Interview: Tom Foley- removed

Removed by Tom's request.

Guerrilla Boudoir

I met my model at Starbucks at 6:30am. We talked a bit about the plan for the day. Public Boudoir photography can be tricky. She was gutsy though. She even stopped to ask a police officer for directions to our shooting site. Gosh, she drove in the wrong direction in front of him!  I knew this was going to be good. Turned out that the site I originally selected was closed due to hunting season, so we had to improvise and headed to a different but nearby pleace. I unloaded my backpack with light stands and a medium sized, gridded softbox, battery and camera bag. Went ahead scouting for a nice area, with a couple of different options and textures for shooting.
I found nice trees, some rocks, fall leaves, a lake in the background. Yep, this was going to do nicely.

She had an amazing attitude. I love open minded models. I's so easy to bounce ideas back and forth. Little did I know that she actually has a degree on design. Well that explains a lot. She just was in sync with what I had in mind. Bonus points: She didn't mind a hike, bushes, rocks, branches.

I love using natural light. But I like to tweak it. So as usual, I had to carry a ton of gear, just to  make sure.
Within less than 90 minutes, we tried 6 outfits, a bunch of different looks and moods. All within a 100 yard radius and in a small public park. Just need to have an open mind, choose the right time and a head with lots of ideas!

Interview: Emily Steele

This is the first of a series of interviews I plan to have. They'll be focused on photography-related people that I find unique, interesting or plain genius. Photographers, artists, models, designers. However, this is based mostly on local talent. I met Emily not too long ago and found her a very interesting artist. I found her in a very interesting place so I asked her for an interview. She kindly accepted and I learned a lot. So here it is. I give you Emily Steele. Please check out her work at http://www.esteelephotos.com/  (Under construction right now)

Adrian: How long you've been a photographer?
Emily: For about eight years.

Adrian: Why did you get into photography?
Emily: I was the yearbook editor in high school. That’s how it got started. Ever since I was a kid, I always had a camera in my hand, the crayola film cameras. Art is something I always enjoyed.

Adrian: How did you get to where you're at?
Emily: I have a full time job, Monday to Friday. Photography is for the most part on the weekends. It’s changed a bit for weddings, since I need somebody to shoot with me, so one of my colleagues is now shooting with me. It’s so much nicer now, to have an extra set of eyes. She sees thing I don’t normally see.

Adrian: Would you say you have a specialty in photography?
Emily: Working with Kids. I’ll do anything, but that’s what I enjoy the most.

Adrian: How would you define your style?
Emily: Growing. I don’t think it has a true definition, so it’s changing, evolving to be more me. It was more inside the box, but now it's not anymore.

Adrian: So if you were to describe your images to me, how would you describe them?
Emily: Full of energy. Happy energy. It’s the laughing, the teasing, the joking, things like that.

Adrian: What is your business model?
Emily: As simple as possible. I don’t like people to have to ask a hundred questions. I like them to have all the answers right up front. I release copy rights, it’s simpler at the end for me.

Adrian: Who's your market?

Emily: Female, Moms, Wives. I rarely get calls from males, and even then, I mostly deal with their wives or girlfriends. It’s mostly 20’s and young 30’s, with younger kids.

Adrian: What's your marketing strategy?

Emily: It’s all networking. My sister has a cupcake business and she has 1500 friends, so when I put a picture of her and my niece on her page, the reach was over 1800 people and it added ten likes to my page. The goal is to push Facebook to my website.

Adrian: Are you where you want to be?

Emily: No. Artistically, I still have a lot of growth, I think. An artist should always be growing, which is good. I’d like to get out of the traditional way, the Mom shots.

Adrian: What’s a Mom shot?

Emily: A traditional- head on shot, either sitting perfectly posed with a great smile on their face, which they’re going to put in an 8x10 picture frame and sit in their house. Business wise, I want to get bigger. I want to get my studio.

