Pittsburgh Boudoir Photography that empowers YOU to love yourself!

June 13, 2016

Questions for the Photographer: How Long Have I Been Shooting Boudoir?

In this new Pittsburgh Boudoir Photography blog series, I’m getting personal! Today’s question is all around how long I’ve been shooting boudoir!

Want to know more about my boudoir services, get some tips for planning your boudoir session or start the booking process? Follow the links below for all the details:

~Pittsburgh Boudoir Photo Shoot Package (Including Pricing)

~ Want Help Preparing for Your Shoot? Check out these planning tips!

~BOOK NOW! Complete a short questionnaire to start the booking process

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I think this a very important question to ask any photographer that you work with no matter what types of photos you’re doing. How long have I been shooting boudoir?

I have been shooting boudoir, as of May 2013. My first client was a friend of mine who came in at the end of May 2013 just to see if I could actually do boudoir, which is what helped me build my studio. After that, I had a couple of shoots with my hair and make up artists so that they could understand what the experience is like for my clients. This way they could talk to clients during hair and make up about what happens during the shoot, how I shoot and photograph, and help make the experience better for my clients.

Then I had my first paying client a couple of months later. It was another friend of mine but it was the first time I was charging someone, so to me this was the beginning of my boudoir career. A couple of months after that I had my first person find me through a Google search which was a huge thing for me. I finally felt like everything I had done to that point finally paid off. From there, my client base grew, my mentor began sending people to me, people were telling their friends and I was finally realizing my boudoir photography dream!

As I look back, I say it’s been three years but really in the past two and a half years, it’s exploded. Right now I’m booking three to four months out and clients are coming from everywhere to get with me. I’m so excited to meet more clients and explore where my boudoir career will go.

pittsburgh boudoir photography by pics by chicks photography

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June 9, 2016

From A Mother

It’s time to hear from a mother who came in for a Boudoir Photography Pittsburgh photo shoot. She highlights how she felt about the process and what it mean to her! It’s a unique perspective!

Want to know more about my boudoir offerings, learn about planning your boudoir session or begin he booking process? The links below have more details:

~View Photos from Other Boudoir Sessions

~Want to book? Complete a short questionnaire to start the process

~Pittsburgh Boudoir Photo Shoot Details (Including Pricing)

~ Need help planning your shoot? Check out these session tips!

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I recently received some feedback from one of my clients who is a stay at home mother, who treated herself to the boudoir experience just to do something for herself. She sent me an awesome email that I’m sharing with you below (Note: names removed):

“I honestly did feel like I had a mini vacation that day. Free from school pick up and drop off, free from fixing lunches and breaking up fights. I seriously have never had my make-up done before and I found that fascinating. I loved looking at all the make up. It was like painting.

But here is what I was thinking on the car ride home: I found your set up to be so professional. The equipment, lights, props, and music in the background. The small touches added a special feel – like the snacks you put out and the gift bag you give at the end with your logo on it. Thank you too (and [my husband] thanks you), for the thongs.

All the little touches here and there that really make it a unique experience for women. You have a really professional looking studio. The entrance way makes a cozy changing area and your hardwood floors, chandeliers and big windows really look awesome in pictures. And look at how far you’ve come.

That is another thing I kept thinking – you’ve come a long way! All that hard work – working two jobs. Working your corporate job (that you hated) for so long. Meeting Tony and getting back into photography and taking classes, and one thing led to another. I think that is awesome. And it’s an inspiration to someone like me to get back to my creativity once the girls are older and more independent and in school.

So thank you again for that seriously once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope to be able to do something for you someday as well!”

Thank you to my amazing client for this wonderful feedback! Enjoy some photos:

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June 6, 2016

Questions for the Photographer: Have I Ever Done Boudoir?

In this new Pittsburgh Boudoir Photography blog series, I’m getting personal! I really want my clients to know as much as they want about me so within this new series I will be answering some frequently asked questions about boudoir and myself.

Want to know more about my boudoir services, get some tips for planning your boudoir session or start the booking process? Follow the links below for all the details:

~ Need Assistance Preparing for Your Shoot? Check out these boudoir tips!

~Look at photos from Other Boudoir Shoots

~Ready for your shoot? Complete a short questionnaire to start the booking process

~ Boudoir Photo Shoot Package (Including Pricing)

This is a question that I received recently and I think it’s really important. Have I Ever Done Boudoir?

Yes I have.

After I decided that I wanted be a boudoir photographer, I was feeling kind of bad about myself and my marriage. Truth be told, Tony and I went through some really tough times in the first couple of years our marriage. I just really felt that if I was going to be a boudoir photographer, I needed to learn to accept myself and appreciate who I was at that exact moment because I can’t be a hypocrite to women. I can’t say, “Love who you are right now”, when I wasn’t really loving myself. So I had to take time for myself and come to accept me for who I am. To understand what my clients go through and help with my own personal issues, I needed to have a boudoir session.

In June of 2013, I had a boudoir shoot done. My shoot was something that I was nervous for but very excited, which is a completely normal feeling for clients. Doing something like this was completely out of my comfort zone but it was something that I knew I needed.

