Lessons
Day 1
1Introduction
07:36 2Let’s Get this Party Started Right!
20:35 3Redefining Boudoir: YOUR Brand & Style
29:59 4Working with Women
20:01 5Creating Relaxed Clients
17:49 6Posing and Anti-Posing
12:05 7Flattering All Body Types
21:13Providing an Amazing Experience
09:00 9Shoot: Simple Set, Natural Light
21:06 10Shoot: Students' Turn
10:09 11Shoot: Budget Hotel Room
20:43 12Sexy Styling
18:12 13Sets and Props
07:13 14Styling Q&A
19:09 15Shoot: Bedroom Set, Soccer Mom
30:52 16Shoot: Students' Turn
10:52 17Shoot: Bedroom Set, Model
18:26 18Shooting Q&A
06:52Day 2
19Reviewing Previous Images
05:11 20Shooting to Sell
16:21 21Lighting & Equipment
32:02 22Vintage Car Shoot
23:15 23Shoot: Grey Seamless with Samantha
14:11 24Shoot: Grey Seamless, Students' Turn
13:03 25Shoot 3: Grey Seamless with Sarah
21:20 26Shoot: Grey Seamless Student's Turn
08:27 27Prop Shoot
12:56 28Post-Production
21:32 29Lightroom
19:04 30Photoshop
24:16 31Shoot: Bar Set with Justine and Will
23:59 32Students' Turn (Carlos and Nicole)
07:35 33Shoot: Back to Christa
15:36 34Shoot: Students' Turn (Jen)
14:01 35AFTER DARK: Fine Art Nude
1:05:06Day 3
36After Dark Shoot Review
03:45 37Favorite Photoshop Actions
16:07 38Booking Your Ideal Client
36:11 39Boudoir Parties
06:46 40Shoot: Backstage with Margareta
28:50 41Marketing with Enthusiasm
31:25 42Price Lists (Q&A)
14:07 43Pricing Strategies
20:23 44Selling
14:17 45Website Critiques
16:08 46Shoot: Sister Kate
22:26 47Shoot: Chinese Fans with Katie
12:37 48Velvet Dress with Robin
16:51 49Shoot: Students' Turn (Jen)
21:59Lesson Info
Providing an Amazing Experience
We're about to start a shoot so I'm going to breeze through this got about five minutes to gol darn gis models here she's actually a photographer who submitted a video for this um and I loved her so much and she wanted to do is shoot so she's not she submit to be a model are you come on over actually I for julie ringing you on sit have a seat I don't know if you could sit next to me we're gonna tell your photographer and you totally love boudoir from relate to you um um we are going to have one of the seats yeah, we'll get to you in a hot second. Are you able teo are you hearing anything? Are you picking up anything while you're hanging out? Yeah, great. Thank you for doing this. So marnie you know have you don't have anything like this before? You have done three shoots in last two weeks and they have been my first shoot no inspired you no, no yeah, this is totally out of my car. Fritz zone you are courageous because you're doing this in front of like everybody with the thousands thou...
