Cheap boudoir photographer? Don’t let the price alone be your decision maker. Sure, saving money where possible and when it makes sense is great. Boudoir photography, however, is not one of those times when you should look for a low price. When it comes to boudoir, having a low-cost boudoir option is not a good idea, ever. There are many ways boudoir photographers cut costs to offer a cheap package, and they are not what you deserve.
Cheap Boudoir Photographers Place Strict Time Limits
You might have heard that something priced cheap was probably done quickly, that is precisely what happens in boudoir. An affordable boudoir photographer offers their packages with strict time limits, usually one hour shoots. One hour is not enough, even if you only have one or two outfits, unless you are a professional model. Sticking with the two outfits, if you have little to no experience in front of a camera, on average, the session will last around 3 hours. You have to remember that boudoir is not just about having some photos taken. Boudoir is a whole experience; that’s why I refer to them as sessions and not just photoshoots. Unless you’ve done it a million times, you’re not going to walk into the room and be super comfortable. It takes time; we need to start things slow & work our way up. We also just won’t be going fully at it with no stops, we need breaks along the way. Strict time slot systems offer no breaks.
Strict time limits add unneeded stress. You might already be anxious, why add time to the equation? Time stress creates a feeling of pressure and tenses you up. I know it does for me, that’s why I dislike timed anything. It creates that sensation of panic, that there’s not enough time, that if you don’t finish before the time limit you lose. Just think back to your school days, everyone hated a timed exam, you might think you have enough time until you get close to the end, and you have to rush everything that’s left. Now imagine this in boudoir, what if you’re approaching your two hours, and you are just now feeling comfortable, your photographer lets you know that you have 20 minutes left. All those shots you wanted to have done can no longer be done in a relaxed state, nor would it be possible. The images that were taken, probably show you weren’t loose & comfortable, which means they won’t be as sexy as you hoped for.
Being stressed is the complete opposite of boudoir. A full 180, boudoir is about being relaxed, sexy, & empowered. Boudoir is about letting your true self come out in an intimate, nonjudgmental zone. Boudoir is not about being rushed, nor is it only about the pictures. As stated before, boudoir is an experience. Therefore, I don’t time cap my sessions. I offer my clients up to a full 24 hours if needed and even more depending on how fast apart my next session is, which is usually 48-72 apart.
You see how two hours is not enough, so let’s not even get into the 30 minute or 1-hour “sessions.” Cheap boudoir photographers jam multiple photoshoots into one day to make up for the low cost. They do not give you their full attention. They are more worried about your session ending in time before the next client comes in. Their business model is like a factory, and you’re on the conveyor belt. You deserve better.
Cheap Boudoir Photographers Neglect Editing
You might be thinking about what I said earlier, “…boudoir is not just about having some photos taken.” Why am I mentioning editing? Every single client I’ve had wants to have or at least see their images. The photography captures the experience and gives you the ability to see, not just feel. You get to see yourself in your most natural form. You’ll see the confidence & the allure you have. It can serve as a reminder to know your worth. As a reminder of one of the best experiences of your life. More obviously, you might also want your images to share or gift to someone. Let me tell you what cheap boudoir photographers do with your pictures after they are taken. They will do one or more of the following:
1) No editing at all
While this isn’t always a terrible thing, especially if the picture is perfect straight from the camera, or you want to keep the image as natural as possible as when doing a bare session. A professional photographer always tweaks at least one thing, whether that be lighting or the crop. Low-cost boudoir photographers try to sell the idea that they are so good they don’t need to edit. That’s just not true. It’s just another way of telling you that they don’t care, they got paid, and you are no longer relevant to them. They will just hand over the photos as-is. That is completely unacceptable. You deserve attention after the session as well. Apart from taking good care of your images, I will always be here for you, whether it’s photography-related or not. You will have access to all my personal contact options so that we can keep in touch. Boudoir photography is exceptionally intimate; a lot of sensitive information may be shared. I don’t want you to feel like all I did was take pictures of you and move on, because that is not who I am. It wouldn’t feel good knowing you were photographed in little to no clothing in such a vulnerable state, and you can’t get a hold of them unless you have more money to spend, right?
Back to editing. There are also some that try to convince you not to have retouches done because it won’t be you. That’s also further than the truth. Think of photo retouching like makeup; it’s more of an enhancement, not a cover-up. Unless you’re trying to add or reduce the size of a body part, it’s still you. It’s a touch-up to help highlight your best features; many times, you may have a temporary mark or blemish that is certainly not what you always have, so it would make sense to remove those. Even women who are on top of taking care of themselves, think models, they still need some retouching. Don’t be tricked into thinking you are not real for having some touch-ups done to your images. After all, boudoir is professional, not amateur photography. The photos are meant to look like they are for magazines. What do all pictures in magazines have in common? Edits.
2) Quick & dirty editing
There are many tools that photographers can use to auto-retouch their images. The most popular form & something I see in many photographers’ portfolios are images that ran under a tool that detects and makes your skin “plastic.” Plastic skin is not to be confused with airbrushed skin. Plastic skin effect gives the look of perfectly smooth skin. I find these edits difficult to look at. I cringe when I see them because they are nowhere near real. There are also things known as presets, profiles, & filters. These are set to do a default set of actions or adjustments in order to edit your images with a single click. You are familiar with filters, just select one & done, your image has a new look. The problem with these is that they are not tuned to a specific image. They are super easy to spot because some areas will be under or overexposed. Some areas may even go without any edits, which also looks crappy. I’ve seen photographers edit images in under a couple of minutes because they just throw in a bunch of premade edits. Even worse when the photographers run a premade editing script to edit a batch of images with one click.
3. Outsource the editing
Outsourcing is when someone outside the business comes in and does a task. Usually, the ones assigned the task are overseas in Asia, often India or Pakistan. They work for prices that are seen as dirt cheap here in the states. I am talking about a dollar per hour for the desperate ones. Cheap boudoir photographers pay someone these low prices to do their edits for them. Sometimes a penny per image! Now they aren’t always horrible edits, but many times they also use tools & filters to do the work fast. It’s just a common thing when you want something cheap. Things are done as quickly as possible. That isn’t the only problem with this one. Your very intimate images are being shared with a stranger across the world; they will most likely keep them. Best-case scenario, they might just pleasure themselves to them, whether you find that disturbing or a compliment is up to you. Worse though, they could share them on a p**n website or create a fake/catfish account using your images to make money and or extort you.
I know you now want to run away from cheap boudoir photographers. Thankfully, I am not cheap! You are more than welcome to contact me so we can set up a true boudoir session.