LOL. Literally… L.O.L. I am working on our new studio site, it’s 11pm and I am having a freakin’ blast. Albeit my eyes are half shut, my back is slouched and I am hungry, but who cares, this is way too much fun. I lost focus for just a sec and wandered into the interactive internet world and I saw this and literally laughed and laughed. It reverberated through the very empty studio. This couldn’t describe me more at this moment.

I LOOOOVE branding and marketing. It gets me up early in the morning and keeps me up late at night. Hence the fact that I can call my 14 hour day one of the best days this week. I know my Bitner Kimberlee is with me. What flippin dorks. Who’s else is with us? I know we aren’t alone out there. -M
PS. Sorry I keep cussing on our blog Moms (Cecelia & Carol). I know you hate it. And we don’t typically cuss. But every once in a while it make for a very effective an convincing point, does it not?

This morning I had a WONDERFUL Skype consultation with a new friend (who was the winner of the Thirst Relief Auction for a mentoring session with me!) One thing she mentioned was that she had come up against some opposition from someone recently, who made it seem as though boudoir photography is sleazy. This is just SO not true!

We are boudoir photographers. We take gorgeous pictures of women in a classy, tasteful way. We give women a piece of art that is beautiful – and something that they will treasure. It is not sleazy. As one client said: “This isn’t about sex, it’s about confidence! It’s important that I feel beautiful and it’s something I am working on to change my perspective on everyday.” Boudoir photography is NOT about objectifying women. It is NOT about reducing a woman’s worth. It is NOT about trying to fit women into a particular ‘mold’ that the media, & society as a whole, has created for a ‘perfect’ woman. It is NOT about having a makeover and trying to be something you’re not. It is so much more.

It is EMPOWERING. CONFIDENCE-BUILDING. BEAUTIFUL IMAGES OF WOMEN. Helping a woman feel sexy and beautiful is not wrong. I (Kimberlee) am not ashamed of my profession. I am PROUD of what we do. I am thankful to have a job that affects women in a positive way. Every single client who comes to our studio is given the chance to see herself in a new light, and to have an experience that shows her just how beautiful she truly is. What could be more rewarding than that?

There is no better way to explain this than through the words of a client. We just got this email yesterday, and as soon as I read it I just got chills! I couldn’t wait to share it here on the blog. Susan, THANK YOU for putting your experience into words, and thank you for giving us permission to share your words here on the blog:

“OMG Erin!! :-D I got my album and CD’s in this afternoon’s mail! You guys r-o-c-k in getting your work out so damn fast (less than 24 hrs, sheesh!)!! I was once again, stunned speechless as I beheld my beautiful photo album in my hands. I felt, and still feel, choked up in gratitude, appreciation and sincere thankfulness. Emotions that are welling up from the soul because of giving me such a deeply personal and truly unique gift that no other person has. Your lovely team that day has shown me a beautiful side to myself that I’ve never seen. And now that you’ve allowed me to peer behind the heavy curtains of self doubt and dancing threads of insecurities, a mystical force of confidence has seared itself into my character which allows me to fight those horrible thoughts, perhaps forever! :-) If I were to wish any one thing for all of womankind, is to spend the afternoon with your girls, such as the wonderous day that I had, all for the sake of “gifting” unto them what I have been blessed to have received. Please, please, please pass onto the entire staff my heartfelt thank you! ♥ Forever stronger, Susan”

I am SO thrilled to be a part of this. So, if you have ever wanted to sit down with one of the Divas, for an uninterupted hour and a half, to ask ALL of your questions about boudoir, get a critique, brainstorm marketing ideas, and talk about taking your business to the next level… NOW is your chance. The mentor session can be done via Skype, over the phone, or in-person at a coffee shop in Seattle. The choice is yours. And, I am also giving a copy of the new Posebook Part Deux to the winner of my mentor session.