sands just a few people all right, so we're gonna we're gonna finish up here we'll get to you in a few minutes so providing an amazing experience um I like to create several points of contact to build report and trust this is how you know it might seem time intensive, but it's really not a lot of time it's just a lot of points of contact I want them tio trust me, it's so important by the time runs that she totally trusts me. So all of this is so vital. Um, so again, first phone call validating her fears and concerns talking about what she loves don't discourage nerves and I like to create anticipation like it. I like to be a tease. I like to tease stuff I like to create excitement. I like to talk with them as they're looking for their inspiration shots as they're picking their wardrobe. I love it when they're texting me my I don't think you did this, but a couple of the girls this week did you did you know I love getting text from the dressing room going do you like this? Purple brought this black brantley. What? Do you know anything about these shoes? It's like we're friends or girlfriends texting like half naked pictures of each other already. You almost did that see that's awesome. Uh, you should have. But anyhow, um and definitely if there's some kind of secret aspect all the better, like if she's doing it for someone as a surprise that's, so awesome and I definitely encourage that are keeping it a secret as much as possible even from her girlfriends just tell like one friend and have them come because they're your next client's, by the way but I like it to be a little bit of a secret everything is just so much more fun and delicious when it's a secret um then keep it fun making a celebration as much as you possibly can know that this is celebrating her so as much as you can infuse this experience from a dizzy with a celebratory feel the better making a journey of self discovery that's what? All those questions air about it's not a photo shoot your you know she is I do believe photography defiance if our capturing something so let's actually have her dig deep and figure out what that is maximize the feminine pampering angle okay howmany spot is kind of girl have you know I mean, this is like a such a unique and rare opportunity teo get girl andy something super fun and pampering of yourself so that's why? If some people ask me do you include hair makeup it's like hell on the freak? Yeah, I am making this an amazing experience how much doesn't love getting your hair and makeup done? When do you get your hair done like ever right when you get cut maybe so um I really maximise this, uh, part of being a girl we like to feel pretty she pampered and um it along gates experience include surprises along the way so I'm not going to cover everything ideo that's a surprise declines, but just know that there should be some unexpected positive surprises throughout the process. Like one thing I dio john, can you grab my bag on the thing? It's not the black bag, but the red ish bag. I have this little booty kit. Yeah, thanks that I like to send. So I don't know if you guys saw the greys workshop will last week in two weekends ago, but they do surprises too, and I just think being unexpected and awesome eyes definitely way the wind clients hearts on dh I just have this little booty kit and it comes in a box and just have it in this bag to travel, but I love to sends little gifts, and again, this creates some anticipation. So depending on who the client is and what her story is and why we're doing this, give like a little bit of undies. So some cute andy's, a mask and definitely some stockings or, you know, three items usually it's of the andes mask and fish net variety and that's their little booty kit and everyone loves them and, uh I don't know, it's. Just totally unexpected what's that way. Keep this one. So, listen, I could fight over. I that's, right? I s o again, there's a lot of opportunities to really surprise your clients and add a little bit do little gesture goes a long way. Um, yeah, I won't go there's so many ways. And I would love for you to personalize this. This is again something that will set you apart. Um, give her a project and get her invested. So at the end of that phone call where you talked about our favorite things and all that jazz and her fantasy shoot, I give them homework, and I say, send me at least, like, ten images of what you think is sexy and beautiful, or even if you love the lighting, the wardrobe or a setting or just what you would love to kind of emulate. Um, I want to see that because every woman's different, I'm not gonna force my idea of sexy, and I want her like, maybe subtlety is sexy for her, so we're going to go there. Or maybe she wants to be all bold and edgy. Okay, we'll do that, but this again is extending the experience for her. This is milk in it you're not just giving her a date in a time and say we're three different outfits and I'll see you then okay? This is the work that I feel like a lot of photographers leave out and this is why they're not creating raving fans and not getting re booked and not having people tell their friends about him okay that's for when we get back from lunch so we're done we're ready to move on for a shoot krista we just wanted to ask you if you wanted to take a couple minutes break before going teo and change shoes are already want to do that we can ask you some questions. Well, what you do uh do you um I can take questions why change my shoes? I could do that. All right. Okay, so yeah, I would kill myself if I actually tried to shoot in heels. I really would already I fall all over the place full service here morning. How about a woman who is pregnant for boudoir? Oh, yeah that's something totally different. I've shot one woman who came to my workshop who was pregnant we did kind of like, you know, maternity, I wouldn't I don't