Back to Boudoir

Hi web world, I am back in business. Thanks everybody for your patience while I gave birth and recuparated from my vagina trauma, I am back!

Lily Marlen was born January 30th at 9:29pm. After the water broke around 6 pm. Not bad. And to continue with the bragging she is the dream baby, sleeps a lot, and no colic at all, not like her brother that cried all day when he was a newborn. She still parties from 2 to 4 am - the same time she used to kick me awake, now she wakes and stretches and won't go back to sleep till she is done.

Anyway now I am back full time, still shooting mostly weekends but now available for those who have different schedules or want to play hookie from a day at work during the week.

I started off my end of maternity leave with a wide range  a sexy couples shoot, a maternity session and a boudoir one of course. I really appreciate the clients that booked a while ago and where waiting for me to feel "normal" - as normal as I get anyway.

In my delusion that I was going to have all this free time to edit and write awesome blog posts and a book with a baby, I appreciate the patience on waiting on me to edit, and I think we have a better deal now, and I am learning to edit with one hand. ha

I will have time eventually to update my gallery and write a whole bunch of posts I am cooking, but in the meantime here is the boudoir gallery screen shot of the women (and couple) that I had the pleasure meeting when I was about to burst and while I get the hang of stuff again.
xxoo

Tips for your outdoor couples shoot - update 2013

Indoor- well you can do whatever you want... but for engagement shoots, anniversary, or darn "we need good pics done to send to Gradma" here are some tips...

STYLE
1- Color coordinate your outfits. Ok, for this one, don't dress exactly the same. But keep in in the same family of colors. Blues, greys, blacks and whites go well. Browns, beige, white, and blues go well. Also a pop of color looks good on her. Something really pink, red or yellow as long as the rest is neutral. For more ideas look at pinterest- so addictive.
2- DO NOT WEAR BUSY PATTERNS! yes I am shouting this one. I can date a picture from a pattern. keep it simple. Specially really thin stripes on guys shirts photograph funny. Guy shirt must be plain.
3- Wear something that you've tried and tested. I has to be comfortable, it has to fit, it has to boost your confidence. It shows in the picture.
4- Makeup.  For this one put on some mascara, blush and gloss please! You hear me you chapstick women! Also for the glamour divas remember we are outside and its daylight, keep the vampy down. And for emphasis: Mascara!
For guys: brush your eyebrows, if you have dark eyes circles you can even wear a dab on concealer. Be careful when you shave to avoid nicks and do wear lip balm for a smooth pout.
For both: if you are prone to shine, keep those matting papers handy, specially in warmer weather.
5- Hair. Natural is best, hats... only if you really want to and you wear it every freaking day. Style your hair the day before, I love next day hair, it looks more natural and less done. Spray fly aways.
Oh and don't for get your manicure! Of course I have to take a picture of your ring.

SHOOT
6- Location. Where he proposed...sure! Where you met... sure! Around your neighborhood, your favourite park, coffee shop, store, restaurant, back of the car... hey, I do not judge. Commando style, my motto is better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, my parents really hated it :)
7- Time. I encourage every couple to play hookie on a weekday to do this. Weekdays everything is less busy and less people staring. Choose a early morning (before 11) or a later evening (after 5 during summer even later) the light is the most flattering. We should aim to spend a max an hour.

POSING
We are aiming for natural and casual but have some things in consideration.
When kissing ( I will bark a: now kiss! often, you've been warned) go pg-13. Church tongue. Just a bit. Do not squash your face against each other, keep it light and playful. Who ever has the best profile gets to have their nose on the camera side. This will make sense in the pictures, trust me.
Also a good one, leaning into each other, one person looking at the camera, the other smelling the temple. Sounds so weird but it works.
Keep it touchy-feely, look into each other, remove strands of hair... all the corny stuff :)
And the most important one smile! smile tons! If there is one thing I like retouching on all my pictures is to brighten the smile for those of us with off-white-almost-beige toothies.
My board that I am slowly getting together is here: http://pinterest.com/marlenjames/couples-poses/

I think that is it, I imparted my wisdom. Have a great time!

The one outfit pin up / boudoir shoot - tip for what to wear

I had the most organized client ever. Not only did she brought images for me to look at for the poses that she liked, she came photo ready. The only thing she had to do is change. For this example she booked the mini boudoir package.

In an out in 35 minutes, she broke my record. And the result was fabulous. I even had to change a darn light bulb from my lighting equipment so I think it was even less than that!

This is what she wore:

 - Black tight dress - with easy buttons on the front. This made for the removal of the dress sexy because she slowly unbuttoned it to show cleavage. Smart! She got 2 looks from this outfit alone, the full dress and the cleavage. Complete with stockings and high heels.

- Cute underwear. This was done in a bright colour that complimented her skin tone. I used hot pink here as an example but she had a nice coral set.

- Pasties. So after getting the bra off - you get the cool surprise that she is wearing pasties. Cute, burlesque and oh so sexy.

