Today is the LAST DAY!!!! Take advantage of this sale and get 15% off ANY PRODUCT in the shop. ANNNND… it’s not just our cool books and DVDs. It’s ALSO good for our LINGERIE!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
We hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and a wonderful time with your loved ones. In the midst of the holiday stress and shopping craziness, we hope you were able to take the time to be refreshed, to remember what is most important in your life, and cherish those who mean the most to you.
Happy Monday everyone! Today I (K) wanted to share some photos from the fabulous, beautiful baby shower that Marissa, my sis Kelli, and my momma threw for me! This was such a special day, and at the end of it I just couldn’t stop smiling. I feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many great friends to encourage me, love me, support me, and shower me with love in this season of my life. Baby boy and I got spoiled big-time. đ So the theme of baby boy’s nursery is all about “Adventure.” It’s based on a book that used to be my grandfather’s when he was a little boy – called “Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax.” (I’ll be sure to post a few pics of the nursery reveal once it’s ready!) So this is what Kel and Riss used to go off of for the decor of the day. The shower was held, of course, at the Divas home – our San Diego studio! All of the little details were so adorable, and I just loved seeing how they set everything up. Let’s talk about all of the food you see here. As a prego woman, I love to eat… and Caroline with Cucina Coronado created some absolutely DELICIOUS appetizers and small bites for the shower. Everything was beautifully prepared and displayed, and Caroline was so sweet. Even though we just met her on that day, it felt like she fit right in with the Diva family! And that adorable cake!!!! It was made by Truly Scrumptious Cakes – and it truly was scrumptious! Thank you, Riss, Kel, and Momma, for giving me such a special day. And a special thanks to Mama Cece and my other sis, Ash, for all your help in setting up the shower! AND… thank you to all my family, friends, and Diva fam who got to be at the shower – it was so special having each of you there. Love you all! xoxo, K
Haha! Wow. Who are these crazy girls? Apparently 5 years ago we thought we were way funnier/cooler than we actually are LOL. Thought it would be fun to show off some of our debut videos we put out to the world in 2008. Can’t say they are great, but they sure do make us smile.
I think the main reason whey I felt the urge to post these little videos is because I (K) have been working on editing a FREE WEBINAR that we’re going to be releasing soon. This webinar is more for newer boudoir photographers, and it’s about a half hour of M & I sharing our Top Marketing Tips. And during the webinar, we talk a little bit about how important it was for us to film and share videos when we were building our biz. Our video filming & editing skills have since come a LOOONG way, but I wanted to show these old ones to just say where we came from. It didn’t matter to our clients that the videos we posted were a little lame/silly/quirky and not high quality. đ The main thing is that these videos showed a bit of our personality – who we are – so that they were able to get to know us before they came in for a shoot.
As you may have seen, we are SUPER excited about the new look of our studio’s website! We love all of the new features and new sections, and we are excited about how much content & info is on there. We want our clients to feel like they can ‘step into our world’ and spend a lot of time reading, browsing photos, watching videos, and interacting with us as they are starting to plan and get excited for their boudoir shoot.
This morning we wanted to chat for just a minute about the “Before & After” section of our site, and why we chose to include that section. I know a lot of photographers out there are stoked on the idea of putting Before and Afters on their websites, and we agree that it can be very powerful. However, we have always struggled with asking our clients to allow us to post their Before & Afters, because we feel that it could come across wrong. We would never, ever, want our clients to get the impression that their ‘before’ pics are ‘ugly’ – and then afterwards, WE make them beautiful. That is not our intention. As boudoir photographers, we hold SO much power to affect a woman’s confidence and the way she sees herself. What we do and how we interact with her can be powerfully positive, but it can also be damaging to her spirit.
Our team believes that each and every woman is drop-dead gorgeous, JUST as she is. We want to empower women to feel confident and beautiful in their own skin. We truly believe that all women are uniquely beautiful â and we LOVE having the chance to give our clients an experience where they can see themselves in a new light. So the reason why we choose to share Before and Afters on our website is to showcase another side of these ladies’ beauty â their âDiva Bombshellâ side! Typically only celebrities and models have a chance to show off that side, and we feel like all women should have the opportunity to be pampered and have a fun photo shoot experience that reveals a new aspect of their beauty.
