One of the first things women ask us is “What is the cost or what do you charge for a boudoir photo session or a nude portrait?” We need to give them some perspective first for it to be relevant.
Warren Buffet’s famous quote, “Price is what you pay, Value is what you get” is a great insight.
If you have been researching boudoir photography, then you have probably noticed two things. There is quite a range of prices, that might not make sense and that boudoir is generally more expensive than regular photography.
Like all things, the phrase, “you get what you pay for!” is true. Calgary boudoir photography is like intimate photography anywhere. The price of sessions and enlargements (or digital images) reflects the skill and experience of the photographer.
At the higher levels it will also go up a bit more about reputation. The more well known, awarded, or sought after, the more they will charge.
I met a photographer years ago who traveled in wealthy circles. He was based out of Mexico, he rarely did more than one session a month with his fee all-in starting at $125,000. He delivered an over-the-top experience that often included flying his clients to exotic locations.
Back in the regular world, you will find offerings from amateurs or enthusiasts with little real experience to photographers, like me, who have specialized in intimate photography for years.
There are lots of variables in what you get for your money. Here are some of them:
- Session time. This can range from 15 min (I can not even imagine how rushed that would feel.) to a day. I work with a 4 hour window plus makeup time and add-ons times like Body Fire or Body Painting.
- Makeup and hair. We have the artists come to the studio. Others have you do your own, or go a salon first. If done in house, it is usually charged as an extra fee.
- Change limits. We have unlimited outfit changes. Many will have a limit of from one outfit to five. Many of our clients don’t bother with clothing so that isn’t really relevant.
- Studio location. We built a custom studio with heated floors, 12 foot ceilings, makeup area with lots of sets and props. A slice of Hollywood. You will find some use a room in their own home, which is popular, rent hotel rooms or an Airbnb or come to your home.
- Exotic Locations. Which could be the mountains or a lake. It could be flying with a client to the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Mexico or the other side of Canada, which we have done.
- Custom things. We created a bed made of balloons with an arch for a client. Another special set we create is a tack room with saddles and tack gear.
- Artist add-ons. In addition to the base session fee, we offer bringing in body painters, Shibari bondage artists and even a Fire Master for our Body Fire experience.
Part of the pricing will be reflected in the photographer’s gear. Beginner photographers will have a basic camera and work with available light. Experienced photographers work with professional cameras delivering higher quality images. While they can easily work with available light in magical ways, they will most often have studio lights and equipment which can range into the tens of thousands of dollars.
This segways into photographers being small business owners. All their gear, training – overhead, all are calculated into the price of sessions and prints.
It’s like when you buy groceries. The cost of a can of peas includes the cost of manufacturing, staff, shelves, electricity and heat, marketing and so on.
With photographers we have computers that have to be replaced often. Camera gear, with a good body and several lenses can cost over $10,000. Lighting gear, insurance, all the usual office stuff. Then staff, or contract workers all need to be added in.
While fllm had recgonized costs digital images are not free. We can reuse digital cards but there is a downstream cost While there is no longer a film cost, digital files need to be processed, cataloged and stored, and presentation shows created and so on. We have clients coming back for images from sessions taken as long ago as 1982! Our computer storage needs are in the 10s of Terabytes.
Then there is the ongoing cost of training, updating skills, practising and experimenting. We all put in lots of time to refine our abilities, be innovative and offer more each year.
A lot goes on behind the scenes too. The client just sees The 4 Moments of Interaction: planning, the session, your viewing and pickup. Between those times is set building- session setup, paperwork, booking staff, processing images, retouching and enhancing, printing and so on.
We invest about 10 to 13 hours into each client
But the value, the experience, the priceless images you end up holding and cherishing! This is what you are really looking for. This is what will determine, for you, if the investment is worth it.
You are investing in more than just the session and images. You are investing you. You are setting a personal value of worth for more confidence, for the celebration of you, to be body embracing and extraordinarily empowered.
You are worth this!
At this point, you have to consider why you are doing this. If it’s for a short fun time with some digital images to go with it, a lesser skilled photographer can deliver that at a cheaper price.
There is a key differences between a regular portrait session and boudoir or nude experience. With a regular portrait, if the pose or lighting is off, it is just a bad photo. With a boudoir or nude, you feel more exposed, more out there, more vulnerable. It is more personal, a bad photo here can be emotionally devastating.
So many of our clients tell us about past bad experiences with other “boudoir photographers” before coming to us. These experiences stopped them from trying a boudoir session again for years and their self esteem suffered in the meantime.
The further you get from an 20 year old’s body, in shape, size and age, the more you want an experienced photographer. A photographer that won’t pose everyone as if they are 20 years old. Who has the experience to bring your unique beauty out.
Your best images and experience will be found when you focus on the value of the experience and the quality of the images.
Years ago, I had a client not hire me because I was not charging enough, which baffled me at first. She explained that in her experience the more you charge the more you can deliver, the better experience you can deliver. Now, she said, your work looks great. I don’t know what will be missing until I get into it. Then I will discover what you can’t deliver. It will be because your pricing is not enough to include that uncertainty. Years later, after I had refined what we do more, she returned, and found we could provide everything she needed.
For some, only my friend in Mexico at $125,000 an experience can provide all that is needed.
You will find a Calgary boudoir photographer that offer session and print pricing along with others that offer packages. We offer both al carte and collections. There is a wild variance in pricing,
Be less distracted by pricing and focus more on the personal value you are looking for.
You are worth it. What you get, what you experience, should be priceless, it should be a timeless reflection of you that goes deeper than a snapshot.
Would you like to book your free planning session now? You will never be younger than you are at this moment.
Oh, here is a gift for you for reading all the way to the end. When you call, tell us you read this blog to the end and we will give you $100 off of your session or image collection.
I am excited to show you how dazzling you are!