It also made for a great set of pictures, one common thread that will display great in a nice book or even to put up in a bedroom wall since they are sexy without being tacky.

Thanks to Miss H for the great idea, it was one of those; "why the hell didn't I think of it before?"
Great for the mini or starlet package. Package info: http://boudoirbymj.com/pages/packages

xxoo
MJ

Tips on choosing a boudoir photographer in your area...

SO! I got my first-time-ever actual question! and all the way from California, it made my day! nerd that I am, I went and did a Sally Field thing winning an oscar; "You really read me, you actually really read me!"

GIFSoup

Anyhoo, not to drag my over excitement, maybe it's hormones, here it is:

We really love your blog and your work, unfortunately we're a bit far away to book a session (central California).  Do you have any tips or advice on what to look for when selecting a boudoir photographer?  There are a number of options in our area, but it can be difficult to tell which will give the best experience for the price.  Unlike a certain other photographer, they don't all post blogs with loads of insight into their work.  We were hoping that as someone "in the biz", with a style and approach that we love, you could offer some pointers on how to tell a good photographer from a bad.

I know right! Really hard to choose from a website with 5 pages and maybe a photo of a person behind a camera all cheesy.

I really try to make people as comfortable as possible with me and that includes giving as much information as I can, upfront and without any hidden surprises. It's hard enough to get the guts to actually decide to book a session when after you are searching the results leave you with more questions than you started with.

Here are some tips on finding the right boudoir photographer for you. And if you are a photographer here are some things I learned on what not to do.

1. If is too good to be true (the price)- it probably true. 

This goes for craiglist or groupon for that matter, unless you actually heard of the photographer before. My problem with craiglist is that is usually amateur photographers offering you a deal so they can build their portfolio. Which is fine if you do not care where your images end up with. Craiglist just gives me the creeps. 

Groupon too, it is funny because I get asked tons to do a coupon deal but I have always refused for boudoir. The photographer has to offer a popular package - like mine that is worth $400, at a discount 70% or more (to make it enticing)- so for $99 and from that, groupon get's half and you get the 49.50 to shoot, edit and print and get about $5 bucks per hour of my time. No thanks. Sure it drives traffic to a website and gets your name out there but it is not worth the headache. Write a blog instead. 

As a customer buying a coupon it puts you in the "cheap" category, and you might not receive the treatment and quality that you are really entitled to.

I did a post on why I charge what I charge that explains costs. http://marlenjames.blogspot.com/2012/01/faq-why-is-boudoir-photography.html 

2. Portfolio

So you found a photographer in your area and the portfolio looks ok. If you want to do a little snooping before you contact the photographer to make sure those are their actual photos. You can use a website called tineye.com to check if that image has been used on other sites. Specially helpful when you find out the photographer has used a stock photo or something like that to pad the portfolio.

Also google just the photographers name and check in the images part. That gives you a visual reference of the images that are connected to the name. 

3. Around the web

Even if you are not getting married, the wedding boards are a good source of experiences of brides to be looking for boudoir photographers. Places like snapknot.com weddingbee.com.
Browse the boards for people talking about their experiences, you will find a great range of good and bad.
Also 90% of boudoir photographers shoot weddings. And all though it's a different animal all together you get a sense of their experience and quality.

So you have scratched two things of your list and found a couple of photographers you are leaning towards based on portfolio and web presence. Now you have to get more information out of them before you can choose. 

Questions to ask the boudoir photographer:

Copy all or remove as you need:

 Where do you shoot? Is it a studio, home studio, or hotel? is there an extra cost associated with location?

What does the session of $xx include? (digital files or just prints?)

Is make up and retouching included?

How many outfits should I bring?

How long is the shoot?

How long until I see proofs or the final product? 

Do you have some testimonials?

How far in advance do I have to book?

Do you do a consultation before the shoot?

And I think the most important of them all is :

What is your privacy policy? 

     I stress this one in case you really do not want your photos posted anywhere. Get it in writing. If they have a non-disclosure agreement ask to get one. 

When writing your email it also helps if you outline your budget from the get go. Specially when you get to a page where the prices are supposed to be and they have the annoying email for prices.

And do not worry if they think you are being annoying with all your questions- it is their fault they do not have all the information available :) Most are happy to answer anything and you can get a sense of their personality when they answer. Do not hesitate to ask for a phone call to talk to the person directly after you email them. Talking to a real person helps to give you a real sense of their geekyness (in my case) or their attitude. Or even their gender! I heard stories of Jamies, Jules, Lindseys, Ashleys that you thought where a female photographer only to find out it was a guy. Like there is a Marlen Boro guy that takes boudoir of just men. I take a look every now and then.

And thanks for the question! I feel almost famous - at least web famous :) 

xxoo

MJ

Baby Boom - Maternity Boudoir

Is it just me or there is something in the water? Earlier this year I had more than a handful of clients come get their boudoir done with "now before I show" and "while boobs are great", even returning boudoir clients getting their maternity boudoir shots...
Well, here I am joining the baby boom.