The auction is happening RIGHT NOW – and it will end on the 17th at 11PM EST. So go BID ON ME! :) As of right now the price for a 90-minute mentor session is only $105… which, I’m sorry, but is that all I’m worth?! ;) Haha, Just kidding… but keep in mind, peeps, that a mentoring session like this would typically cost upwards of $500… PLUS you are also getting the new Posebook Part Deux (which is $99), PLUS, your money is being donated to Thirst Relief! ALL of the money is going directly there! So, it’s for a good cause… we get to hang out for an hour and a half… you get the new Posebook out of it… what are you waiting for? Go bid on me! :)

Last year, the sponsors and 90 mentors who participated in the Mentor Auction raised more than $40,700 which directly provided 8,147 people with clean water! 100% of the proceeds directly benefit Thirst Relief International, who provides at least 25 years of clean drinking water to the more that 1 billion people who don’t have it!

Watch this video to learn more about this amazing organization):

“The mission of the annual Thirst Relief Mentor Auction is twofold, to save lives and change the world by tapping into the talent and generosity of the photography industry and to create better and more successful photographers. To accomplish this goal we’ve asked some of the best and brightest in these industries to donate 90 minutes of mentorship (instructional) time and anything else they feel like giving to be auctioned off to a winning bidder! The auction takes place on eBay and is open for three days. At the end of the auction the highest bidder wins the 90 min. mentor session as well as any other prizes the mentor may have included. The winning bidder is notified that they won the auction by Thirst Relief staff and are put in contact with their mentor. The winning bidder and mentor then communicate on how they plan to carry out the mentor session.”

We had SUCH a wonderful time in Madrid last week! While it was only the first leg in many adventures to follow, it was a big one for sure. Foro de Fotografos are a group of people that despite the language barrier, make you feel so very welcome. From the seventy year old woman who was a firecracker of a gal, to the many friends we make in our workshop and our speaking presentation, and then Rudy – the one to whom we owe the honor – each person we met was so darn friendly and thrilled with the concept of boudoir.

We spoke for 3 hours, which besides a workshop is quite a record for us, but get us on the subject of boudoir and you will have to pull us of the stage with a hook. The new experience of having our audience wear headphones while listening to a translator was a newbie of many newbies this week. Boredom in our lives seems a rare thing, and we love that!

Thank you to Julietta our translator whose brain was so far next level that it make me really want to go back to school to freshen up my recall skills. Holy crap lady.

Oh and for our workshop attendees, you wanted to see what the dark underexposed (purposely) photo would look like. Here ya go…

Although we were working most of the time in Madrid, we DID get out to explore the city one day. It is a really cool city, and we especially enjoyed spending the afternoon at Retiro Park – and then that night we got to see a really amazing flamenco show too. We really enjoyed being in Spain, and can’t wait to go back. Thank you again to all of the wonderful photographer friends that we met in Madrid. We really had a wonderful time with you all, and hope to see you again soon! Until next time, besos y abrasos! -K & M

OH – also, we wanted to let you know that a LOT of your email addresses ‘bounced back’ to us when we were sending out invoices for the digital version of the Posebook. So, if you would like to purchase that still, here is the link for that: thedivasblog.com/madrid/ Simply fill out your info, and purchase it through Paypal – and we will email the digital version to you asap. Thanks!

Kimberlee West became Kimberlee Schelling last week!!! If you visit this blog somewhat regularly I am sure you have heard K be very open and honest about her love life, from difficulty to the beautiful picture it is right now. I am so honored to be tied, in friendship and business, to a woman who trusts in God’s restoration and has unwavering faith that he has a plan. I can honestly say that that may be one of the hardest things to do in life; to have faith and trust in the darkest of times. Kimberlee (and Eric) is such a gorgeous picture of God’s love in that way.

While K let me actually be a part of her festivities rather than photograph them, I did have the honor of grabbing a few shots during the getting ready portion of the day (probably my very favorite part of the entire day from past wedding experience) while her truly amazing photographer and friend snapped the “official” photos. I am sure that our the talented Jackie Wonders will have images for Kimberlee to post soon, but until she does I wanted to share the few that I snagged of her getting ready moments…

DATES: January 22-23, 2012

LOCATION: The Boudoir Divas’ studio in San Diego CA!

REGISTER: $600 deposit is required to save your spot. Click here to sign up TODAY!!!!

DAY ONE: Covering shooting style, lighting, posing, demo shoot and hands on practice using our equipment and 2 of our favorite sets! You will be able to shoot “models” to build your boudoir portfolio. Some one on one shooting with models as well as small group shoot settings.

