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Boudoir Photography…for YOU or for his eyes only.

With the holidays behind us, in the photography world, it’s time to think about Valentine’s Day!  Let’s be honest with each other, your loved one doesn’t want another box of chocolates or tools.  What better gift than breath-taking images of you?!  Or if you are single, even more of a reason to celebrate to show how beautiful and care-free you are! 

In my opinion, boudoir photography is about making women look her best in a comfortable, safe and EXCITING atmosphere!  What woman doesn’t want to feel and look gorgeous…and have photos to prove it?! 😉  Whether the boudoir session is for a significant other or just for you to celebrate YOU, it’s definitely worth your time.  It is completely normal for you to be a little nervous for your session.  I promise by the time you step foot in front of the camera, you will be amazed at how comfortable you can be because you will look AMAZING!

Here are some FAQs that you may have about boudoir photography:

1.  What should I expect for my boudoir session?  First and foremost…expect to have a BLAST!!! Seriously, unless I already know you very well, I start every session talking with you so you can get comfortable, we can get to know each other’s personality, see what you’re looking to portray in your photos, how much you want to reveal (or don’t want to reveal) in your photos, talk about wardrobe options, take a look through a boudoir “posing” portfolio to give you some ideas, have a bottle of iced water, things along that nature.   I won’t expect you to just dive right in after we meet unless of course, that’s what you want to do. lol.  I’ve been in front of the lens before for pin-up photos and revealing maternity photos, so I can completely relate to what it feels like if you don’t know the person (but luckily, a friend did my maternity and the pin-ups, we chatted the whole time and it was AWESOME!)

2.  What should I wear?   Well, that is entirely up to you.   Normally, I suggest bringing a favorite little dress that you love, some lingerie (which those don’t always need to be too revealing), something of your loved ones (button down shirt, work shirt or something of his/your hobby to incorporate) and ACCESSORIES!!  Earrings, necklaces, thigh highs, high heels (because they make your legs look fantastic!!) and anything else that you think you may want to use.

3.  Will I have to get naked?!  To put it simply…no.  Many clients do not.  And some do.  It honestly depends on the person.  Remember, boudoir photography is almost like glamour photography.  Nothing trashy.   Most boudoir portraits “suggest” nudity but not actually show anything.  Clients are NEVER pushed outside of their comfort zone.  This is something that is discussed even before stepping in front of the lens.

4.  I think I’m too fat and would like to wait until I lose a few more pounds.  Photography is not like being on tv.  It doesn’t make you gain 10 lbs by being in front of the camera.  As the artist, we know tricks to show your most fabulous side and to hide what you may be self-concious about (we all have our self-concious issues…it’s a woman thing! lol).  Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and it’s my job to show you that.  Boudoir photography is showing the beauty that you already have….I just enhance it. 😉

5.  How long will my session take?   That depends on a few things.  Typically, my sessions last about 1 ½ hrs.  But if it’s a workshop, the time in front of the camera will vary as you most likely will have your make-up and hair done, as well as a few changes of clothes.  If you bring a lot of outfits, plan on more time. 

6.  Can I bring a friend?    Absolutely!  I would suggest a female friend to make it a little more comfortable for you.  Whether or not they are viewing your photo session, is up to you!

7.  How many photos do you take and how many will I receive?  It really depends on how the session goes, how many different outfits you have, etc.  Typically, I’ll take between 50-100 photos.  The gallery you will receive will have approximately 20-30 retouched images. The retouching I do consists of removing things like scars, acne, stretch marks, skin smoothing, etc.  It is done to make it look natural and undetectable.  You will not look like a plastic doll. 😉

 8. Will they be posted online? Are they private? The photos will only be posted online in a password protected gallery (in which only YOU will have the password to).  Or we can schedule a viewing session in the studio. So yes, they are very private.   Also, images will never be used for portfolio (web or print) unless you give me written permission. However, clients that allow me full usage rights to their images will receive discounts or product upgrades as a thank you!