Another reason why we feel it is important to share before and afters on our site is because we hear from women ALL THE TIME things like: âI could never look like those women on your website’… or ‘I could never look that sexy’… and we want to tell them, YES YOU CAN!
WE DO NOT SHOOT MODELS. WE ARE NOT FASHION PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO HIRE PROS. Our clients are EVERYDAY WOMEN of all ages, all shapes and sizes, and from all walks of life.
To prove this point even further, Marissa & myself (Kimberlee) decided that we wanted to be brave and share OUR Before & After photos â so that our clients can see that ANYONE can do this!
So, fellow photographers, what are your thoughts on all of this? Do you like showing before & afters on your website? Would you ever be bold and brave enough to post a before/after of yourself? We’d love to hear from you – leave us a comment below! xoxo, K
Yes, it is just wishful thinking, you are right đ But hey, girls can dream can’t they? And with Inutit’s new amazing contest, it could be a reality. They are giving away a Superbowl commercial to a small business!! Could you even imaging what that would do for not only our studio, but boudoir photographers everywhere!!?? Ah, I get chills at the thought.
It only takes a second, and you don’t have to sign up, oh and you can vote everyday if you are an amazingly motivated person, which fingers crossed you are. And if you still aren’t sure you want to vote for us, well we made this little video to try to win you over đ
Ahhhhhh!!!! I’m so excited to officially announce to the internet world that Eric & I (K) are expecting a new little bundle of joy! There are days where it still doesn’t seem real, and maybe it just hasn’t sunk in yet. And then there are times where it is VERY real – like listening to this little soft heartbeat – and I realize, oh my goodness, there is a LIFE inside of me! I have loved being a stepmom for the past year and a half… it’s been an incredible experience. And now – I just can’t wait to expand our family by adding a new little guy or gal into the mix (in late January 2014). My hubby is secretly hoping for a boy, and my sweet stepdaughter is (not-so-secretly) hoping for a little sister. đ And I am fine with either! So far pregnancy has been a breeze – I guess I’m just one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have morning sickness or really any symptoms at all (I’m VERY thankful about that). Eric might disagree with my ‘no symptoms’ statement, however, as he’s been calling me p-brain (ok, ok, maybe I AM just a little more forgetful these days). In any case, so far so good – 3 months down, 6 to go! And in case you wanted to know what my business partner thinks about all of this… she has been SO super supportive, and I can’t write this blog post without saying that I am just really thankful for her. The day I called her on the phone to tell her, I immediately started weeping, and she had to decipher what I was saying through sniffles and tears (ok, yes, maybe just ONE more prego symptom here). I was feeling a little excited/overwhelmed/freaked-out/overjoyed all at once, but Marissa was so sweet and so excited for us. And then the very next day, I had a package on my doorstep from her – with an encouraging note and the “What to Expect” book inside. Thanks, Riss, for being such a great ‘auntie’ already! This little Diva or Divo is going to be spoiled with so much love! I know, I know, I’m gettin sappy – time to wrap it up.
I just wanted to end by saying thanks to all of you who have already given such huge support and love to me through my FB page &/or Instagram. It means so much to read your comments and feel all of your excitement as I begin this new journey!
And then a request for all of you moms out there who are also business owners/photographers…
a) how do ‘make it work’ with a newborn?
b) is my world going to be rocked?
and
c) any other advice or words of encouragement for me? Feel free to leave me a comment below!
Hey everyone! How are you all doing this week? We are writing this to you from our “2013 Boudoir Divas Summit” here in San Diego, California! Since I (Kimberlee) live in Washington state these days, most of our planning and scheming is done long-distance. The times when we are together in San Diego are usually packed full of to-dos, projects, workshops, photo shoots, and running around like crazy. So for this trip, we decided it was time for us to slow down the pace a little, with three full days set aside to do nothing more than plan and dream. We’ve had a great Summit so far – and have already decided that this is going to be something we’re going to do every year from now on.
To all of our photographer friends out there – as you know, it is SO necessary as business owners to set time aside yourselves. If you are feeling overwhelmed, with no direction and few dreams, we really want to encourage you guys to have your own Summit. Put it on the calendar, get babysitters for the kids, take a weekend and get away for a few days. Bring a journal and pens (and if you’re like us, you’ll also need big pieces of white paper and tons of fun colored markers like from when you were in elementary school). Take some time to reflect on how your business is doing, and where you’ve come from. And then start dreaming! Where do you want your biz to be in a year from now? Five years from now? Then create some attainable goals, with a timetable so that you will actually get them done. And once you’ve got your attainable goals listed, you also need a few CRAZY dreams. The ones that would maybe take a little extra fairy dust to make them come to fruition. Write those down too.
