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Calling all Bookworms….
I created pure magic with this set Boushie Babes!!!
Lighting, the books, the moss, and flowers, the live plants!!!!
We totally knocked this set out of the park, and the plant room is now more!!!
Don’t forget to get your shots on this amazing set when you book your session.
So check out this video I made of the making of this new set:
As a photographer you have one of 2 choices, learn how to edit, or pay someone else to do it for you. Let’s start by saying that you at least need to know the basics to have decent photos.
For pro’s, it’s more of leveling up your game as the tech grows. I know 4 years ago when I got serious about photography and making a career out of it, I couldn’t do much in either Lightroom or photoshop. Now, the apps have grown so much that it’s easy to do things I had to pay an editor to do for me.
There are also bonus apps or plug-ins, even presets that do amazing things with the click of a button. One such plug-in is Portraiture, which is basically in simple terms an A.I. program that does skin smoothing to the next level without having to know all the things, worth the expense of the app though.
Take the above photo, and look at how the 2 halves are different images. One half is really light making the wall look crappy, the other I changed the lighting on the wall to darken it, and then did my basic skin smoothing, and editing presets, I played with the highlights on her skin to bring in some color so she wasn’t so whitewashed.
Though I will say this because I changed the wall color, this becomes a composite image, even if I don’t use photoshop, so be aware to change colors or parts of images, that’s a higher-end image, and usually reflects that in the cost, as they take more time on the back end to create.
My style of editing is my style and changes as I learn and grow as an artist.
The image above is another from the same set, I exposed for highlights on the black sheets which did blow out the skin tones and the lights. to correct that in the post, I made several masks, selecting her body, the wall, and the black sheet. The sheet I wanted to leave it alone for the most part as it came out perfect, the wall I darkened again to make it moodier, her body I corrected the blown-out highlights and smooth the skin tones, and matched them with the lighting.
Oh, and did you know I have learned more since I edited these images, and upgraded my tech as well? It’s a journey, not a destination. Walk with me and let’s help each other grow.
In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.
Meet Sharnai, a young woman just really starting to dive into who she is, and not who the world wants her to be. She is learning to embrace herself on this journey of life. She has struggled with her body image as well, struggling with loving her body as it is instead of how she wants it to be.
She came in as a Giveaway Runner up and got a few extras for her session. As we were in hair and makeup we got to chatting and realized she works with another client of mine. We instantly hit it off and became fast friends. So much so that I start my moon meeting because of her asking for a safe place to learn and explore all things mystical. So, ladies know this I am telling you all this because I am striving to create that safe place for all to just be themselves, and be loved for just being not doing.
Her session was amazing, we had so much fun playing with lights, and her outfits. I loved tons of her images, and what’s even more important she loved her images. But don’t take my word for it…here’s what she had to say about it:
Here are just a few images from her session, she killed it for sure….
Ladies,
She won because she was part of my VIP group, it’s a ladies ONLY I created it so we can connect and grow together with love, and connection. If you haven’t done so yet join us:
You get first dibs on ALL deals and discounts!!! And it’s usually the only way to win any of my giveaways, and you don’t want to miss those!!!
I am so honored and grateful to even be in the running!!! Remember it’s not a popularity contest, you voice does matter!!!
Go vote for Boushie Babes Photography now!!!!
You can find us in the Panhandle section, under portrait photographers.
Ladies (only),
Have you joined my VIP Group Boushie Babes Haven? I am doing a gift basket giveaway to celebrate!!! Go here to join now:
In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.
Meet Sheryl, yes you have seen her before, she came in for a love your body session, and started to follow me, then she jumped on the chance to do another session with my Black Friday Giveaway I did.
She had outfits and had finished her leg tattoo as well as growing more into herself than she was in February when she came in before. She also had found a new romantic interest and wanted to explore who she is becoming even more so we did. She also retired and wanted to live more, and experience more than before.
During this session, she was more relaxed, and she fell into the guidance I was giving even more than before. So, ladies sometimes it takes more than once to find all your flavors. That’s why I always recommend coming in more than once to discover your flavors over time. Here is what Sheryl had to say about this round:
Images from this session
Today I am going to talk about how we think about things, I used to think I would never do this or do that…
Now I think oh when I do this or do that….
It’s not a matter of if it’s a matter of when.
