When you first look into getting boudoir photos, you may experience sticker shock
On average, boudoir clients can expect to spend somewhere between $3000 - $7000, depending heavily on the experience of the photographer, the area of the country where the photographer is based, and the packages each photographer offers.
Why so expensive? It’s a very reasonable question, and I’d like to help break it down for you.
First, and most importantly, I’d like to say that only you can decide if boudoir photos are worth the cost for you specifically. No one can make that determination for you. But you deserve to invest in yourself and your body image journey. And you deserve to work with a professional who makes you feel comfortable and seen, produces work that showcases your glorious, badass self, and who knows what they’re doing.
Not your average portrait session
Many folks wonder why boudoir photography is so much more expensive than a regular portrait session, but boudoir + empowerment photos aren’t like a traditional portrait session, and they are considerably more time intensive for the photographer than say a family portrait session. I’ll show the difference below:
What goes into a boudoir session:
Pre-session phone consultation (30 min)
Emails/messaging back & forth prior to session (3-5 hours)
Shoot setup and prep time (1 hour)
Shoot tear down and clean up time (1 hour)
Shooting the session itself (1-2 hours)
Post-processing/editing and retouching (10-15 hours)
Album and prints - design, ordering, quality control, etc. (3-7 hours)
Client education, prep guide, etc. (30 minutes to 1 hour)
Image reveal session (1 hour)
Business management including social media, blog, contracting, etc., per session (1-2 hours)
That’s 22 to 35 hours per session!
What goes into a family portrait session:
Emails/messaging back & forth prior to session (1-2 hours)
Shooting the session itself (1-2 hours)
Post-processing/editing and retouching (3-6 hours)
Business management including social media, blog, contracting, etc., per session (1 hour)
That’s 6-11 hours per session. See the difference?
Now let’s look the hard costs associated with boudoir sessions that aren’t applicable for family sessions:
Studio rental ($100 per session)
Props ($100 per session)
What the numbers above don’t include are the hundreds of hours (and thousands of dollars) spent on boudoir-specific education and formal training, the thousands spent per year on software, websites, business licensing and insurance, the hard costs on ordering albums and prints, the expensive equipment, the credit card processing fees, and then the big kicker; the 30-35% taken off the top in taxes.
Because of the time-intensive nature of boudoir photography, I also can’t take on as many clients as I could if I were only doing family portraits, so there is a pretty hard limit to the number of sessions I can do in a week, month, or year.
Can you find boudoir photographers who charge less?
Absolutely. You can always find boudoir photographers who charge less, but it is often because they are either much newer, without the experience and education to provide excellent service and an amazing end result, or because they’re offering a very stripped down (no pun intended) version of the service where not as much time is spent on education, prep, body image, etc. While the phrase “You get what you pay for” is not always true, it is often true when it comes to photography in any genre. As a wise person once said, if you want fast food prices, you’re going to get fast food quality.
So what does that mean for you?
Maybe after reading this, you have a better understanding of why boudoir photography is more expensive than other kinds of portraiture. And maybe you feel like “Yes this is great, and I want to try it, but this is still out of my budget!” and that is totally reasonable. I’m a big believer in the importance of sticking to a budget! Most boudoir photographers (myself included!) offer flexible payment plans for up to a year prior to your session. If this is an experience you think would be helpful for you (and it’s definitely one you deserve to have), consider saving up for the session you want with the photographer you want, and if that’s me (yay!), just know that I offer super flexible pre-payment plans to help you plan for the session you want to have! Hit me up with any questions, or visit my FAQ page here for more info!
—Sam