Adrian: Where's photography going, as an industry, especially here in the Midwest?

Emily: I think people are becoming pickier on the prices, since anybody can buy a DSLR and think they’re a professional photographer. I talk to a lot of people who had recently been married and I can count four who actually hired a professional photographer. Everybody else had either a friend or relative do it.

Adrian: How does that affect your business?
Emily: It makes it a lot harder.

Adrian: So what’s your strategy to deal with that?
Emily:  I will work with people. I will cut them deals. Although it’s tough because they get used to expect a deal every time.

Adrian: Who are your favorite photographers?

Emily: There’s a group in Louisiana called Three Nails Photography. Their lighting I absolutely adore. There’s another one in Lawrence Kansas, called Mojica Photography.

They do a lot of Indian Weddings. Their lighting is the total opposite than Three Nails. It’s a little bit harsher. I really, really like their style.

Adrian: What's your goal for five years from now?

Emily: I would get out of wedding photography for a few years. I will re-grow the company and start over. I don’t want to worry about the money. I want to do photography because I love it. I want to figure out some techniques.

Adrian: What are the next 5 items on your list of stuff to buy?
Emily: I want the SB-910 speedlight. A Nikon 3200 as a back up camera. Also want the Nikon D2x. I want a 12-120 lens. With a 1.8 aperture. And lastly, I want studio lights. I don’t know what brand, just a studio set.

Adrian: Please describe your work flow.

Emily: We’ll schedule the session, do the session, go home and download to my computer, I shoot RAW. I then group them by similarities, and edit each group. Hue, vibrancy, saturation, etc. Then I open them individually and flip through them to find the money shot. Fix things on the background, details on wardrobe. Then move to the next group. Burn a CD and ship them to the client.

Adrian: What's your most recent project?

Emily: I don’t have one. Just trying to get through my last shoot. I have over 500 photos from a kids session. We had a glitter war and cupcake war. I also had a trash the dress shoot.

Adrian: What's the most common mistake photographers make?

Emily: Beginners : lighting. Usually of rough on the edges, but that’s normal, a learning thing. Experienced photographers: Cockiness. They tend to believe their work is better than everybody else’s.

Adrian: Do you think part of it is because there used to be some sort of ‘initiation’ to start as a photographer? We used to start as assistants, learn the ropes, then move up the ladder and now you just buy a $300 camera and proclaim yourself a pro. So these old school pros, with a brick and mortar shop and tons of gear feel like is harder on them?

Emily: I think a lot of them don’t connect with people anymore. They’re not friendly and they don’t look like they enjoy what they’re doing. A situation comes to mind, where this professional was hired for six hours on a wedding. The six hours ran up the second the couple walks in the reception, so they are being announced and he stops them and tells them he needs $200 more to walk through the door with them, since their time was up. Rather than building some good PR and waiting for later. That’s pretty gutsy.

Adrian: Some advice for beginner photographers?

Emily: Figure out why they like it so much and don’t forget that. Because it happens quite often.

 

With a little elbow grease...(and a sharp knife)

What can a photographer with some free time and a couple things from the craft store do?
I guess a lot of different things. But this time, I came up with something like this:

The things you come up with when you can't sleep.
Adrian

Oh the adrenaline!

Just a quick one this time, I promise.
When a client comes for a session, they probably think I'm crazy due to the questions I ask:
Can you describe a sexy image? Are you Nervous? What do you mean by classy?
and so on.
Some even get a little confused by the questions.. I don't mean to be a pain. It just helps me figure out what the session is going to be.
My goal is to create the right environment, where a client can open up, have fun, be creative and daring. Some clients get there easily. Some don't.
However, a session without trust is not only boring. It yields lifeless images.
This, on the other hand, is what happens when a client opens up and starts going with the flow.
It just inspires me to create something beautiful.
And just for them. It makes a difference when you 'connect' with the artist trying to make you look good.
Try it next time.
It just creates magic.
Adrian

What to look for, when searching for a boudoir photographer.