DAY TWO: Covering marketing, pricing/packages, post-processing, and more – all about the boudoir business! You’ll also get 1-on-1 time (ten minutes) with either Marissa or Kimberlee to identify the next steps to implement with your business.

HOW TO SIGN UP: 50% deposit ($600) to lock-in your spot. (Click here to sign up & pay the deposit now!)

LIGHTING: If you like our boudoir images, you’ll probably notice that a huge part of our style is all wrapped up in the lighting that we use. Lighting is SOOOO important for boudoir, and over the past six years of having THE premier boudoir studio in Southern California, we have developed a lot of tips and tricks for boudoir lighting. It is absolutely essential to learn how to light a woman in a flattering way, to show off her best assets, and maybe even minimizing some of the areas she may not want to emphasize quite so much. At the boudoir workshop, we’re going to show you the simple lighting recipes that we’ve created for our boudoir clients. We’ll be focusing mainly on our favorite lighting set-up (what we call our ‘hot lights’), and then you’ll also have an opportunity to work with natural light and video light.

POSING: Ah, yes, boudoir posing. First off, I think we all know that when it comes to boudoir, this is NOT something that just ‘happens.’ If you can think back to your first boudoir session that you shot, you might say that posing was one of the MOST difficult aspects of the boudoir session (don’t you agree?) Your typical client is not a professional model; she’s an everyday woman who does not know how to pose or ‘be sexy’ in front of the camera… and as the photographer, it is your job to coach her through the entire boudoir photography experience. We created our Posebook a few years ago simply because we kept receiving emails from photographers, asking for advice on how to pose their boudoir clients. Even though posing can be quite difficult at first, we don’t want you to be overwhelmed! We want to empower you with some of our top posing tips. And we want to share some of our favorite poses (also our TOP-SELLING poses!) If you can get comfortable with some favorite poses that are flattering for all body types, then before you know it, you’ll be coaching your client into poses without even thinking about it!

SHOOTING: One of the big benefits of coming to a Boudoir Divas workshop is the shooting time. We set you up with a few GORGEOUS past clients, and you get to work on our sets, with our lights, and have the opportunity to capture some BEAUTIFUL images for your boudoir portfolio! You’ll be shooting in small groups, and then you’ll also have a little 1-on-1 time, where you’ll be able to work by yourself with one of the clients. We’ve had past workshop attendees come to this workshop without ANY previous boudoir experience… and then they walk away from the workshop with a solid portfolio of images – ready to post online on a new website, or create a sample photo album. Our goal: that you will be in LOVE with the images you get at this workshop!

BOUDOIR BFFS: We all like meeting new friends, right? Especially friends in the photography industry, who are also passionate about something that you are passionate about. At all of our workshops, it seems that our little diva attendees establish some really cool friendships with each other. We’ve seen our attendees start new Facebook groups with each other just so that they can all stay in touch after the workshop – and we always see this amazing community develop, where all of these new boudoir photography BFFs share, connect, and help each other out! Love it!

OUR STUDIO: We have a 4500 square-foot studio, and we’re opening it up to all of YOU! We’d absolutely love to have you join us here!

THE SWAG BAG: The goodies!! We have hooked you guys UP with this swag. We’ve got some amazing vendors who are giving you some amazing gifts and special deals! You’re going to receive over $500 worth of sweet hook-ups and deals!!!! Just a FEW of the awesome vendors you’ll see in your swag bag: Bay Photo | Graphi Studio | Totally Rad Actions | Shootsac | Drop It Modern

LEARN FROM US: Ok, so we are obviously not super cool, heehee! If you’ve ever watched our Youtube channel or spent any extended amount of time hanging out with us, you’ll know that we are more nerdy than cool. But in any case, we would LOVE to hang out with you for two days. If you’d like to know more about who we are and why you should learn from us, go check out our BIO.

