116 ELLIE VAYO’S GUIDE TO BOUDOIR PHOTOGRAPHY
noticed that there were three coffee mugs on the table and only two peo-
ple in the room when he first came in. I never did find out what happened
in the long run with that client. As you can imagine, I tried to distance
myself from that client as quickly as possible. This event prompted a few
procedural changes in the way I booked my boudoir sessions. The biggest
change involved my consultation questionnaire.
I added question #4 to the questionnaire provided in chapter 1 because
of this experience. Question #4 simply asks, Is this portrait to be given to
your:
a. Husband
b. Boyfriend
c. Self
d. Husband and boyfriendI never considered it that important to know precisely who will be receiv-
ing my client’s finished portraits. I figured that was her business, not mine.
As you can see from this example, knowing that bit of information could
have prevented this situation from occurring. I would never want to get in
the middle of something like this, so I would have declined to take her
pictures. I guess the moral of this story is to know your client, and maybe
do your boudoir sales in a room with two exits!
Case #3
This final case study involves a very loving and dedicated wife who was
placed in a very uncomfortable situation. She came to my studio when I
was having a low-price glamour photography special. During the course of
her session she opened up to me and explained why she was having a ses-
sion. She said that she couldn’t normally afford my pricing, but she wanted
to take advantage of my special. She mentioned that her husband had bat-
tled drug addiction for years and was incarcerated at the time of her ses-
sion. She wanted to give him something special for Valentine’s Day since
they couldn’t be together.
I tried to put myself in her shoes and imagine what it would be like to
be separated from someone I care so much about. Of course, I try my best
to create outstanding images for each client, but certain clients provide
even more motivation to be as artistic as possible. I hope my client’s hus-
band looks at her images everyday. I want him to see how beautiful she is
and how much she cares for him.
I hope my client’s husband
looks at her images
everyday.