It almost sounds unfair. A photographer giving advise on how to choose a photographer. The truth is,
There are many options out there. And it's in all photographers interest to educate our clients.
A client who's highly critical will push a photographer to improve his or her craft. Also, will be appreciative or the effort it takes to be a photo artist.

So when I see the hundreds of options out there and the many lost consumers, I want to give some advise. It's honest. It's insightful. I hope it helps.

• Do your homework.  Many clients show up at a studio, not having checked the photographer's work in advance. This creates not only confusion, but can be very frustrating. A photographer takes pride in developing a style. It takes time, effort. And a customer who didn't check the work in advance, can either be disappointed by the images produced or have requests for the photographer, that can be just undo-able. I had many clients come and bring prints, laptops, tablets with my colleagues work and asked me to do the same images. Well, this is not only hard, but unfair. If they like photographer X's style, they should hire X. If they see me, I'll give them the images I produce. Original Adrian Vega's.
• Have a critical eye.  When checking a photographers work, it's easy to not see some important details. Does the artist portfolio reflect various different skills? Does it seem to be carefully crafted and put together or does it look like it was a weekend project? Is it technically skilled? Does it seem to have a message, trend, or is just a melange of random images with no defined intention? Do the images tell you something? Are they original or have you seen the stuff before?
• Value experience. Let's face it. All photographers start with no experience and that's just the nature of the business. However, we should be upfront and charge accordingly. Labeling ourselves as 'experienced' when all the images in my website are of the same person, is just suspicious. It's OK to ask how long a photographer has been in business. Usually, a more experienced photographer will charge more, because his overhead is higher. This means also that the end images will be more consistent, it means usually better and more efficient work flow, more gear, better settings and pride for the craft. Don't get me wrong, many new photographers are awesome, and not all older ones are good. But it's reasonable to expect that the older one will deliver the same level of quality all the time, (good or bad) and the less experienced one will vary based on the situation. Photographers with years of experience have learned the ropes and are more prepared to deal with unexpected situations. They also will back their work, if something goes south.
• Talk to your artist!  I believe in instinct. Take a minute or two and dial your artists number. Get a better feeling of who he or she is. There's a lot to be said about chemistry. Some people just don't click and some just work together flawlessly. If you just get this weird vibe from talking to the artist, run. On the other hand, you may find out that your photographer is an amazing person, and that will work in your and his/her benefit as well.
• Check the value of the products you get offered. There are so many variables when determining the price to pay for photography, that people easily get confused. First of all, figure out what you need. Do you need a couple of amazing prints or do you need 400 unedited images on a CD?  Do you really need prints? How big?  Are the images going to be used afterwards?  How? I've seen photographers try to sell their product by adding bath sets!  if I wanted a bath set, I'll go to bed bath and beyond! Ask exactly what you get. Is the $50 package for a session just the hook, to then charge you another $200 for the images on a CD?  Make a list of what you really need, and ask the final cost of getting it, whether is included in the package or is an add on. If something is cheap, there's a good reason for it. It's business. To cut your price, you have to cut corners.
• Be fair. Your artist will work hard, in a very competitive industry, where everybody wants to get a lot for close to nothing. Clients who ask for extra stuff, try to cut or negotiate the prices or have unreasonable expectations can put an artist out of business. If you like your photographer's work, pay for it. Asking your photographer to match Mr. Newbiegotacamera's price is not only insulting, but unfair. Mr. Newbie's lives in his parent's basement, has no insurance, pays no taxes, has little gear and works out of a laptop with bootleg software. Your favorite artist pays rent, insurance, taxes, advertising, art fairs, buys gear constantly, pays license fees for software and constantly educates him/herself to improve.  Now, if you like newbie's images better, go have fun! if not, be aware of the effort and cost that photography generates.
• Be open. I find out that everybody wants awesome images, but just a few are actually willing to put the effort to get them. Showing up unprepared, tired, late, or  with the wrong attire just doesn't help. Been open, flexible and willing to have fun just makes your session more pleasant. Consider that when hiring. Are the images all outdoors on a summer day at 99 degrees? you'll be miserable. Are they indoors? your own house or a real studio. Nothing wrong with any of those scenarios. Just be aware of the difference. Outdoors are buggy, windy, there's unexpected situations, walking, sweating, mud. If you're adventurous, this might just be perfect. Are you the owner of a huge, clean and uncluttered mansion, congrats! a location shooter will use it to create great pictures. Are you just average Jane who doesn't want a lot of effort or needs some pampering? a shooter with a studio will have a comfy place, refreshments, privacy, candles and music. All the things needed, ready. Your call.
• Addendum: I couldn't believe first, but apparently it's a new 'business' model. Looks like some people who take boudoir pictures, have it in their packages that their clients are responsible for booking a hotel room where the session will take place. Beware, hotels don't see it with good eyes when commercial photography in their property. You risk getting kicked out. I know, we all have done it. That's how we start, right? However, there's a difference on taking a model or a friend who's adventurous and fearless, renting a room and doing the guerrilla shoot. This works to build a portfolio, but using it as your business model is risky. Just my 2 cents.