9.  Where do you do the session?  Sessions can be done in the studio, at your home, or at a hotel.  Many also opt to have a “Girls Night Out” boudoir party where the hostess invites 4-6 of her closest friends over for some fruit, champagne, hair, make-up and portraits done all in one night.

10.   How do I pay for my Photography session?   If you’d like to pay via credit card, PayPal is accepted (full amount must be paid before the session).  Otherwise, payment is due at the end of your shoot for cash or personal check.

11.  How much does the session cost and what is included?  For a Girls’ Night Out Boudoir Party or to book a session for the boudoir marathon, please email me for rates as those will vary.  If enough individuals book, it may be moved to a local hotel for convenience.  Also consider if you would like to have a professional make-up artist and/or hair stylist for the session (which I highly recommend). 

But a typical session is $275.00 and that includes:

~ My time and talent for photographing and retouching all the images that are shown in the gallery.

~ Your choice of either a custom designed 8×8 photo book with 18 pages (containing approx. 18-24 images from the session) OR a custom-designed 5×7 memory box containing 24 5×7 portrait prints from the session.    

Please email me or visit my website to schedule a session.  To receive your photos by Valentine’s Day, you must book your session by January 23rd.  Are you ready to look and feel GORGEOUS?! 😉

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Here Comes Santa Claus….All Aboard the Polar Express!

Over the last couple of weeks, we went to my husband’s Christmas party for his work.  Every year, they have Santa come to visit all the employees’ children, reads them ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, has them sit on his knee to tell them what they want for Christmas and hands them a gift.  Then the kids run around to play, eat cookies & juice, receive reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn and just have a good ol’ time!  My boys look forward to this every year! 

Here are a few photos from that night:

Then this past weekend, was the Polar Express train ride.  While it was a little pricey, for the ages of our boys, it was absolutely worth every penny!  They simply were in awe the entire two hours.  After going into the train station, we met the conductor.

The boys got to “high five” and hug Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph.  Then it was time to board!! 

We got onto the train and the conductor came around to punch the hole in everyone’s ticket (in the shape of a christmas tree…although I haven’t taken a pic of the ticket punched yet). 

There was a “cook” and a “Santa helper” in our train car that held open the Polar Express book and walked up & down the aisle, while the story was read via CD over the intercom.  Once it was done, cookies & hot chocolate was passed out.  Then Santa’s helper asked each child what they wanted for Christmas.  Justin told her a Nintendo DSi and Zachary just gave her his “evil” laugh. LOL 

When the train stopped at the end of the tracks to start heading back, it was announced that we were at the North Pole.  My boys eyes were as round as saucers!!  There was a river that had iced over with a little snow so all the children believed it.  I love this age, their innocence and the magic of Christmas.  Then we all sang Christmas carols and all of a sudden….Santa Claus & Mrs. Claus appeared!!  The kids were ecstatic!!  He went to each child and gave them a bell from his sleigh….even Tyler got one 😉  Then the kids received a coloring book & crayons and it was off to head back to the train station.

Once we got back to the train station, all the kids had the opportunity to sit with Santa & Mrs. Claus and get their photos taken.  Overall, it was an amazing day… 🙂

Oh!!  And the morning that we went on the Polar Express, we woke up to find Fisbee (our Elf on the Shelf) riding our train under our Christmas Tree.  I think he was jealous and he must have known we where we were going that day.  Sorry, Fisbee….maybe you can come with us next year! 😉

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Traditional & Superstitous Facts About Weddings….

Came across this and thought I’d share it for a fun read.  Here is a really fun list of traditional and superstitions for weddings from theknot.com.

