Ciao Bellezza Boudoir & Glamour Photography

First, we like to speak with the client to determine her vision of her shoot and the images it will produce (and we are always happy to provide suggestions and advice). Then we determine, with the client, the best venue for capturing those images - in the studio, in an outdoor setting, at an air bnb, at her home, etc. Then comes the shoot itself - with professional hair and makeup. Once we've post-processed and edited the raw images from the shoot, we review them with the client.

I have been a fine art figure and glamour photographer for more than 20 years (and my assistant, more than five). My work has been exhibited in a number of local art galleries and has appeared in several publications, including American Photo. I was a Photographer-in-Residence at the Washington School of Photography for several years and conducted workships in fine art nude and glamour photography.

Each client's needs are different, and each shoot is different, and the end products clients want are often different, so we typicall put together custom packages for our clients - always striving to meet their needs within their budgets. 

Our typical fee for a shooting session is $299 - $399, depending on location. We share our current price list on request, and provide significant discounts when multiple products are purchased. Typically, clients spend between $600 and $1,800. 

I have been shooting photographs professionally since I was 17 years old - first for a series of newspapers, later as a wedding photographer's assistant shooter. As I pursued my passion for shooting, I took a series of workshops, including several focusing on art nude and glamour photography. Numerous images I shot for those workshops were selected by jurors for juried photographic exhibitions at local galleries, I started getting invited to submit my images for gallery shows and magazines - and the direction my photographic pursuits should take became crystal clear.

All kinds - brides-to-be who wanted to create boudoir albums to present to their grooms on their wedding night, soccer moms who wanted to remind their husbands that they're still loving and desirable women, fitness buffs who wanted to memorialize their bodies after they'd worked so hard to get themselves in great shape, professional models who wanted to create/update their portfolios, couples who wanted a collection of intimate photographs, expecting women who wanted to celebrate their pregnant form as a thing of beauty and an act of creation.

This event was a lot of fun - and not at all typical of the kind of work I usually do. The organizer of a "girls night out" hired me to photograph herself and three of her girlfriends in evening gowns, cocktail dresses and lingerie at her home. The ladies were enthusiastic about it - and we got some wonderful, fun, engaging images!

First, look at the photographer's images - we all have websites or online portfolios. It sounds obvious, but make sure you like the photographer's work. Sometimes ladies interested in a boudoir shoot get distracted by the pricing, packages offered, the promise of champagne and more that have nothing to do with the quality of the photographer's work.

Second, speak personally with the photographer so you can discuss the kind of images you want and set boundaries for what you're comfortable with (lingerie, partial nudity, full nudity, etc.). By speaking personally with the photographer, you can develop a rapport and understanding before the shoot - and that will make the shoot more productive and a lot more fun.

Third, determine whether the photographer will be shooting you as you are and wish to be, trying to make your vision a reality - or whether the photographer will be running you through a pre-determined series of sets and poses that will produce the same images that the photographer provides for all his/her clients. 

What kinds of images do I want from this shoot? Sexy lingerie, seductive bedroom, art nudes, pinups?

What are my boundaries in terms of nudity, provacativeness, and the like - and am I willing to venture outside my comfort zone?

Who are these images for and who am I hoping to please with them? Me? My signifcant other? Both of us?

How do I want to package the images? An album, photographic prints, wall display prints, a thumb drive?