Why YOU should have a custom photography session!

It's late. I should really be sleeping, as I have an awesome portrait session in the morning planned, but once something is in my head, I need to get it out before I forget it. So sleep will have to wait.

During my session with one of my awesome clients and her two daughters she was telling me how she went to a big chain portrait studio and how horrible the experience was. They waited for three hours, even though they had an appointment scheduled, and by the time it was over, she just wanted to get out of there. She didn't even look at the images after they were done. A few months ago, I experienced pretty much the same thing when I took my daughter Charlotte in for pictures. I was offered a free session, I couldn't resist. We arrived 30 minutes prior to our scheduled time, and waited two hours before she was seen. Our session was rushed because of the growing amount of people waiting for their session. So of course there was no time for Charlotte to get comfortable with the photographer beforehand. And the crying, then in turn, made her cry.

So it got me thinking, why do people choose to go to the big chain portrait studios? Perhaps it's because that they have never experienced custom, boutique photography, so they really don't know what they are missing. I'm not saying that those studios are bad, but the experiences differ vastly.

Maybe they don't know that I take the time to get to know my clients and their family before the session. Their names, their ages, their likes and dislikes. Favorite music, favorite colors, things we can talk about during their session. They also probably don't know that my attention goes to my clients 100% during their session. I'm not trying to rush you through to get to the next client, and we have time to get the great shots that you want. More often than not, I actually go over the set scheduled time to make sure we get extra images that they will love.

But maybe they don't realize just how fun a custom photography session can be. Having a photographer that knows and cares about you makes you at ease during your session, and I'm turn creates some amazing images. We laugh, we joke, we swap stories, it's a great time.

And it doesn't end just there. After the session, I go through each image and pick out the best of the best. Images that evoke emotions. They make you laugh, they may make you cry. But they are images that you will love. I create a gallery for my clients so thy can see the story of their session unfold. And even after their session, I am still there for them as a friend. Watching their family grow, staying up to date wit what's going on in their life.

Then some people choose the big chain studios over custom photography based on prices. If you are going to invest into something, invest into someone worthwhile. Do you want an image that you will keep on your desk and glance at every so often? Or do you want an image that evokes a bunch of emotions and you at so eager to share it with everyone you know? You are not paying just for images, but for the experience, expertise, and professionalism and fun that comes with custom photography.

It's basically like eating fast food everyday, then having an awesome home cooked meal with the people you love and your favorite foods.

Dear Mother Nature,

I think you may have missed the memo that we are in March. Right now it is 60 degrees. Now while I am not complaining, as I am immensely enjoying this weather, I am a bit afraid for the heat that the summer holds. But until then, I will take advantage of this awesome weather by having picnics, taking walks, dining out, and starting outdoor family sessions early!

Love Always,

Marisa

Spilling my heart out...

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind.  I have had a lot of fabulous ladies in for portraits.  I have been inspired and creative. I have been loving it. I love what I do, I seriously do. Sure there were times when I felt like giving up.  I've had nights where I stayed up all night to finish editing a wedding, and days on end getting my finances straight.  Tax time is the craziest for me, but thank heavens I am organized enough to not lose my head.

I have shot weddings, and spent the day after laid in bed because I was so sore (I have fibromyalgia, which makes physically activities a bit complicated).  I've done back to back sessions and thought I was going to mess something up.  The anxiety and fear of not delivering an image my client won't love is always on my mind.

You would think that with all the stresses, I would just stop doing it.

But I haven't given up, and I don't plan to.  With every "oh my gosh!", and "I can't believe you made me look so amazing!", with every squeal of joy and hand clap, I know that I am doing something right. Life is but a series of moments, and I have the ability to capture those moments.  Sure, I break photography rules sometimes.  Some images may not be technically perfect. But my clients love their images, and that is all that matters.

I do this because I love it. I do this because it makes others happy. And I've always been the type of person that enjoyed making everyone around me smile.  I do it because it gives me a chance to stay at home and watch my daughter grow up. 