Good Luck and Bad Luck
1. Hey, brides, tuck a sugar cube into your glove — according to Greek culture, the sugar will sweeten your union.
2. The English believe a spider found in a wedding dress means good luck. Yikes!
3. In English tradition, Wednesday is considered the “best day” to marry, although Monday is for wealth and Tuesday is for health.
4. The groom carries the bride across the threshold to bravely protect her from evil spirits lurking below.
5. Saturday is the unluckiest wedding day, according to English folklore. Funny — it’s the most popular day of the week to marry!
6. Ancient Romans studied pig entrails to determine the luckiest time to marry.
7. Rain on your wedding day is actually considered good luck, according to Hindu tradition!
8. For good luck, Egyptian women pinch the bride on her wedding day. Ouch!
9. Middle Eastern brides paint henna on their hands and feet to protect themselves from the evil eye. Find out about Muslim wedding rituals.
10. Peas are thrown at Czech newlyweds instead of rice.
11. A Swedish bride puts a silver coin from her father and a gold coin from her mother in each shoe to ensure that she’ll never do without. Learn more about Swedish wedding traditions.
12. A Finnish bride traditionally went door-to-door collecting gifts in a pillowcase, accompanied by an older married man who represented long marriage.
13. Moroccan women take a milk bath to purify themselves before their wedding ceremony. See more Moroccan wedding customs.
14. In Holland, a pine tree is planted outside the newlyweds’ home as a symbol of fertility and luck.

It’s Got a Ring To It
15. Engagement and wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was once thought that a vein in that finger led directly to the heart.
16. About 70% of all brides sport the traditional diamond on the fourth finger of their left hand.
17. Priscilla Presley’s engagement ring was a whopping 3 1/2-carat rock surrounded by a detachable row of smaller diamonds.
18. Diamonds set in gold or silver became popular as betrothal rings among wealthy Venetians toward the end of the fifteenth century.
19. In the symbolic language of jewels, a sapphire in a wedding ring means marital happiness.
20. A pearl engagement ring is said to be bad luck because its shape echoes that of a tear.
21. One of history’s earliest engagement rings was given to Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII. She was two years old at the time.
22. Seventeen tons of gold are made into wedding rings each year in the United States!
23. Snake rings dotted with ruby eyes were popular wedding bands in Victorian England — the coils winding into a circle symbolized eternity.
24. Aquamarine represents marital harmony and is said to ensure a long, happy marriage.

Fashionable Lore
25. Queen Victoria started the Western world’s white wedding dress trend in 1840 — before then, brides simply wore their best dress.
26. In Asia, wearing robes with embroidered cranes symbolizes fidelity for the length of a marriage.
27. Ancient Greeks and Romans thought the veil protected the bride from evil spirits. Brides have worn veils ever since.
28. On her wedding day, Grace Kelly wore a dress with a bodice made from beautiful 125-year-old lace.
29. Of course, Jackie Kennedy’s bridesmaids were far from frumpy. She chose pink silk faille and red satin gowns created by African-American designer Ann Lowe (also the creator of Jackie’s dress).
30. In Japan, white was always the color of choice for bridal ensembles — long before Queen Victoria popularized it in the Western world.
31. Most expensive wedding ever? The marriage of Sheik Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s son to Princess Salama in Dubai in May 1981. The price tag? $44 million.
32. In Korea, brides don bright hues of red and yellow to take their vows.
33. Brides carry or wear “something old” on their wedding day to symbolize continuity with the past.
34. In Denmark, brides and grooms traditionally cross-dressed to confuse evil spirits!
35. The “something blue” in a bridal ensemble symbolizes purity, fidelity, and love.
Food and Family
36. In Egypt, the bride’s family traditionally does all the cooking for a week after the wedding, so the couple can…relax.
37. In South Africa, the parents of both bride and groom traditionally carried fire from their hearths to light a new fire in the newlyweds’ hearth.
38. The tradition of a wedding cake comes from ancient Rome, where revelers broke a loaf of bread over a bride’s head for fertility’s sake.
39. The custom of tiered cakes emerged from a game where the bride and groom attempted to kiss over an ever-higher cake without knocking it over.
40. Queen Victoria’s wedding cake weighed a whopping 300 pounds.
41. Legend says single women will dream of their future husbands if they sleep with a slice of groom’s cake under their pillows.
42. An old wives’ tale: If the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never landing a husband.

