The Boudoir Timeline: How Long It All Takes

So you’re thinking about treating yourself and booking a boudoir shoot — hell yeah!  I know a lot of clients do boudoir for a specific future event, so let’s break down the timeline of your session, from when you make that first email inquiry to when you have your gorgeous photos in hand.  I want to make sure you have a ton of info before you book your shoot, so I’m going to talk about each step of the boudoir experience with me, and how much time you can anticipate it taking overall.

Step 1: The Inquiry Email

Even though I’m now considered a geriatric millennial (not gonna lie, I lowkey kind of love this nickname), I’m still attached at the hip to my email during normal business hours.  I’m in “the office” — aka my kitchen table — Monday through Friday, from the morning until about 4p.  I’m currently taking prerequisite classes for grad school, so I get all business activity done in the morning and afternoon before taking the nights to study.

With all that said, you can expect a response to your initial inquiry email within 24 hours during the week.  If you reach out on the weekends or during a holiday, I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m back in the office on the next business day.  We’re all about that work-life balance in 2022, y’all.

In my response to your inquiry, I’ll send my full pricing guide so you get an idea of what kinds of products you might want to take home with you, and what the whole experience might cost.  I’m very transparent with my pricing.  I list exact prices for all products so there’s no “surprise!” when you get to your reveal session.  Everything you see on my price sheet goes directly into your official contract when you book with me.  Those prices are locked and loaded.

Step 2: The Quickie Phone Consult

Now that you’ve seen my pricing, our next step in the boudoir process is a quick phone consult.  These are also scheduled during normal business hours during the week.  It lasts anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, and you can ask any question you like.

During this time, I typically break down what a day of shooting is like with me while touching on the following most-asked-about boudoir topics:

• What to wear and bring: accessories, shoes, outfits
• Hair and makeup: DIY or book my glam team?
• Posing guidance during the shoot: I got you!
• When to expect photos after the shoot is completed

No question is off-limits.  This time is for you to become better acquainted with me (both as a photographer and as a human), my home studio, and how we can work together to get you some bangin photos.  I want you to feel as comfortable as possible before walking into my home!

If we’re vibing and you’re ready to book, we’ll nail down a date and I’ll send over the two items required to hold your date in my calendar: the contract and retainer invoice.  If you’ve selected my glam team for hair and makeup, I’ll get working on booking them next.

Step 3: It’s Shoot Day, Baby!

Now for the fun part!  For reference, all shoots in my home studio take place in the morning.  I shoot Monday through Friday and some Saturdays.  You can expect to arrive at 830a if you’re getting both hair and makeup done with my glam team.  If you’re DIYing, I’ll probably have you arrive closer to 930a or 10a.  Here’s how long each service takes if booking through me:

• Professional hairstyling: 30 minutes
• Professional makeup application: 30-45 minutes
• Both professional hair and makeup: 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes

After you’ve been glamified, we chit-chat for a few minutes about which outfit you’d like to start with, and which you’d like to end with.

The shoot itself will take at least an hour and a half.  Overall, you can expect the shoot day to last at least three hours.  I’ll have you done by noon no matter what!

Step 4: And now we wait…

…until I have time to edit your photos and get them ready for you!

I try and get your photos edited as fast as I can.  Generally, I need about 2-3 weeks to get your images polished and ready for your virtual reveal.  If you’re in a time crunch and my schedule allows for it, I may be able to turn them around faster than my usual time.  This will depend on the time of year and just how fast you need the photos.

(Note that this may be subject to a rush edit fee of $200, and potentially upgrading your shipping of any printed products (where possible) to 2-day or next-day; market rates apply.)

Step 5: The Virtual Reveal and Ordering Session

It’s here!  The moment we’ve all been waiting for…your images!

This will be the first time you see the photos from your session.  We’ll do a screenshare over Zoom (not the most romantic, I know — thanks covid), and the call will last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes.  You can expect the call to last longer if you’re purchasing an heirloom album, as we’ll lay out the images on the pages in this time as well.

Okay, back to the fun part — your photos!  They’ll be edited (e.g. exposure and skin tone adjustment, straightening/cropping, etc.), but I won’t have retouched your final form just yet.  I won’t have don’t any airbrushing or blemish removal until you pick out your images.  I want you to have the most creative control possible at this point in the process, so I let you decide how much (or how little) retouching you want.

Once you’ve selected which images you’d like to take home with you, I’ll get started on retouching ASAP.  As soon as your invoice is paid, I’m off to work in Photoshop!  I’m a faster retoucher than I am an editor, so you can expect these to be ready within the next 1-3 business days.

After you’ve stamped your final approval on the retouching of your images, I’ll order your products immediately.  Here are some general timelines for how long certain products take in production and which shipping methods they use:

• Heirloom albums: 3-5 business days to print, FedEx Ground
• Glass print boxes: 2-4 business days to print, FedEx Ground
• (Coming soon!) Velvet print boxes: 2-4 business days to print, FedEx Ground
• Custom retro viewfinders: 7-9 business days to print, USPS First Class Mail
• 8×10 matted or mounted prints: 3-5 business days to print, FedEx Ground

It’s important to note that these times are all approximate.  Covid sure has thrown a wrench in shipping times, so I always caution clients to make sure they’re booking their session with ample time to have products made afterwards.  You can always upgrade your shipping to 2-day (+$30) or next-day (+$50) if you’re working with a tight schedule.

Overall, I recommend booking your shoot at least 6 weeks out from your deadline.  I want to make sure you get your products in your hands in time, stress-free!  Of course, not all schedules can be perfect all the time, so if you’re reaching out and your deadline is closer than six weeks, we’ll figure something out.  If I can get you in without adding stress to the process, we’ll do it!  Make sure to follow my Instagram, as I keep my bio updated to show next available dates I have open.

And that’s the ballgame!  Five steps for seriously sexy boudoir photos.  If you want to get in on this whole shebang, feel free to get in touch with me here.  Can’t wait to connect!

-Ash