Vayo - Ellie Vayos Guide to Boudoir Photography

Photo by Cindy Wiseman.

Ellie Vayo Photography, Inc. was founded over thirty years ago in Mentor, OH. Since then, the company has grown to be one of the largest, most successful portrait studios in the country. Ellie currently operates two full-service studios, and she employs eleven employees. Her studios employ graphic artists, and there are also four full-time photographers and licensed makeup artists on staff.

Ellies spacious studios are located in Mentor, OH, and Solon, OH. Each studio utilizes state-of-the-art digital technology and offers a wide variety of eclectic, traditional, and artistic backgrounds. Both studios feature expansive, park-like outdoor photography areas. Ellie also maintains a satellite office Miami, FL, which specializes in on-location photography.

Ellie and her staff have won numerous awards for both photography and marketing from such prestigious organizations as Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and Senior Photographers International (SPI). In the past several years, Ellie has lectured throughout the country at many major state conventions and seminars as part of the Fuji Talent Team. She is also an accomplished author whose articles on senior portraiture have been featured in several professional photographers magazines including Rangefinder, Studio Photography & Design, Lens, and Professional Photographer. She is also the author of The Art and Business of High School Senior Portrait Photography, available from Amherst Media.

Outstanding photography and aggressive marketing have helped Ellie Vayo Photography become a leader in the fine portrait industry. The studio continues to grow and become more successful by maintaining the same objectives it had when it first opened:

Do the best job possible.

Give the best quality possible.

Give the best customer service in the area.

Give as much back to the community as possible.

Ellie holds a Master of Photography and Craftsman degree, is PPA certified, and holds an Ohio CPP designation. She has won numerous photographic print exhibit awards, including the J. Anthony Bull Award for the most outstanding portrait in Ohio. Five of her images have been Loan Collection prints and have been published in PPAs prestigious Loan Collection book.

CHAPTER ONE

Getting Started

Photography has always been my passion. Boudoir photography is one aspect of the art that has ignited all of my senses and continues to keep this business exciting.

I have found over the years that women of all ages, shapes, and sizes want to look and feel beautiful. Many things go into creating the masterpiece of the woman. The Hollywood actresses and models of today look much different in the real world. Makeup artists, clothing designers, digital artists, and others help create the stunning finished product we see on screen or in print. A woman who agrees to have a boudoir photography session is your clay. You are the sculptor who will help shape and mold that raw material into something beautiful, timeless, and artistic. The photography techniques covered in this book will teach you how to create the highest-quality portraiture possible in the industry today. The sales and marketing techniques covered in this book will help you operate a successful studio that allows you to make a living doing what you love.

In this book, Ill discuss several enhancing skills:

• Makeup and wardrobe
• Posing and lighting
• Digital finishing and printing

Finding Clients

The question most photographers ask is: how do I get women to want to have a boudoir/glamour session?

Existing Clients. Over the years, I have used several different techniques to book these sessions. The most cost-effective form of advertising is to market to the people who are already in the studio. My studio photographs hundreds of high school senior girls. Their mothers are my target audience. Mom is watching her daughters session and she is getting caught up in the excitement of the event. If I feel that a mom may be open to tasteful boudoir portraiture, Ill show her a slide show of previous clients. This can be done while I finish her daughters session, during outfit changes, or after the session when her daughter is packing up her clothes and accessories. I also display striking yet tasteful boudoir wall portraits throughout the studio. I mix these prints with samples of families, seniors, and children to show potential boudoir clients that these images are truly works of art that would look great in any home.

Here are before-and-after portraits from the film days. The large image is the glamorous after shot. The smaller image shows the subject prior to the photo session.

I photograph ten to twelve high-end weddings a year at this point in my career, and I advertise boudoir photography directly to my brides. I offer a session of the bride in her gown, which includes some intimate shots for the groom with every bridal package I sell. The bride almost always purchases a For Your Eyes Only album (available through General Products).

Networking. I find many of my clients through networking. Several years ago, I went into hair salons to photograph their clients. The salons displayed a small before shot and a large wall portrait that represented the after shot. At one point I had two salons, in different parts of town, displaying my work. The salons were able to showcase their talents, and I had additional locations to display my art and generate business.

At certain times in our lives, we all deal with difficulties and challenges. This business, just like life, is all about turning those difficulties or challenges into opportunities. I was recently inspired to participate in the creation of a firefighters calendar that benefited the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I agreed to donate my time for this foundation to show support for my mothers personal battle against cancer. I photographed seven different area firehouses and used those images to create a twelve-month calendar. The entire process used up a great deal of my time and creative energy, but the exposure my studio received in the local press made the project worthwhile. During the project, I handed out coupons for discount boudoir sessions to the firefighters wives and girlfriends. Now that the project is complete, Im booking sessions with women who purchased the calendar. Charity is such an important and effective way to grow your business. Its so important that Ive dedicated an entire chapter of this book to discuss one event in particular.