 To find a creative way to announce it, I've been on pinterest, instagram and even google, since you know, I have some creative license here, but all I found was family shots holding a chalkboard, or the holding the tray of "bun", cute stuff really but not really my style.
And since is a family shot, I need my clothes on.
So instead of going crazy trying to come up with something witty and original, I went back to basics. I like batman, I like comic books, I will bring to this world another batman fan if I have anything to say about it so here it is...

See? totally nerding it out. I still giggle at Nacho being the baby stunt double. I was also this close into convincing Lindsey to wear something black, but no luck. I was pushing it on a Sunday afternoon.

Anyway the timing could not be better either, I will be still doing boudoir for x-mas and maybe some Valentines till the second week of January- if this baby is not early and then taking a break until spring. 

It's usually quiet around those times anyway.

And here are some samples of some of the maternity shots I have been doing.

For information on maternity sessions click here.

P.S.
I miss beer

Things I learned going to a strip bar

It is really not the same as taking a pole dancing class that is for sure :)

It was 1996 when I first went to one, I just wanted to see what the fuss was about. Yeah, it was nothing like "showgirls" that movie I saw to check out what the saved by the bell girl was up to. Or "striptease" with Demi Moore for that matter. No fancy choreography. boobs where not that perky or they did not move at all, no in between.

Fast forward to last night, the choreography hasn't change much but the bodies sure are perkier. Or they work out more, or maybe I notice those things more that I am not as perky as I once use to be. 

Anyway here are a couple of observations in random order of importance. 

• The lighting is really dimmed. Great to hide stretch marks, stray hairs or dimples. Not good for photography.
• A handkerchief or bandana is not just for blowing your nose. They use it to sit confortable in any surface or lap while wearing dental floss underwear. smart!
• Tapping someone on their shoulder with your butt or boobs is acceptable.
• They take rejection really well, after all that wiggling if the guy is not interested in a lap dance they just shrug it off. next!
• They still have to pay for their own booze! You would think they get a discount since they are the main attraction but no. And it's 12 a drink. The horror.
• Best poses: when the butt was stuck out to the max, and tilting your head back to make hair longer and look like you are really enjoying yourself.
• Touching self looks great, unless one leg is up the air like a karate kick, and then you touch your  vagina. I still giggle. You had to be there. 
• All the dancers wear those platform heels or "stripper shoes". Apparently they are very comfortable and have skid resistant soles. Fitness models wear them too. So I shouldn't call them stripper shoes. They look good in pictures. They actually go with a thong. 
• It was not very busy when I was there, but the client ratio of "normal looking guy" vs. your-dad's-weirdo-friend was about 20/80. 
• Even entertainers don't want their face posted all over the internet. 

See? I respect you like a stripper :) 

So bring out your inner stripper, we all have one I think. 

Anyway back to work people :) 

Celebrating boudoir in all shapes and sizes - with testimonials

Hi! I have seen this image floating around the Internet (pinterest really- good thing I don't watch that much TV, it balances out) and I realized that I need to do a couple of things. One update my gallery with all my new work, and two start telling people " What the hell are you waiting for?" to do your boudoir shoot that is.

I've met amazing women in my line of work and what struck out about a recent appointment was: "I don't look like the models in the magazines and finally I have come to terms with it- and here I am!" 

I drank to that. 

Comes a time where you accept what you look like and you become comfortable in your own skin. Whenever it hits you - come get your photos done! 

Ange, posted some of her shots in her tumblr- loved it! Of course the skimpy ones where for her hubby. http://angespange.tumblr.com/tagged/boudoir I love her sense of humour, I've been following her antics since. 

Eliza also shares her experience here http://thevanityevents.com/2012/04/30/elizas-photoshoot-marlenjames/

and I am happy that the boudoir is spreading!

Here is what a client said:

Thank you for Saturday - it was a lot of fun.  I left the shoot feeling very good about myself and very sexy.  Looking very forward to seeing the results.

and when she got them

Holy crap!!! You are a miracle worker!  These are awesome.

For those of you who might think- it's all photoshop! No it's not. It's lighting (bright in photography does not equal as harsh), poses and the secret x factor where you are actually comfortable rolling around in you underwear. I think is my super power.

And this image- I stole from The Lingerie Addict - she encourages everybody to feel beautiful in lingerie- even has great tips in her blog. I specially enjoyed her rant about "when people complain about the images she post" http://thelingerieaddict.com/2012/08/real-talk-and-a-rant.html

Like me! I am skinny and small boned but have my flabby areas that some days make me look pregnant. suuuuucks. If I gain weight it goes directly to my lack of waist - wish I could direct it to the boobs, or some down the skinny legs but nooooo, it get's stuck with the rest of the tacos. 

Anyway- all this was to let you know that - no matter your size, boudoir is a great experience to have.

:)

MJ