Why Boudoir Ain’t Cheap

I figured it’s time to address the elephant in the room – why boudoir costs more than other types of photography. Did ya’ll know that I spend $1000 producing each shoot before I even make a penny? Here’s how this breaks down:⁣
Hair/Makeup Artist: $200/client⁣
Studio Rent: $300/client ($3k rent divided by 10 clients per month)⁣
Brand-new Lingerie: $150-$300/client depending on which items are taken home⁣
Retoucher: $30-100/client⁣
Video Editor: $25/client⁣
Studio Manager: $50/client unless there are a million calls, texts, & emails for her to answer, then this cost goes up⁣
TikTok Manager: $150/client ($1500/mo divided by 10 clients/month)⁣
TOTAL: ~$1000 PER CLIENT⁣

At a $1500 order minimum, that leaves me with $500 profit per client IF they only get digital images; it’s lower if they get print products. Additionally, after the shoot I spend an additional 5+ hours doing various tasks for each client (narrowing down the images & color correcting them; my retoucher just fixes skin) & work 10-20 hour days on other tasks (email blasts, website updates, ad campaign build outs, etc).⁣
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The above doesn’t include the fact that we have 4 pairs of angel wings ($2k each), 2 glamour gowns ($300 each), & a total of over $20,000 invested into building out 14 sets for ya’ll to choose from, most of which I did the manual labor on sourcing all the props for & painting myself, only a few I hired out. I also attend workshops annually to the tune of $6000 per year or more to get even better at my craft. Also, these figures are rough estimates as some months we don’t have 10 clients…fortunately we do have clients from prior months who spend more than the minimum. 🙂 Also, these figures don’t factor in taxes or that I don’t get paid time off, sick time, or health insurance from anyone but myself by saving up for it all.⁣

Family photographers often shoot outside which means their only job is to show up & shoot. They also don’t need to charge as much because they don’t spend hours editing because they’re not doing things like smoothing cellulite & rolls (unless you’ve convinced your clients to love those things about themselves – i haven’t) because their clients are fully dressed. Even weddings don’t require doing anything more than showing up & shooting, there’s 0 overhead, and the editing is quick because you can batch edit a ton of photos at once. I know this because I used to shoot both families & weddings. I switched to boudoir because I was also a fashion photographer but there’s no money in fashion photography unless you’re famous or live in New York & I like that boudoir feels like producing a fashion shoot every single time. I also love seeing everyday women empowered vs. models who for the most part already know they’re pretty lol.⁣

Sure, there are cheap boudoir photographers out there, but most of them are married & I assume their hubbies pay all the bills because I have done the math & it’s simply not possible to provide all that we offer at a lower rate without going out of business.⁣

Also, ya’ll may think we’re pricey, but did you know that one of my mentors STARTS at $10,000 a shoot?! That’s right! You can check out her pricing here: https://www.glammarr.com/copy-of-pricing-booking I’m taking her workshops & if I’m honest, I don’t think my work is too far behind hers so it’s just a matter of time before I will charge more to have just a couple clients a month (way less energetically draining) vs. 10. Currently though, I’ve chosen to make my services affordable to literally any woman by offering interest-free, zero credit check payment plans. Take advantage of that while you can. You’re worth the investment. 🙂

Are you considering doing a boudoir session? Set up a free phone consultation at www.beautifulyoustudios.com. We look forward to hearing all about your dream session!