I wanted to go to 1 live in-person workshop last year, you know what I got to go to 2!!!
I had to really invest in myself to get to the next level in my art, so I did. I did the work for sure, no it was not easy, but it was so worth it. below is a clip of the 2 shoot days and what I was able to create in such a small amount of time.
Now back to the manifesting part, the biggest change for me is when I did the deeper work, I was doing Neuro therapy, affirmations, vision boards, frequency alignment, and clearing my own energy. It’s a ton of hard work, to get to the point I am today, where I not only dream about what I want, I am taking action making plans, and making it happen!!!
I got out of my own way and changed the way I thought about everything. I have been to the beach more in the last few years than I ever have, I went to 2 workshops, I chased waterfalls, and I created the life I wanted to live instead of settling for the cards I was dealt.
So let me ask you this, how are you creating the life you want instead of settling?
My art matters to me, I don’t want to be like every other photographer. I want to capture the human condition!!! So, I have invested over 25,000 on my education and my art. I invest in growing to where I want to be instead of investing in staying where I am.
How are investing in yourself?
Now I will share more from the last workshop I invested in myself and my art.
Yes, I do that, I love men just as much as I love my female clients. Rex was helping out at the Stripped Down workshop, and was amazing he made us work hard to get any emotion out of him. While at his set, we had the amazing Denise Birdsong too to help us if needed. I for sure used my ace when it was my turn, I had a migraine that morning and wasn’t at 100% so I used some pointers from the master herself.
In the video below you can watch as she gives me pointers and helps with posing since my brain was slow and in the pressure cooker of the workshop, I wanted to get as much as I possibly could from it. You can also watch how it takes a bit longer to get most guys there as far as emotion, I had to coach more, and show more, after all, you can’t go there unless I can show you what it looks like myself.
Rex was amazing and really made us all work for the emotions from him, though I think I got some amazing images of him in just 5 minutes folk, just 5 minutes and this is what I got:
In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.
Meet Maggie, a 37-year-old woman who had gotten mixed messages about self-worth through out her life. Still struggling to love herself more, she wanted to come in and celebrate her Dirty 30’s before they were over. As a bigger lady wanted to heal some of her stuff with an empowerment session.
We met for her style session and hit it off, I knew her session was going to be epic, and man it was hot for sure. She wanted balloons as part of her session, I was happy make it happen. We had so much fun just doing hair and makeup it ran over, her session lasted a bit longer too because she pre-paid and selected more outfits as one of the bonuses, along with a 11x14 print. This is why I do one session a day, for the extras I can provide.
Like we sat one set for almost an hour playing with balloons. She had so many images with so much variety she had a hard time narrowing it down. She was so happy to get her images the same day since she pre-paid, she got her digitals later that same day. Her album and wall art a week later. Now that’s what I call service. Here are some of her favs from her session:
Here is what she had to say about her session in her own words:
Have you ever heard the saying boutique run studio, a luxury or full-service studio, and wondered what it meant? How about a shoot-and-burn, or all-inclusive studio? Does all this sound like Greek to you? I mean what does all of that even mean anyways? Does this leave you feeling confused?
A ‘Shoot & Burn’ photographer does exactly that – “shoots” beautiful images, taking multiple angles of very few poses. They will do quick re-touching or simple “bulk” editing many times washing out details and making skin look plastic. Their last step is to “burn” the images to a disk or flash drive. This allows the client to take their images to any printing firm or use their home printer. At the end of a brief photo session, you will receive 30+ images of similar-looking, poorly edited photos.
‘Shoot & Burn’ photography can be likened to a fast-food restaurant or a production line – where the photographer serves a high volume of customers, spending only a short while with each one and providing a limited choice of medium to low-quality products.
Although they seem to have a successful business, they have the ‘quantity over quality’ model of business, aiming to get a couple of hundred shoots a year. But many ‘shoot & burn’ photographers struggle to make ends meet because in order to get the necessary volume of customers through their doors, they are not charging appropriately for their time and talent.
Personalized Care- The photographer takes the time to get to know you, your family, and your needs. We provide a high-end service that we customize for each client. We only take on a small number of clients each month because of the time we spend on each family.
Printed Artwork- A big part of providing a boutique experience is delivering finished artwork. And not just finished artwork but the artwork of heirloom quality that will live with your family for generations. Again another food reference, fast food verse that fine dining at a steak house or 5-star restaurant.
