Catching Up...

Wowee! It's been quite a while since I've stopped to write a blog! Life and business have been pretty non-stop since the holidays. The Facebook fan page is up to over 600 and steadily increasing which makes me smile. There's been quite a few special memories captured over the last few months as well as some surprises. It's been quite a ride, and I'm holding on for dear life while enjoying every moment!!

I've sat at my computer writing and rewriting this blog while trying to decide what to include and share and what would be an oversaturation of information. I've included snippets of sessions and little quips about them and then deleted them again. After all of the indecision and self doubt, I've settled on one idea: tell what you know. So that is exactly how I will start my blog renewal.

While I do a lot of traditional portraits, my business thrives on photos that tend to be of a more personal nature: Boudoir. I've blogged before about this form of photography and the emotional benefits to the subject, but I've never shown how I do it. Don't get too excited; I'm not going to disclose all of my secret techniques and locations. ^_- Instead, I'm going to show you some examples of the much requested Before&After's, SessionInProgress, and the final result.

I often think that I should be as thin as a rail and as buff as a body builder with the amount of equipment that I move up and down stairs and whatnot in order to get the "perfect" shot. Perhaps my assistant, Jhesi, is the one truly reaping the physical benefits from this task since she is always there ready and willing to stand in an awkward position with a light or reflector or drag some heavy piece of furniture out of the shot whenever necessary. I truly don't know how I'd do the special sessions without her. She is in a word: invaluable. I'm not terribly vocal during a session. I like to watch the moment unfold and capture it when it hits its peak. Often subjects need a little guidance, and Jhesi, in all of her mind-reading grandeur, can translate my tongue-tied instructions to a "T" to get everything to look exactly as I envision it. Here she is holding a single spotlight at the perfect angle so that I can create the look from above.

The result were images like this...

and of course I love this one because if reminds me of classic Marilyn...

The Before&After's are simply samples of the procedure for the glamour processing. While this is an automatic inclusion for a boudoir session, the glamour processing is often requested for pageant portraits and special sessions such as Quinceanera and promotional headshots. You can even request a toned down process for a traditional session in order to achieve that "fresh" look. Here are a few so that you can see the difference...

As you can see, I only enhance the natural beauty that each woman possesses. With a little skin resurfacing and other enhancements, even the questionably ordinary photo can become the bell of the boudoir ball. The shoot itself is really only about 10% of the work. I dedicate at least 20 hours per client's session. It is in this process that the magic happens and I'm able to offer the client a variety of options to choose from.

So now you've had a little peek into one of my biggest and deepest rooted photography passions: Boudoir.