Why are Boudoir Shoots Expensive & How to Choose the Right Photographer for You - Pt 1

When the average 24-40 year old in Australia spends $3.5k on takeout a year, let me tell you why this experience is life changing for your mind, body and soul.

the feminist necessity

my brief history

choosing a specialist

spending on other things

I'm Katie, and I am a professional photographer of over a decade, specialising in boudoir the last 5 years. I have worked with hundreds of women of all shapes, sizes, ages, cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. Yet all of them have come in wanting to change - wanting to feel stronger in themselves. And all of them have come out feeling exactly that.

A, having a luxurious time

Let's say this straight up and straight away

good boudoir shoots are not cheap,

and nor should they be.

I'm now going to break this down more. A lot of this isn't just my opinion — it's coming from my experience as a professional photographer who's been doing boudoir for over five years, working in the industry for more than a decade, and also as a feminist woman who's heard way too many horror stories about other photographers … but also seen a lot of a lot of positive stories from other amazing photographers as well as amazing experiences from other people who have shot with other incredible photographers.

When I transitioned fully into boudoir, it was really difficult to set my prices and it still is.

There's not exactly a manual on what you should charge. It is different all over the world, because there's different cultures who see this experience differently. People, in America and Canada, for example from what I have seen, are a lot more open to doing something like this for themselves than say, where I am from in New Zealand and now Australia. And so the idea of people in the Americas spending thousands on this experience is a lot more palliative than in New Zealand. And so you have to adjust accordingly.

Even so this experience, it is a luxury experience.

but I'll argue that it's also something that I think as a woman is a necessity

because we have gone through life being told to look a certain way, and let's be honest, that certain way changes all the time. In the 90’s and early 00’s, it was to be stick thin with stick thin eyebrows. And then a decade later, it was to have a very fat ass with very fat boobs and very fat brows. And now it has started going back to the 90’s heroin chic. And it's always the beauty industry that's often run by men (read that article if you want to be mad) that are benefiting from this. It is not you or I that benefit from this.

It is the likes of Ozempic who benefits from this narrative. It is the likes of plastic surgeons and people who run injectables who benefit from this. And I'm going to be honest with you, I get botox because I'm 36 and I've been told I need to not look old - and that is so ingrained in me. If that's a little something to make me feel better - then whatever. The capitalist patriarchy has beat me on this one! Sometimes it is a losing battle.

But I digress …

N, posing by the window with some beautiful body jewellery

Photography was always something that I enjoyed doing, and I thought I had a good eye for it. I started out buying a DSLR camera for myself as a Christmas present. (Normalise buying yourself presents!)

At the time I was doing pole dancing, and I still am. And so I started taking my camera to my pole dance showcases and taking photos of my fellow students, with their permission of course.
I naturally started going into boudoir.

Here are some early examples of my pole-boudoir work (hence the name Poledoir), when I was still operating under the name Marie Rose Photography before I transitioned to Poledoir

Boudoir photography is expensive

because you are shooting with somebody, ideally, who has been specialising in this for a long time, who is guiding you through years and years and years of bullshit. Who gets it.

Someone to help guide you to start unpacking years and decades, maybe of being told you aren't enough, to see yourself in a different light.

And I can tell you, after having shot with hundreds of women, that when they see themselves in that different light, they come out of their shoots with a new spark.

They come out with this new confidence,

with this new light in their eyes.

And a lot of them, when they when they see their photos, there are tears in their eyes because they have had so many years of seeing a different picture being painted of themselves.

Almost all of them say,

“Holy shit, is that me?!”

and I say, “Yeah, girl, that's you.”

Because in the photos, they see a fierceness, that they've been told to suppress.

They see a beauty, that they've been told isn't allowed.

They see a path to freedom of their soul, they thought they needed permission for.

H, a fierce tattooed woman in red lingerie

Do you know how much you spend on UberEats a year? Why not spend that on a photoshoot that can permanently change the relationship with your body?

So many people spend thousands of dollars on wedding photos, newborn photos, without really questioning it as much as they question this. So many people spend thousands a year on coffee, on takeout. On beauty industry stuff. It's a given.

I know I myself get a coffee every single day because of ritual, even though I have a coffee machine at home.

So why are you delaying starting this healing process with your body, with your soul?

What’s stopping you?

If there's this fear holding you back - I understand. It's the scariest part. Saying yes to this because you're being vulnerable as shit with a stranger and choosing a boudoir photographer is one of the hardest parts. There's a lot of creeps out there, and so you're going to want to do your research.

See part 2 here for my thoughts on choosing the photographer for you