Specialty- If you’re working with a boutique photographer, you are likely working with someone who has specialized in the type of portraiture you are seeking. For example, I specialize in Boudoir, and fine art nudes, with emotive photography.
Pampering- I am still working on this one as I build out my studio space but a boutique experience will provide you with the option of hair and make-up and potentially a wardrobe. This way, all you have to do is show up and the rest is taken care of for you. We do have a small client closet for use and it grows every year.
Fully guided sessions, from styling to hair and make-up, to expert coaching and direction during your session, not just smile and look pretty, full coaching and direction to get amazing images that showcase the different flavors of you.
For some consumers, this level of service is not what they want or need. Some consumers are happy with receiving high-resolution digital images and creating their own albums or artwork. Some don’t see the value in this level of service. Some need to prioritize other expenses because hiring a boutique photographer is definitely an investment. As boutique photographers, we are here to serve as guides to our clients and do the creative work for them. We’re the photographers for the busy family who prioritizes service over doing it themselves.
I am a Boutique studio, I love to pamper my clients more, and I love collaborating with each client to create artwork of them that they want to hang up for all to see. I love giving you the finished product, not just digitals, I serve you more, and I wouldn’t do it any other way, it feels too cheap for Boushie Babes to be anything but boutique.
Did you know we offer men’s intimate as well? We do, I have offered them since the begging I just don’t get model releases for much of it as it can get steamy.
This is macro, just a normal guy, who struggles with his self-image. Usually in the band on stage, but totally shy in front of the camera. Men need love too!!! He volunteered to help us out during the Stripped Down workshop this fall. He was nervous as could be at the start of the day, but by the end, he felt like a new man, he felt handsome, and attractive for the frits time in a long time.
Here is a behind-the-scenes from the stripped-down workshop I went to in September this is a clip of the 2 times I got to shoot with Marco, a total of 10 minutes.
So, regardless of gender, here at Boushie Babes everyone gets pampered. In fact, most of the time men need a bit more pampering in the way of compliments than most of my woman clients.
Whether you need a new headshot, social media content, branding, or only fans, I can help you get images you will love and so will everyone else. I only had 10 minutes with Marco, image what I can do with more time..
In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.
Meet Sandra, or Sandi as she prefers, she came in to celebrate herself and to get pampered after one hell of a year. She lost her husband this last summer after taking care of him while he was sick. She also is a social worker and works with adults needing more help. So, you can imagine she really needed the day to just find herself again. She is just doing her best to raise her son, grieving a major loss, and trying to live life to the fullest as tomorrow is never promised.
She isn’t used to taking care of herself, so her style session was fun, at first she was shy, unsure, and maybe a bit timid, but in the end, we were chatting like old friends. We found a few good things and talked about how she wanted makeup and hair.
Her session was amazing she showed up with her hot rollers in ready for makeup, and her hair was easy just a quick brushing out, then we got to play. I got to see different faces of her, and show her so many sides of her she doesn’t get to see, and at 50 she really needed to see how beautiful she still is.
So without further a do, here are some her favorites from her session:
What she had to say about her session in her own words:
Yes, of course, I offer pre-payment plans, these come with bonuses such as an extra set and outfits to wall art valued at over $400. I know tons of you wouldn’t be able to have this luxury experience without payment plans which is why I offer my pre-payment plans, I don’t want you to have to wait after the session to get your images back, and I love having a fast turn around time, one of the fastest in the northwest, what I call a win-win.
All in-house plans only go 12 months of equal payments.
For larger collections(queenly and up) 1/2 is due as a deposit, then 12 equal payments of the remaining amount.
For smaller collections(blush-Princess), 1/3 is due as a deposit, and then the rest is broken into 12 equal payments. This keeps monthly payments doable for all.
Late payments, there will be a $20 fee per late payment.
Products are delivered after final payment.
All sales are final, due to the personalized nature of the work.
Financing is available through PayPal, Klarna, and Afterpay. (This is your responsibility if you need more options than I offer in-house, I need poof pre-approval for those listed here).
Payment due dates are dependent on when your session is so plan accordingly.
Prices and terms are non-negotiable.