After just 2 days, we are already feeling ready to tackle our dreams and make shit happen. Want to join us? Boudoir Photographers, JUST KEEP DREAMING!!! xoxo, K&M
“I don’t want to sit around and wait for things to happen. I want to make them happen. I want to be in control of my own destiny.” – Drew BarrymoreÂ
Pics by Mr. Weston Boucher (Technical Director of The Boudoir Divas and awesome hubby to Riss)
Ok, so this is something we don’t talk about much, but since 2008, we have been approached SO many times about a possible boudoir reality show, I think at this point we have lost count. We’ve talked with producers, we’ve visited offices and held meetings with teams in Hollywood, and we’ve filmed a few teasers/sizzle reels in the past. But it wasn’t until a guy named Dean Houser came along that we really decided we would give any weight to an offer. All of the past things didn’t seem to quite ‘fit’ right. But then Dean approached us… and he not only “got” us, but also totally respected what we did and what our studio was about. He and his crew were the legit of the legit. We absolutely loved working with them when we filmed this (last year)… it was such a fun experience, and Dean & his crew were just so professional!
We have never shown this “sizzle reel” before (a sizzle reel is something that reality show producers put together to pitch to networks) and we are a little nervous to show it now to be honest. I think it gives a pretty good overview of what we do but with a little dramatic flair thrown in in true TV spirit. Hee hee. (Keep watching past our meeting, that’s when you get to see what the real experience is like!)
Oh my goodness we had so much fun making this! We really just wanted to show all of you so that you can see how much fun we have… and so that you can see what the experience is like for our clients! On that note, we want to say thank you again SO very much to the 2 amazing clients who were willing to be a part of our reality show sizzle reel!!!! Thank you for being brave enough to strip in front of the cameras, in order to help show other women what this is all about! At the end of the day we don’t know whether or not we will ever have a Boudoir Divas reality show. Right now it’s not looking like the networks are biting on the concept, even though we think they’d be crazy not to. From the very beginning when we launched this business, it seems like every other day our clients and friends are telling us how we need a reality show, to give the world a glimpse into the Boudoir Divas world. So far it hasn’t happened… but we are TOTALLY ok with that. We gave it a shot, and if it isn’t meant to be – then no big deal. God is always in control of these things. I have a feeling we are just way too nice. Our office isn’t necessarily full of drama – we actually love each other and we’re like a family here – so we certainly would be no “Jerseylicious.”
Honored that you stopped by to watch our 15 min of fame. No matter what happens with us, our goal will ALWAYS be to speak to the hearts of women and make sure that EVERY WOMAN GETS THE CHANCE TO FEEL LIKE A SUPERMODEL FOR A DAYÂŽ! Thanks for watching, and we’d love to have you leave a comment below! And thank you, Dean, for believing in us, and for catching the vision for how we hope to empower women through the Boudoir Divas experience. We love working with you! xoxo, Marissa & Kimberlee
BOUDOIR DIVAS REALITY SHOW SIZZLE REEL PITCH | MARISSA BOUCHER | KIMBERLEE WEST | DEAN HOUSER
Are you starting your boudoir photography business? These are the basics, so if you already know all this, done a lot of it, then congrats! – you are no longer a boudoir beginner! đ And that in itself is a big hurdle because as with anything worth doing, it can be a little daunting in the beginning. We created some steps for those of you beginner boudoir photographers, in hopes that you don’t feel too overwhelmed. I know when I can see my steps listed out in front of me clearly, it can be so much easier to press forward with a large task.
1> YOU MUST BELIEVE ALL WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL AND WANT TO SERVE HEARTS THROUGH THE PHOTOGRAPHY PROCESS
We know this is a little intense and perhaps a little “preachy” to put out there as numero uno. But the thing is, if you can’t say “absolutely yes!” to this first one, then there is no point in reading the rest. A boudoir photographer can’t be successful without the desire to serve women with this important belief. All of our clients have different stories, but what they all have in common is that having your boudoir photo taken is a vulnerable thing and it’s our job to make sure they feel 100% comfortable, and to go on that journey of elevating their confidence together.