The perfect day

I love my work, it allows me to express my admiration for women, for their strength and their beauty.
But sometimes, magic just happens. What does it take? who knows. It's a mixture of trust, chemistry, creativity and luck.
This is a clear example. Jenny, the Quixotic aerialist.
Jenny got in touch with me, because she had a special idea, more of a request. We talked it over, she came to the studio and we just clicked.
Months after that day, her session came. This is what we created together.

I don't think that this kind of art is possible without trust, great communication and to put it plain and simple: willingness to be open, to create, to think outside the box and go to places we haven't before.
Hanging upside down wasn't new for her. What was new for her was to be at the studio, trust me and put herself in my hands.
Me? well, I've done crazy things before,  but pictures of ladies hanging upside down wasn't one of them. They had always been hanging the 'normal' way :)

Thank you Jenny!
Adrian

PS
These are other crazy things I've done:

 A single good picture like this made my whole trip. Yep. Crazy.
So Creatives, artists, adrenaline-seekers, extreme crowd...Unite. Come create art.

What a trip!

It’s been quite a trip. Back in February 2011, we moved from a home-based business to a brand new (to us at least) 1400 square feet studio at the West Bottoms. Thinking back, it’s been quite a trip. Aside from all the stories and very interesting people we’ve met, our whole life has changed and is way richer than before.

I wanted to recap all the things that have changed, starting from the sets. Back then, we had about 4 different sets that we provided to our clients. Now, at the very least, we have 16 readily available sets, which we can use in a blink. We’re also working on new and fun sets, announcing them as we get them ready, to be tested by our brave boudoirettes (Yes, I made that word up). We have added classy seamless paper, black and white, custom made textured ones, played with water (and got in a lot of trouble with that!) and have also got rid of the least popular ones, such as the giant sand box (which is a bummer to my wife!).

We added two custom- made computers to our work flow, totaling three and improving the editing process, both in time and quality. We also added custom made furniture by local artist Ian Peters.

We have added in house printing with our spanking new Epson Dye based ink printer R2000, which allows us to improve the presentation of our CD’s with customized images printed directly on them and ad-hoc paper prints, all with calibrated equipment and a controlled source of fine art papers.

We expanded our network of friends, joined business networks, worked with four different make up and hair artists and learned how challenging it can be to try to merge two businesses together, which at the moment, we’re still working on.

We tried having two different apprentices, who helped us greatly and went on their own way, pursuing their dreams.