As long as there is love and happiness, I am there to photograph it.

Fabulous Friday

Hello lovelies!!! It's Friday, which means it's time for fabulous.  Today, I am going to show you some fabulous shoes.  I am going to warn you now, I love shoes.  I love heels, peep toes, pumps, all of them.  It's kind of funny because I was never into shoes,it wasn't until about three years ago that I started like them.  But I seriously think every woman should own at least one pair of shoes that make her feel fabulous when she puts them on.  For me, that pair of shoes is my zebra print peep toe heels.  I love them, I adore them. I put them on, and I feel great.

I may not be the most fashionable person in the world, for me comfort is flip flops, a skirt, and a tank top.  But I do know that it is important to feel beautiful.  So if that means a sexy pair of shoes, then so be it!

So yes, you may notice two things. One, I really love the teal/tiffany blue color.  When I mean love it, I LOVE it.  And secondly, I am kind of obsessed with peep toe shoes! 

 

Any who, these are some great shoes to wear during your boudoir session. After all, you want to feel beautiful from head to toe!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Perfection.

Perfection.  Am I perfect? No, of course not. Are my images perfect?  Nope.  I tend to like slightly over exposed images.  Technically, I love a bit more contrast in my images.  I also break the rules on composition and cropping...A Lot.  If all of my images were technically perfect, I would be focusing more on that and less than the emotional impact of the image.

I admire a lot of photographers.  And it seriously makes me happy when my favorite photographers say that they love shooting in natural light, and that they KNOW that their images are not technically perfect.  It makes me even happier when those photographers say that they don't have studios, that they work out of their home, and that they are as frazzled as me most days.

Running a business is not easy. Especially when your business is based around being able to capture IT. 

Over the past two days I have been watching an online course delivered by the amazing Sue Bryce.  She is one of my favorite photographers.  She shoots in natural light, started her studio in her garage, and does things with such simplicity and still produces AMAZING images.  After watching her today, I decided to step out of my comfort zone. And here are the results...

{Donna} Delaware Boudoir & Glamour Photographer

Donna, Donna, Donna.  A long time ago, well actually like three years ago...I had Donna over as my first official boudoir test subject.  We did the shoot in my living room. Now let me tell you, three years...you have a lot of time to grow.  Now, I have no idea where those first images have somehow managed to escape to, but these I am super excited to show. Again we shot in my living room (i'm bit about using the space you have and making it work), and of course she rocked it.  She looked stunning, and we had fun (which I do with all of my boudoir sessions).

Best part:
Me: "Ok make sexy face"
Donna: "Um, ok"
Me: "Act like you want ALLLL of this" (me doing a random dance move indicated my entire body)
Donna: *breaks into a giggle fit*

So throughout our random giggle fits and nerd conversation, we rocked out some amazing shots!  Here they are!

{Jenny} Delaware Boudoir Photographer

Jenny I got your number! Eight, six, seven five, three, o, niiiiiiiieeeiinnee.  Yeah, I've always wanted to do that. So what can I say about Miss Jenny. 1) She is awesome 2) She is a budding photographer 3) She is a fellow geek (as you will soon see in two of the pictures below). We had a blast at her session, and hey! She also has some super cute clothes. I think she came with more outfits/accessories than anyone I have photographed so far. But that is always good! More to pick from means more fabulous looks. And her hair, super duper cute! Jenny rocked it out, and exuded confidence. Like I said, we had an absolute blast. Here she is!

{Maria} Delaware Boudoir & Matenrity Photographer

Over the past week I had the opportunity to photograph quite a few gorgeous ladies in my home. So of course with their permission, I am going to blog them to showcase just how fabulous they are.  But, how could I choose who to blog first. I of course can just go in the order of the sessions and editing, but that would be too easy.  So I just let my daughter hit the keyboard until one of the pictures came up, and that is how I made my selection!