2> You made it to number 2, ah that makes us so happy. Numero dos is PHOTOGRAPHY.
Boudoir Photography. I wish we could say it’s easy, but it’s not. Knowing how to make every woman look gorgeous, and well not just gorgeous, but the MOST gorgeous she thinks she has looked. Ever. You have to know your stuff, you need to study, practice, and then always have a game plan on shoot days. It’s taken us so many years not feel nervous before a boudoir shoot – we had to nail what looked best, and then create recipes. It took us a little bit of trial & error, and lots of practice with models and some willing friends before we felt 100% confident that we knew what posing and lighting is best to flatter a woman & make her look her very best in her boudoir photos. Let’s breakdown how we can tangibly help you.
>>>>RECIPES: We put all of what we’ve learned into products you can buy. I know that sounds like an infomercial, and it’s obvious we are being a little salesy, BUT the thing is we KNOW that these products work. We spent so much time creating them, are so very proud of them, and have seen so many other photographers rise to boudoir bad-ass-ness because they have implemented a lot of what we taught in them. The best way to learn is through our Boudoir Workshops and Retreats! And then we have other products too – visit our shop to see them all (of course I recommend the Essential Boudoir Started Kit).
âI just really wanted to send you a long overdue message of thanks. You guys really gave me so much. You gave me the confidence to be me. I have so much more to learn â but you really taught me not to be held back by what the photography society says is ‘correct’. Itâs been almost a year and my business has grown in amazing ways. Iâm just finishing my busiest season ever â and Iâve already booked a bunch of work for next year! Anyway â I just really wanted to say thanks.â xo, Jennifer Rozenbaum (Jenerations Boudoir, featured on CreativeLive recently.)
>>>>EQUIPMENT: We get so many emails asking us specifically what equipment we use, and it took us a really long time to figure out what we works for us. We compiled not only a list, but a complete, DETAILED boudoir shopping list on Amazon so you can easy purchase what you need. (Be sure to click through all of the tabs – we have camera equipment, lighting equipment, and more!)
>>>> PRACTICE. This is fun part! Once you have studied, & gotten some of the basic on the equipment list, now it’s time to enlist your gal pals and get some boudoir hours in! Don’t let yourself stress during this time – just give yourself some grace and know that you may not come out of the gates as an amazing boudoir champ with no mistakes and no fears (we sure didn’t!) But we clocked a TON of practice hours. The goal is to get comfortable working with women of all shapes and sizes, to figure our what works best for you, and to create a portfolio so you can show the world what you do, and then start booking clients!
3>MARKETING
We could go on and on forever regarding this one. We love branding and marketing for boudoir photography. We cover this topic quite a bit during our boudoir workshop… but for now, here are just a few top tips for all of you who are just getting started with boudoir:
1. Focus on your web presence. Your website is huge (we recommend Showit or BluDomain or even Squarespace, there are great options out there), then your Facebook page for your business, and perhaps a blog (or use your FB page like a blog). (PS – if you want a cool template for your Showit site, check out Promise Tangeman’s amazing Sitehouse designs like this one!)
2. Get some killer testimonials and put them everywhere. A video testimonial is best! When we started, we photographed our friends and then asked for their honest feedback. We used their responses as our first testimonials.
3. Build a brand. Choose UNIQUE fonts and a unique color palette, and then stick to it! Be recognizable and be consistent.
4. Be careful where you spend your advertising dollars. We tried to not put anything on credit when we were starting up, so choose wisely. We love bridal fairs because they are relatively affordable and then we get to chit chat with potential clients.
4>CREATING VALUE THROUGH CUSTOMER SERVICE AND CUTE TOUCHES
There are many ways to describe customer service, but one thing is for sure, a biz will tank without it. We aren’t perfect, but we do our best to be personal and create a fun experience that our clients will rave about because we have done small things to help them feel special. We are very friendly, very kind, and we truly CARE about each and every client that comes to our studio. And our clients know that we do! We try to go above and beyond for our clients. One example of that is in the boudoir photo shoot experience, we are their cheerleader, friend, and confidant. The shoot may have been the third one we did that week, maybe we are feeling under the weather, but even on our worst day our client will know that we had the time of our life shooting them.
