Secrets to a High-End Boudoir Portrait Experience

Jen Rozenbaum proudly embraces her femininity, her power, and her beauty as a woman — and through her photography, she’s allowing other women to embrace theirs!

In the past years, Jen has established a place for herself at the top of the intimate photography market. Her business, Jenerations, is New York’s Premier Boudoir Photography Studio.

Get inspired by Jen’s process and create a high-end boudoir experience for your own business.

What is a High-End Boudoir Portrait Experience?

Everyone has a different idea of what high-end means. To Jen Rozenbaum, it means a personal experience that’s customized to her client’s needs and wants, combined with her vision.

Jen believes women want to feel “beautiful, special, and pampered.” The images themselves aren’t really what you’re selling. They’re more like souvenirs of the unforgettable boudoir experience you give your clients.

Before the Session

Get to know your client before her session. A phone conversation is a great opportunity to find a common bond and pre-qualify her as a client. Is she getting married? Asking about her gown, venue, and other wedding details will help determine if she’s a good fit for you and your pricing.

The more questions you ask, the more trust you gain from your client. If your questions are genuine, you’re forming a bond and finding out exactly what she’s looking for in her portrait session. What’s her style? Where does she shop? What does she want her boudoir session to look like? No matter how she answers this last one — soft and sweet, edgy, sexy — make sure you understand what those words really mean to her. When an in-depth phone call isn’t an option, Jen sends her client a packet she has created to prepare her for the boudoir session.

Planning the look

Jen asks each client to email a picture of herself, letting her know it’s for hair and makeup purposes. If a client wants to achieve a certain look, Jen needs to see if further preparations will need to be made prior to the session. She also needs to determine whether certain expectations are reasonable and offer suggestions for what will work best.

Sometimes women want parts of their body edited in post-production to achieve their desired body type or size. Jen lets her clients know that she does everything she can in-camera to make her clients look as amazing as possible — as themselves. The outfits and poses she selects for them play an important role in this.

Create a custom mood board

After she consults with her client, Jen creates a custom mood board for her on Pinterest. She pins outfits, hair and makeup ideas, even small details like accessories and nail polish, to show her client the feel she’s going for with the photo shoot.

Jen pins outfits to her client’s mood board based on what she’s learned about her. She knows which ones will give her the most success with the photo shoot. She notes any insecurities a woman has about her body and makes sure she’s selecting a wardrobe that flatters that area. Often, Jen’s clients already have the outfits she recommends for them!

Creating custom mood boards has added to the personalized high-end experience Jen offers. Her clients love it and many create their own mood boards to share with her. If, by chance, adjustments do need to be made, everything can still be perfected in time for the session.

The Boudoir Experience

Custom swag bag

Jen likes to find out her client’s favorite candy before the session. She includes it in a swag bag with a bottle of water and items like gum and pretzels to consume throughout the day. She also includes something special, like a gift card for a lingerie boutique that she loves.

You need to know how to pose a woman in ways that flatter her. Don’t just tell her how to pose, show her! Even if you look foolish, doing the poses yourself makes your client trust you more and opens her up to trying new things. Make sure you’re keeping her confidence up by giving her genuine compliments throughout the photo shoot.

At the end of the boudoir session, Jen schedules what she calls a “purchasing session” with her client. She does not call it a “viewing session” because the point of this meeting is the purchase. Jen only holds purchasing sessions in-person so she can follow through, beginning to end, with the trusting relationship she has been developing with her client.

If you send your client her files to look at by herself on her computer, she’ll start criticizing herself and questioning her choices. You need to be there encouraging her every step of the way, helping her choose the right images for her album.

Jen customizes products to her client’s needs, based on what they discussed before the session. She asks what her client envisions for her art. What does her ideal album look like? Does she want a large wall display over the bed? Small framed prints for a shelf? If a client doesn’t have specific products in mind, it’s easy for Jen to present what she wants to sell.

Jen makes the album sale an expectation right from the start. 100% of her boudoir clients purchase an Album. Some also purchase Wall Art. She keeps her offerings simple and on-brand, rather than overdoing it with too many product options.

Jen applies this principle throughout her process, but there’s no better way to conclude a boudoir experience than with delightful surprises. Maybe that means delivering products much faster than you promised or including an extra product as a gift to your client. It’s the little extras that make the experience unforgettable. Your clients will feel like they’re doing their friends a favor when they refer them to you!

“This is the formula I have found works for me and my business. It’s your job to take this information and apply YOU to it. Make it unique and individual to you!”

— Jen Rozenbaum