It really helped me understand how I want to present myself to my clients. Having had this experience I know that it can be something that’s intimidating as well as scary. I want all of my clients to feel confident and sexy as well as have a good time during their shoot.

I know that every photographer as well as every client is different than the last so it’s important to me as a photographer that every single client I have has an amazing shoot. Having done a boudoir shoot, I reached a whole new level, it’s not that I was copying what my boudoir photographer did because I don’t feel like that way, I just learned how I want women to feel during their shoot. I’m hopeful that all my clients have an amazing time with me and it’s something I really value.

Enjoy some photos from a recent shoot. This client told me that she felt like a ROCKSTAR during her shoot! SUCCESS!

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June 2, 2016

Live Interview with Heather

In my private boudoir group on Facebook today, I conducted a live client Q&A with Heather from Weddings by Heather. You can join the group by clicking the button below that’s above the video – it’s open to ALL women.

Heather is my photography mentor, friend, and boudoir CLIENT! Yes, Heather – my mentor – the person that taught me most of what I know about photography – is also a client! 🙂 It’s humbling that photographers come to me for boudoir photo shoots, but it’s equally as stressful. I love that Heather – who is extremely picky about who photographs her – trusted me enough to take her boudoir photos!

I thought that Heather would have a great perspective on a boudoir shoot because she’s been in front of the camera and behind it, and since she’s picky she could talk about why it’s important to make sure you have a boudoir photographer who knows what they are doing! We talk about outfit selection, how she felt during the shoot, whether it was hard not to smile, what she did with her photos, etc. It was a great conversation! Heather and I have been friends for years so it was fun to sit with someone who knows a lot about me – we jab at each other and have loads of fun!

To top the day off – as if it couldn’t get any better – Heather then interviewed me in her group. It’s a group for photographers to learn, grow and share their experiences. It was so great to be able to share a little about myself and how this BOOMING business came to be! A little hint – it takes lots of work and sacrifice – but I’d much rather be a boudoir photographer than a project manager! 🙂 We talk about how I got started, kick butt with goals, how I found clients at first, my thoughts on market saturation, etc. They were terrific business related questions! You don’t get to where I am in 3 years without tons of hard work!!!

Thank you, Heather for letting me interview you and then turning the tables around. If you want to see my interview about my business, you can find that here on Heather’s website >> http://weddingsbyheather.com/blogsite/2016/06/interview-with-maura-chick/

Follow Heather on Facebook — Weddings By Heather

If you want photography education, Heather makes herself available constantly in her private FB group. You can join that as well – Weddings By Heather Community

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June 2, 2016

Questions for the Photographer: What Made Me Want to Shoot Boudoir?

In this new Pittsburgh Boudoir Photography blog series, I’m getting personal! I really want my clients to know as much as they want about me so within this new series I will be answering some frequently asked questions about boudoir and myself.

Want to know more about my boudoir services, get some tips for planning your boudoir session or start the booking process? Follow the links below for all the details:

~BOOK NOW! Complete a short questionnaire to start the booking process

~Pittsburgh Boudoir Photo Shoot Package (Including Pricing)

~ Want Help Preparing for Your Shoot? Check out these planning tips!

***

To kick off this new series, I’ll begin with what basically started it all in the first place.

What made me want to shoot boudoir?

A little history, I have always loved photography, I took a liberal arts class for photography in college to satisfy a requirement but I had always loved taking pictures and never thought that I could make a career out of it. Then I met my husband. When we got our wedding photos back, we hated them and thought they were terrible. Tony, who has a photography degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, said we could do a better job so I started a business just thinking I would take pictures and it would be something fun to do. I never thought that it would become a full time career, which it is now…thankfully.

I found my mentor, Heather Lahtinen, in December of 2012 and had been mentoring with her for quite a while when she decided to offer a boudoir workshop. I originally took the workshop in order to learn how to pose women better as I really didn’t have an interest in boudoir at that point. After the worksop, I decided that I would try it out on my own and had a friend of mine come over for what I would say was my first studio shoot and it was the BEST THING EVER. It was something I wasn’t expecting at all. I really loved how transformative it was for her, not only with her look but with the confidence she gained after the shoot.

Being able to use photography to encourage my friend was something that was really important to me. After that shoot I realized that this was something that I need to be doing – it was my CALLING in life. I was pretty straight forward with everyone after that first shoot that this was it, this is what I wanted to be doing. Every step I’ve taken since then has been towards the goal of being a boudoir photographer.

I really put the studio in place and it took me about three months to do so. After I got everything set up, I had my first shoot and it was spectacular. As I watch myself over the years, it’s amazing to me how much progression I’ve had, it’s amazing to see how many women are coming in and out of the studios as well as the changes that are happening not only in their lives but in their marriages. Being able to help these women with their confidence and how they feel about their bodies is something that is really important to me. I want women to feel good about themselves, about who they are, and show them what they have to offer the world! I say these sessions are so great for women to improve their confidence, their passion for themselves, but really it’s something for me too. Being able to work with them is the highlight of my life.