We try to add value in every way possible. And “value” doesn’t mean it’s a big expense to us. For example, when our clients pick up their boudoir book, they receive a set of bonus wallets that we picked from their book images. It’s affordable and easy for us to order, and it’s a fun little surprise for them!
5>CONSISTENCY
Going back to our “boudoir recipes” for a second, another reason we love creating recipes is because we want to be consistent with every client. Another word for recipes could be ‘systems.’ And our systems make sure that one woman’s experience step-by-step will be the same as her friend’s experience who referred her (not exactly the same – of course if will be unique… but the high level of service will be consistent!!) From the booking procedure to the photo shoot to the viewing and product delivery… the goal of giving your clients stellar service and an amazing experience should be the same for every single person.
6> THE FINANCIALS
Either get a bookkeeper right away, or take a bookkeeping class immediately. When starting I read Quickbooks for Dummies, the whole thing, and it still wasn’t enough. Having a bookkeeper is a big expense every month, but I can tell you that a business can needs accurate financials to make decisions and find areas to improve upon. You need to know where your money is going. You especially need an accurate profit and loss report every month to make big financial decisions, set goals for your business, and see progress.
6>DETAILS
Cleanliness, friendliness, creativity, fashion-mindedness (made up word), keeping your word, exceeding client expectations, writing personal thank you cards, phone calls instead of emails, cute packaging, personalized touches, yummy candy, bonus little gift products.
Well alrighty photog friends, that is a very brief summary for now with some basic tips on how to get started in boudoir. Above all if you are passionate about this and work you booty off, we know that you will be successful! Boudoir photography is very rewarding, and it has been one of the biggest blessings in our life. We hope the same for you!
2017 Edit-Â We still think everything in the blog post is still completely relevant. Life and our business has gotten so busy, and we will be moving studio in MAY! We wanted to launch one final in studio boudoir workshop to celebrate all the good things that happened in that space for 10 years!! Life is busy so we haven’t been doing workshops for a bit now, but if you are interested in attending this on in May 2017, please email us at [email protected] so we can be sure to let you know about it!
And here is a little up to date video on all things The Boudoir Divas:
I’m guessing you may have heard us mention our term, “Believe in Beauty.” You have also probably seen many shoots we have done in celebration of this in-house philosophy that we have – with another one of those shoot videos to be debuted very soon! But we wanted to talk for a moment about what the term means to us.
We are so grateful that we get to have a career that allows for us to dream big, to play with concepts and execute them. But while we may be the artists/documenters of these projects and dreams, we are not the creators. We are simply given the amazing privilege to document the beauty all around us that the Lord blesses us all with. We believe he gives us all this beauty in our daily lives as a sweet gift to His children. So the line “Believe in Beauty” is more of a way of giving Him the glory.
In our journey we have been inspired time and time again. Films, photos, writings that make our hearts warm and fuzzy and point to the beauty that we get to be a part of because of God’s love. We believe that it all points, and alludes to, the beauty that is to come in heaven. Here is just one of those pieces that we are inspired by – by Louis Vitton. Click on the image to get warm and fuzzy inspiration nuggets in your belly….
An example of our believing in HIS beauty, is that we know that he made every woman uniquely beautiful. He created us all different, and we are so fortunate to be able to photograph everyday what we (biasly) think is one of his most gorgous and perfect creations: women.
We are so grateful to be able to document HIS beauty. It inspires us to want dream big. To create plans and art pieces that ignite our hearts and others’ hearts so much so that it’s clear that this wasn’t us, that the glory completely goes to God. This is an attitude and posture that we are doing our best to always hold on to throughout the day. I (Marissa) have discovered that the best way to do this is through a prayer I wrote and that I am working to memorize and pray each morning when I wake up and trod around fumbling for my slippers and coffee. We’d like to share it with you if that’s okay đ
Dear God,
My Provider, My Creator, My King… today I am before you, thankful for my life. I thank you that I have another day to ask for your mercy that is new every morning. I ask for you to fill me with your love. And may I understand just how much you love us — “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (God’s words in Jer 31:3). Help me to understand my worth as a child of God. May I be a symbol of light and hope for you. Let me not grow weary of doing good. I pray that you would bless and protect those around me. May you be my Shield and my Sun (Psalm 84:11). Fill me with the fruit of your Spirit: love, patience, kindness, understanding, strength and wisdom. Place dreams in my heart that only You can fulfill, so that when they come to be… YOU will have all the glory. -Amen