We have improved our client experience, in many different aspects, from the temperature during the session, which was a challenge when we started, due to the old building we’re located in, to the improved changing area, which is now more comfortable, has more room for outfits, better light and a cozier feeling. We also now offer refreshments to all customers during the session, making the experience more fun and relaxed.

We drastically improved the number of sample books available on site, having books for boudoir, pin ups, couples images, very edgy images, as well as more traditional books for weddings, portraits and children photography. Now you can get a full feeling of the many options, sizes and styles you can get when ordering a book.

We improved our workflow, now adding more and better editing to all our images.
Including new gadgets, interfaces, and even adopting technologies from other fields, to be able to keep up with the huge volume of work we have.

We learned how hard is to build a name for your brand, how it’s a real challenge to work with the big companies to improve your business. We have been trying to work with Google for months about their maps been inaccurate. We’ve been repeatedly ignored by Yelp about their rankings for our business, which we believe are biased since they hide all positive feedback provided by clients.

We ran specials with many companies, bringing our innovative product to many clients who otherwise would’ve never had a chance to fulfill a long time wish.

Groupon, Living Social, Deal Saver, Google Deals.  We did them all.
We heard our clients suggestions, now having easier to see proofing galleries, adding extra steps to our post-process to make the viewing easier for you!

We have learned so much about expectations and how important is to be clear about all processes and time frames. We have served over 371 clients and have about 150 more already booked, having a long waiting list that keeps us busy and very energized.
We have improved our pre-session communication process, having very detailed information sent to clients so they can prepare and squeeze the last drop of enjoyment out of their sessions.

When we look back, we see lots of changes, improvements and great times. When we look forward, we see a thriving future, with lots of opportunities and great friendships to be made.

We see new and exciting concepts, maybe some new partnerships, new lines of business and different models to make our product even more accessible, all while supporting our growth.

We are excited to be able to make a change in people’s lives, by showing them how beautiful they are, and the things they’re capable of doing. Empowering, inspirational, thrilling, life-changing are words we repeatedly hear from our very satisfied customers, many of whom return over and over for second and third sessions, or just stop by for a cup of coffee and a nice chat.
And this is just the beginning.

We definitely look forward to it.

Thank you.

Adrian and Michelle

Boudoir interesting facts

It's so interesting to learn and observe people in my profession. Why? Many feel vulnerable. Most people feel exposed so they act different. Most of the time, they behave so differently than the way they do when in a regular setting, that the transformation is short of amazing.
But today I wanted to just make some notes on things I've observed:

• About 30% of my clientele are teachers.
• About 30% are nurses or in the medical field.
• Men are WAAAAY shyer than ladies. (mostly)
• Mature ladies tend to be more confident and usually edgier and more relaxed.
• Most people are extremely nervous when they arrive, but get relaxed by their second set/ outfit.
• No two people have the same thing in mind when they say the want sexy pictures. So I really don't have a clue what they mean if they ask me to do 'sexy' pictures for them.
• Almost every client asks me how does my wife handles my job. (I'd like to know that myself! I guess she's just awesome!)
• Nobody really believes it, but I'm really shy. I blush quite frequently.
• Bringing your own music playlist usually make a world of difference.
• I've used three make up artists since I started working at my new studio. One left me and I miss her so much (You know it Katia) The other two... oh well,  just vanished.
• About 65% of my clients seem to ignore the information I send them. This usually makes the session slower.so PLEASE read it. It makes your session so much better!
• I purposely avoid checking other local photographer's work. I'm the most isolated photographer. I like knowing that any idea I have, it's my own.
• There are about six other photographers in my building. I know two of them.
• About 50% of my clients order a book to present their pictures to their significant other.
• Although seems like nobody does, apparently a lot of people check my blog. (I'm sorry for the typos. I'm the artist, the wife is the words lady ) If you do find something interesting, It'll be nice to hear from you.
• About 80% of my clients wish they had done a couple of risque pictures, but didn't ask for them.
• The oldest client I had so far was 71 years old.
• I never intended to become a boudoir photographer. I was a wedding photographer, but somebody liked some model images I had lost in my website. The rest is history.
• Most Make up artists (in words of one of them) think they're divas. They certainly make more money than the photographer. Plus they get tips.
• I've done specials with Groupon, Dealsaver, Google deals and Living Social. 
• In the last 16 months, I've done 350 sessions.
• Apparently in Kansas City there's a HUGE community of bondage, swingers, hard core people and all sorts of fun things. Nobody likes to talk about that though. Weird, I thought Kansas City was more conservative. Luckily, is not.
• Almost every photographer I know does boudoir... Under the table :)
• Photographers have a weird sense of humor.
• My average schedule on a work day is 6am to 10pm. I work Monday to Sunday. I take two days off every month.
• An average boudoir session takes 90 minutes. Editing 25 images takes me anywhere from another 90 to 180 minutes. The time I spend reading and answering each customer's emails averages another 30 minutes. So it's fair to say that each client gets about 4 hours of my time.
• Last year I took about 150,000 pictures. 
• Yes, I have pictures of my wife on my site. Guess who she is and win a free 60 minute session!
• I'll keep writing things as I remember them.
• If anybody is there, reading, be nice and drop me a line. Seriously. Gets kind of lonely here!