QUESTIONS: Want to know more? Email me (Kimberlee), and I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Alright… so… Have we got you interested??? Check out this Video overview of the Boudoir Workshop:

And if you’d like to watch a more DETAILED video, showing our brave workshop attendees talking about their experiences, here is a longer video, with the unedited testimonials. If you are thinking about coming to this workshop, I HIGHLY recommend watching this. We left the video camera in the back while everyone else was hanging out in the lobby… and just let the gals have free-reign to chat and share all about what they learned. The Boudoir Divas did not have any part in the filming of this video. ;) Seriously, though, M & I can ‘talk ourselves up’ and try to convince you to come hang out with us in SD, BUT, we think that it’s way better to hear it from the mouth of our past workshop attendees. (Thanks to all of you wonderful June Workshop ladies who shared!) xoxo

So to those of you who don’t know what’s been going on in my life recently, here is a quick run-down: 1) moved to Washington state in March. 2) Got engaged. Getting married in 3 weeks. 3) Working remotely (here in Washington), and traveling back to San Diego for workshops, and to be involved with the Boudoir Divas studio there. In short, it has been a year of change, transitions, excitement, tears, saying goodbyes, and starting a new chapter of life. There are days like today when I feel so sad that I am working all by myself… especially after spending the last couple weeks in SD with the amazing Boudoir Divas San Diego staff (I LOVE those girls so much, it’s such a great team of women!)… and after spending time with my bitner (nickname for Marissa, business partner) nearly 24/7. I feel like I’m going through withdrawals. :) But then I look up at the view from my office today, with the sun shining and a light breeze hitting me off of the sound. Watching the birds flying overhead, looking at the boats and the islands that seem a stone’s throw away from the deck I’m sitting on… and I just have to pinch myself. I love my new home, and I love the man I’m going to marry in just three weeks. I miss SO many things about San Diego, but I am falling deeply in love with my new home. And that is the strange dichotomy that I am living in right now. So, those are my random rambling thoughts for you on this Friday afternoon. Hope you have a great weekend! xoxo, K

PS… here is the view that I am currently looking at as I am responding to emails, writing guest blog posts, and finishing writing the Posebook Part DEUX!

So last night, I decided it was finally time to print some images from my trips to Paris. Our first workshop there was over three years ago, and can you believe that I have not printed ONE single image from any of my three trips there? It’s one of the problems with this digital age of photography… I have millions of photos stored on a half dozen hard drives, and yet I very rarely print them out. If you shot on film back in the day, didn’t you just LOVE working in the darkroom, developing your images, and watching the MAGIC happen as your images came to life before your eyes, as you held them in your hands? I really miss that feeling. So I’m telling myself that it’s time to start printing some of my photos. I want to remember all of the amazing trips and adventures that I have been on, and someday maybe I’ll create some books that document these memories. In the meantime, though, I finally decided to bite the bullet and print a few of my favorite images from Paris to hang on the walls of my new home (when I get married!!!) I had so much fun going through the images from my first Paris trip, and I couldn’t help myself – I just had to post a few here.

SO many amazing memories from Paris! After our Paris boudoir workshops, we usually take an extra week of vacation to travel around and do some sight-seeing. These are some of my all-time FAVORITE memories… and I can’t WAIT to take my new hubby with me to Paris someday! :) PS – I’m getting married in about SIX weeks! Woo-hoo!


Also, I have to mention that we are for SURE doing a Paris Boudoir Workshop in the Spring of 2012! So, start planning and saving… the Paris workshop ALWAYS fills up VERY quickly, so make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter, and once we make the announcement (within the next couple weeks), sign up fast to secure your spot!

PS – There’s a CANVAS SALE happening right now with Bay Photo Lab – but it ends Sept 1st (ummm… that’s TODAY, can’t believe it’s already September!)… so go order your canvas prints right NOW. Seriously. Do it.

A lot of photographers ask if we ever sell large prints to our boudoir clients. You may not think it’s possible, but it IS! We DO actually sell large prints to our clients… especially artistic images that they can hang in their bedroom, master bathroom, or walk-in closet. So, if you are hoping to sell more large prints, you really need to have a sample to show your clients what type of image they ought to purchase. Order a canvas print of a black and white, beautiful artistic image, show it to your clients, and mention that they can purchase a canvas like this to hang in their walk-in closet. If you don’t ASK, you will never know whether you’ll be able to sell this product. So give it a try! Get a sample canvas print from Bay Photo, and ask your clients if they would want one. If they can see a sample, and hear you talk about the options of where they might be able to hang it, they will be able to envision having a piece of art like that in their bedroom.