sorry this is just me and I know a lot of women do it maternity boudoir just does not resonate with me at all at all I'm not saying pregnant women aren't sexy believe me pregnant women are sexy as hell there's nothing I find more like I am in awe but it's I don't know I don't know how to I'll wrap my head around it I'll just say it doesn't resonate with me uh putting garters on a pregnant woman I don't understand that it doesn't appeal to me so I honestly have never been contacted by a pregnant woman to do a shoot and I believe so much and I know my ideal client is I know what resonates with me all I have to do is have that in my mind and that awareness and has anyone ever called me for a maternity boudoir new so um that's my answer to that her family with what's up who else? Uh question that's just a little quick detail for the beauty kit. Yeah do just have one size that you send out or do you find out what a woman sizes that's such a great question hanky panky makes one size fits all that really is one size fits all on my five fighters most women but if she is a plus sized gal or something maybe I'll give her something else instead of bundy's it all depends on her you are you asking ahead of time what their size is never okay, yeah
Class Materials
bonus material with purchase
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
This is meant to be a HELPFUL review for those that are wondering if they should purchase this workshop. About 75% of what I took away from this workshop was posing, composition for boudoir and the importance of eye lines and capturing movement. I had two boudoir sessions a week after this workshop and my images significantly improved. I was able to coach my clients through poses better, direct them on where to look for better eye lines, I was more aware of their posture and how to fix it, I think I sounded more professional and felt more confidant with getting awesome poses, stand out expressions and adding movement to my images. I put a fan on my client the way Christa does.. and she is right! The instant I put the fan on my client, her expression changed and you could tell she was really "feeling it". She told me she felt like a real supermodel right after I turned on the fan. If you are looking for inspiration on how to coach women and pose for boudoir then Christa is the girl for you. I think the most worthwhile thing I learned watching this is something that will help me in the years to come... with my brand, my website, my workflow and my business goals. I learned how to "keep it simple" which is Christa's tag line. For example Christa brings a roll of gray background paper and uses gaffer tape to hang it from the wall of the hotel (instead of bringing a 12ft background stand). I know this seems simple but this will change my life! I hate dragging equipment back and forth. There are some negative reviews on here about Christa's technical skills, but I think these people may have missed the whole point. If you provide an awesome product and an awesome experience for your client, they will buy it. And guess what.. your client will never know if you used your camera in auto or manual and they won't care if you used one light instead of two. As someone who has been in business for 3 years doing boudoir exclusively I learned a lot. I see a lot of value in learning from someone who doesn't spend a lot of money on fancy equipment, yet charges her clients over $3,000 for sessions. I'm a huge fan of her keep it simple philosophy and I'm glad Christa is willing to be honest about her workflow and how she best utilizes her time. Your not going to agree with or use everything Christa talks about, you take the parts that you like and are most helpful to you and work them into building a stronger business.
a Creativelive Student
AWESOME DEAL on Christa's course. I just sent an email to my husband to tell him thanks for "gifting" me this course. I told him just the ONE CLASS about pricing was worth the full $129 price of the course. And there are over 50 classes?! That is a crazy stupid good deal. You can learn something good from every class you take, every book you read, and just apply the stuff that works for you. There are a lot of people out there who seem to just enjoy giving crappy reviews, and to me it's almost like bullying. How someone could not find $129 worth of value in this course is beyond me. In my opinion this course is worth over a thousand bucks, because it can help you make SO much more money. I hate when I see people whining about things that are not 100 percent perfect, and they get annoyed if the person isn't catering to their exact needs. It's like the Yelper generation, with a disturbing sense of entitlement. I would love to see those people try teaching a class about boudoir and see if they could do any better. It also seems like, the more popular a person gets, the more other people feel the need to tear them down. I'm grateful that Christa even offered this course at ALL. Thanks Christa for all you do to help those of us who really need to know this stuff. You rock.
a Creativelive Student
I never thought I would shoot boudoir. I am a shy and private person. I started entertaining the idea when I first saw Christa's work and saw how beautiful and tasteful it can be. I love her lighting and all that she uses from historic painters and sculptors. I watched all three days live and learned a ton. I have a lot of lighting education, but it was nice to freshen up my skills. I loved the posing tips and the three typical situations she uses for one shoot. I loved learning about how she shoots in hotels and also using things like an outdoor situation. I have now shot my first boudoir session and it was a total hit. I am thrilled to show my client her images. This was fantastic! Thank you, Christa!
Student Work
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