Quite simply, very limited. I had to limit the number, ladies, in total honesty, because in the past clients have stopped paying after about 6 months because they have moved on to the next thing, something came up, or life got in the way, and they have lost interest in their images, which leaves me hunting them down, bugging them, leaving me feeling icky, and getting in trouble with my accountant. Not a win-win scenario and I want a win-win in my life and yours.
Ladies, I do what I can to keep this amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as affordable as I can. I am glad to say I only had to raise my session fees this last year. I am grateful for one of you and your continued support.
Much love,
Accalia
Boushie Babes Photography
Well, I do for one…..
I admit, since covid, I haven’t done them often enough. I wanted to share today about the last giveaway we did, right before we do another giveaway for the holidays!!!
So, what did the winner get? A fully guided boudoir session, professional hair and makeup, professional editing, and 50 digital images valued at over $5,000!!!
Say What!?!
mhm….That’s right she won a prize of over five grand!!!
So next week when I release the deets of my next giveaway you better be on it!!! Or this won’t be you.
But let me tell you about her session, she has come in before and comes in often to work on her self-love more and more. Since she has been in and her first session we got witchy, and I knew it would be hard to top, so we went outdoors to a waterfall, and then came back to the studio for the all-new black set!!!
We got over 1,000 images for her session, she called in reinforcements to help us narrow them down. So below are some of her images and a few links to the behind-the-scenes blogs I wrote about this session.
In this blog, I will show you a few videos of my waterfall session with our Giveaway winner. She had come in before for a full session in the studio, and I knew we couldn’t top her witchy session, so we went outdoors, which was perfect for both of us, we needed to get out and reconnect.
We planned for the end of August, so water levels weren’t too high, fall and later summer are the best times around north Idaho usually. For waterfall sessions. Unless you go south a bit. We headed out early that morning for the waterfall it was an hour away.
We got their storm clouds everywhere, it was chilly and the water was cold, but I knew e could still have an amazing session and we did!!! We laughed, slipped, got wet, and got dusty, but so much fun, and so many good shots too!!!
She bought outfits from Sheen.com, for hella cheap, and they look amazing!!!
Tips for waterfall shot:
cloudy days of summer are your friend, golden hour or blue hour as well, depending on the looks you want.
Stay away from noon, unless you love a good white-washed image.
Zoom lenses are your friend, use them.
Know your camera.
Have poses in mind or practice beforehand, over the water you hear nothing.
Tripods are a wonderful tool to use especially for selfies.
Carry towels and robes.
Late summer and early fall are the best times around here, avoid spring runoff.
Guess who that is above….
It’s me, Accalia, the photographer and owner of Boushie Babes. Yes, I totally practice what I preach and get in front of the camera. I don’t just hide behind the camera. I am always striving to be better than I was yesterday, and this year I have seen some major growth in every area of my life, so ladies, keep going, it does pay off one day.
I have been studying the Stripped Down Method now for 3 years of the 4 I have been in business. Part of the methodology is the embodiment, showing my client what I want, not only coaching and directing them.
I have loved learning this method, it’s been a game changer for my art. I will show you a bit of a glow up below are some of my very first selfies as I got started….
Some pretty images, I was happy at the time, but as I learned more and more, I had to find a better way. So I did, I found Stripped Down. I took the online first, I wasn’t making much and had to charge it. I did it, I saw growth, as you can see below my first round of SD. More emotion, better editing, growth….
I still wasn’t where I wanted to be, I still felt like an imposter, so I had to go back again when she released the class again, this time knew I had to find a way to get to the in-person workshop, that was last April, I knew that was the missing piece for me, live one-on-one with my mentor. This was epic of course, and change everything for me, I feel more like the artist I am becoming more and more with each session. I did half-ass my home for the class through this round, I was just really exhausted, and in a slump. Using my new studio, and my assistant, still have more emotions. Below are the selfies from the last round of class…
So, after the workshop, I knew I had to go back again, and guess what, the workshop is this month!! In, fact when this is published I will be driving to the next workshop, so stay tuned for that. This round of Stripped Down has been amazing, and with even more growth, I have some of my favorite images now of me out of all my photos. These will be up on the wall soon as well for sure. So, here are more selfies from this round of my class, ladies this could be you.
A few quick tips on taking a selfie, tripods help, self-timers are your friend, and remember take tons, rule of thumb is 1-5 for every 100 taken, so don’t be afraid to take a ton. Practice makes improvements.