To edit or not to edit....(the photoshop dilemma)

So, you want a photograph...

Well, the more I think about it, the more I think people now a days are confused, in great part because media, photographers, TV, etc.

Used to be that a photograph was an accurate (enough) representation of a subject. So that would mean that a photograph in it's essence should be used straight out of the camera.

Since the old days, this wasn't always the case. Dodging, burning, masking, where all techniques used by old school photographers in the dark room, to enhance a photograph.

Why? because after all, photography is an art, so the artist plays with the medium, tweaking it, exploring it's possibilities.

This was usually accepted as a normal practice, because it didn't really change the image's essence. just enhanced it. Nowadays, with the use of all the tools at hand, we daily go beyond the old dodging and burning. We stretch, clone, liquify, mask, filter, smooth, add grain, reduce grain, over impose images, cut and paste.

I'm not going to judge if this is ethical. It's the way it is and most photographers do it, at different levels.

So what's right and what's not?

I think is more about honesty. If a photographer does it, discloses it and is honest about it, wouldn't that be just like an 'upgrade' of the old tools?

maybe.

Let's just get to the issue I want to discuss. As a boudoir photographer, I get a lot of questions and requests. Some clients expect lots of editing. Some don't want much. So I though the best way to explain what I do as my regular work flow is to show it, since we're talking about images.

Let's get to it!

On this image of a back, my normal work flow would be remove marks in the skin. that's it. Some clients like the porcelain look of filters, usually they ask me to 'smooth' the skin, like in the far right back.

 Legs often concern my clients. Digital cameras show way much detail, that produces skin with lots of texture. My normal work flow would be the middle image. For many clients, this would be a somehow honest depiction of the subject. For many, it's just not acceptable. So I offer the more extreme editing on the far right image.

 Then we get into many issues at the same time: Skin texture and a couple of extra curves that my client wasn't too proud off. Again, my client wanted to look at her best. My job? to please her. Some liquify and surface filter/layers where applied to achieve the image on the right.

 On this image, not only the skin and curves required some editing. I also had to add parts of fabric that were not in the original image. Without that, the image just didn't look right.

Faces are the most important part of the image. I think these images talk by themselves. It's worth noting that this kind of editing on the face is not part of my normal editing. This was a request by a client. Looks great, doesn't it?

So, at the end it's a matter of taste. To me, it's just a matter of time. The editing on the images at the right usually takes 2-3 times of the normal editing. Is it worth it? absolutely!

I hope this helps give a better idea of what you as a client can expect, and what option you have if you would like some extra photoshop love.

Best,

Adrian