Ok, so Maria. She is super cute and super sweet. I actually photographed her wedding in January 2011 (when I was 3 months pregnant).  So I was glad to get her back to photograph her new baby bump.  I've done maternity, I've done boudoir, but I have never done both together.  And let me tell you, it is something that I highly recommend you get done.  So much so that I am going to offer a special collection for a combo maternity/boudoir session!  But before I start ranting, let me just show you how gorgeous she is!

I told you she was gorgeous didn't I!  I now wish that when I was pregnant, I had something like this done. It's so important, especially during pregnancy to feel confident, sexy, and gorgeous. And let me tell you, Maria rocked it out!



I'll be posting more images from my fabulous sessions, as well as other awesome content.  So stay tuned. And if you are interested in the maternity/boudoir combo collection, then shoot me an email!  I would love to hear from from. 

Here we go!

Wow. I can't believe I am actually at this point.  Photography is nothing new to me. I have been photographing weddings and portraits for a few years now for my business, Marisa Taylor Photography, but boudoir is definitely something new.  It started with my love of the 1950's and pin ups, and a few years back, I took a stab at it, but at the time things were not lining up right, and I had to put it on the back burner.  Now, I am finally able to push this new part of my business, and I am so excited to share Be Boudoir by Marisa with you.  It has been a long time coming, but it's something that has finally come to fruition.

So for the first blog post for Be Boudoir, I would like to start with a bit of background about me, and why I chose to do this.  You might want to grab a tissue.

Up until high school, I used to have extremely low self confidence.  I was also overweight, goofy, and a huge tomboy.  I was made fun of, called ugly, bullied... the whole nine. Most of the people that know me now would probably find this to be shocking, because now I am usually the most sociable, confident person that they know, but it wasn't always like that.  I'm not sure what happened in high school, but I blossomed and came into my own. I guess I stopped caring about what everyone thought, and figured out that it was only high school, it was only a small blip in my lifeline, that in the end really wouldn't matter.  I figured that once I graduated, a lot of those people wouldn't matter, and with that high school was pretty smooth after that.

I always had people tell me that I was pretty, and how confident I was and such even after I graduated high school.  While these things made me happy, it still left me feeling a bit unsettled. Why? Because they would normally say "For a big girl you are so pretty", or "For a plus size woman, you have a lot of confidence." It sort of notated that if you were a big girl you could not be pretty or confident.  I even had one guy tell me, after turning him down for a date, that I was too confident for my size, and I should take any man I could get.

Some violent words may have been exchanged after that, but I digress.

In 2009 I was at my heaviest. I was 400lbs and a size 28. I am not going to say I was unhappy, but I was definitely unhealthy.  Even at that size, I would flip flop between feeling super confident and then feeling totally unhappy with the way my body looked.  Since then I have lost about 180lbs, and there are days when I still struggle with self confidence, the way I look,and the way I dress.  Especially after having my daughter!  Some days I feel awesome, other days not so much.

The point of Be Boudoir is to make you feel beautiful.  I don't care what size you are, whether you are a 2 or a 22, inside of you there is a gorgeous, confident woman, and I want her in front of my camera.  With the women that I have photographed so far, a lot of them have told me that they were nervous about the way they would look, but were more than surprised when I delivered them gorgeous photos. It took me to have my own boudoir photos done to appreciate just how much a little bit of self pampering and self love can make a difference. Ladies, this is something that I highly suggest you do.  Trust me, it makes a world of difference. 

So...here are some of my images from my session!!!

I also have a bunch of outtakes. Apparently, that goofy streak has never left. Here is one just for laughs.

Ok, so now that the sappy part is over, let's get into the fun stuff. What is going to be featured on this blog?

• Gorgeous, fabulous, confident women!
• Themed boudoir shoots!
• Announcements for boudoir marathons!
• Inspiration for sexy, fabulous outfits!
• and more!..

Yes, using an exclamation point was totally necessary.  It shows you just how super awesome everything is!

And with that, I am going to head off. Stay tuned, I have quite a few gorgeous women that I need to blog that you definitely don't want to miss!