Show Off at a Cocktail Party
43. In many cultures around the world — including Celtic, Hindu and Egyptian weddings — the hands of a bride and groom are literally tied together to demonstrate the couple’s commitment to each other and their new bond as a married couple (giving us the popular phrase “tying the knot”).
44. The Roman goddess Juno rules over marriage, the hearth, and childbirth, hence the popularity of June weddings.
45. Princess Victoria established the tradition of playing Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” during her wedding processional in 1858.
46. The bride stands to the groom’s left during a Christian ceremony, because in bygone days the groom needed his right hand free to fight off other suitors.
47. On average, 7,000 couples marry each day in the United States.
48. Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve are the two busiest “marriage” days in Las Vegas — elopement central!
49. The Catholic tradition of “posting the banns” to announce a marriage originated as a way to ensure the bride and groom were not related.
50. Stag parties were first held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party.

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Wahoo, my new blog!

After many years, I’m excited to FINALLY design a new blog!  It was waaaaaaay overdue!   Please bear with me as it’s still in the beginning stages as I’m learning how to add all the widgets and coding.  But I’m so happy with it so far! 

If you’re in the on-going contest for the Favorite Images of 2010 and see that there are no comments here on the new blog, don’t worry!  The old blog is still up and running.  They will be counted there. 😉 

So check out the new blog, the links and feel free to leave any comments.  If you’d like, subscribe to the blog via email to receive the latest news and promotions that are going on here at Teresa Sweet Photography.  Can’t wait to share all the new happenings with you!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

~ Teresa

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My Favorites of 2010…Vote here!

I simply cannot believe that the end of 2010 is right around the corner!  It’s been such an amazing year for both my business and family life.  Portraits have been non-stop all year long, my busiest year yet for portraits.  It was a nice change since I didn’t photograph as many weddings this year, due to being pregnant with our 3rd son.  Our son, Tyler, was born in October and the pregnancy journey with him was a miracle in itself.   I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

Anyways, each year, I post my favorite photos that I’ve taken throughout the year but this year, I’m going to change it up a bit and continue this “tradition” to help Pay It Forward to my fabulous clients and their families!  Please remember that I’ve had dozens of portrait sessions and multiple weddings to photograph.  If for some reason your session or wedding didn’t make the “cut”, please don’t take it personally.  I honestly love each and every one of you and I cannot wait to see you again in a future session!  I spent days narrowing down to the final 15 images and even then, that was hard!

From now until December 31st, I will be taking votes as to who is the “Viewers Choice”.  Vote on your favorite image simply by commenting on this post (Facebook comments won’t be counted) as to what the image number is and of course, if you want to comment on the image itself, I’m sure the person who the image was photographed for, would love to hear why you chose their image! 🙂

If you want a chance to vote twice, feel free to join my photography page on Facebook by visiting this link:  http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Teresa-Sweet-Photography/35033996945 and then comment again listing the number of the image you want AND that you joined the photography page.

Two votes are all that will be counted and to make it fair, IP addresses will be tracked to make sure everything is legit.  Feel free to share this contest with friends, family, post to your Facebook page, tweet it, whatever you’d like to spread the word to help you win! 

Now what do you win???  The “Grand Prize” winner will receive an 11×14 Float Wrap of the image I chose to put in this contest and $25 off their session fee the next time they book.  There will also be a couple of “runner-up” prizes but keeping with the holiday spirit, let’s keep it a surprise!  I promise it will be worth it and you’ll LOVE it!

Are you ready?!  Spread the word and get to voting!

#1

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****PLEASE NOTE:  Clients may not ask to change any of the photos as they are strictly my choices for the year.  I also reserve the right to make any changes to this contest at any given time.   Winners & prizes will be announced in January 2011.  Good luck and have fun voting!****

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Rhode Island, MASSACHUSETTS & Connecticut
Photographer

Maternity• newborn• family

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