiness is below.
(PS… if you aren’t interested in watching our dorky antics, we completely understand… BUT… you have GOT to watch this video until the end. The last 14 seconds will put a smile on your face, guaranteed).

PPS – if you are one of the crazy persons out there who actually enjoys seeing these dorky behind-the-scenes videos about what life is like here at the Boudoir Divas studio… why not subscribe to the Divas’ Youtube channel???

PPPS**PLEASE NOTE THE BOUDOIR INTERNATIONAL REFERRAL SITE IS NOT COMPLETELY FINISHED YET. SO IF YOUR LISTING ISN’T EXACTLY CORRECT OR IMAGES ARE MISSING, DON’T FRET, THEY WILL BE UP SOON ENOUGH! WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY DURING THIS TRANSITION BUT ASSURE YOU THIS SITE WILL BE WAYYYY BETTER! 🙂

September 8, 2010
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Boudoir Divas speaking at WPPI

By Inspiration, Workshops18 Comments

Wow… we have the greatest job in the world. Not only do we have wonderful clients (over 400 boudoir shoots per year w/ women who come to see us from all over the country)… and not only do we work with the most AMAZING women (fabulous staff, Crystal, Deena, Ashley, & newest addition Danielle!)… but on top of all of this, we ALSO have the opportunity to travel and meet some bad-ass photographers from around the WORLD.

Most recently, we’ve had the chance to lead a speaking program with WPPI’s Road Trip 2010, in Irvine last week, and in Dallas TX yesterday! We met SO many new friends, and we just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who came to hear us speak. It is truly an honor to be able to share with all of you about boudoir… something we are so incredibly passionate about. Way back in 2007 when we launched our “Bringing Boudoir Back” campaign, it took a long time for photography organizations to realize that boudoir really WAS about to make a comeback! A handful of forward-thinking photography organizations did agree to let us come and share our vision for what boudoir could become, and in the past 3.5 years, we’ve seen boudoir just EXPLODE as more and more people in the industry are starting to see the potential that is in this niche. We are so excited about where things have come, and we just can’t WAIT to see where this is going to go next!

To all of you who believed in us (and who believed in boudoir) way back in 2006-07… THANK YOU. Seriously, thank you for listening to these couple of crazy gals who believed that boudoir would become the next big thing. Thank you for coming to our workshops, thank you for purchasing our books, thank you for traveling to hear us blab on and on about this topic that we are so passionate about. I know, I know… this is starting to sound like a lame ‘acceptance speech’ at the Emmy’s or something. Whatever. We just want you to know that we wouldn’t be where we are today without all of you who have supported us and helped us and believed in us along the way. And… you never know… maybe someday we’ll also have the chance to lead a platform presentation at WPPI Vegas (fingers crossed!) 😉 Thanks again, WPPI, for inviting us on the Road Trip. We had an amazing time, and we’re honored to be counted among so many industry leaders who have done so much for others.

Here are a few photos from our presentation at the Irvine stop on the Road Trip…
In this first shot, we are showing where the business started out (in Marissa’s TINY one-car garage!) A lot of people don’t know this, but Marissa actually came up with the business plan for the Boudoir Divas WAAAAY back in 2001, right after she graduated from high school!

This next image shows our Mission Statement on the screen. This is something that is INCREDIBLY important to us. We encourage all of you to sit down and write out your own mission statement – something that is personal and unique to you and your business – something that reminds you WHY you do what you do.

Thanks to everyone who came to hear us speak! PS… to those of you at the Irvine show… we realize that we had to cut out the ‘MARKETING’ portion of our presentation (that’s what happens when Becker talks too long and we start 20 minutes late!) 😉 just kidding Becker, you know we love you! Ok, but to those of you who were at that show – we WILL be sending you that marketing section. Actually, maybe we’ll send it to EVERYONE on our mailing list! If you’re not on that list, CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP RIGHT NOW!

One more thing (as if this blog post wasn’t long enough already)… we are THINKING about possibly recording our speaking presentation and having it available for download for FREE on our website. A lot of people have heard us give this presentation this year, but as 2010 is coming to a close, we already have new plans for a NEW speaking program (just in case we get invited to speak in Vegas)… 😉 … So anyway, if you’d be interested in having our 2010 speaking program available to view for free, leave a comment below. If there’s enough demand, we’ll make it happen! Thanks everyone!
xoxo, Kimberlee

September 2, 2010
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