Boudoir fallout

[jblaschke]

Issue resolved.

[hotrod100]

After looking at the photos on her site I have to say that she does great work and I don't see anything close to "racy". Please tell her not to give up on her dream because some "holier than thou" knuckle head didn't like it. There are always going to be some people who will complain about anything they don't like and never take into account that other people may enjoy it. They seem to forget that if they don't like it then they don't need to look at it. I would also make the boudoir section a main theme on her site instead of making it so obscure that potential clients will never see it. I agree with you that this may very well be a great selling point.

The long and short of my point is to keep at it and I believe she will be pleasantly surprised that the vast majority of people out there will really appreciate her good work.

I also agree with the tawdry idea! That is exactly what I would've done.:evil:

[RockSlut]

From looking at Lisa's work, it would be a terrible shame to abandon her boudior work - its lovely and very tasteful. While some of the models do appear youthful, I think its unfair to suggest that they don't look of age, and in a totally different league to child pornography (which I presume the lady who was criticising Lisa was implying).

Doing this kind of work can leave an artist open to criticism from more conservative people. For me, my work is more important to me than the opinions of those who would judge me for doing that kind of work.

Bu at the end of the day it's really a personal decision that only the artist can make. As a husband, all you can do is encourage and support her to do what feels right for your partner.

[harroz]

I agree with both of those posts. She shouldn't give up now, she's too good at it.

[Cosha]

Wow! Great pictures! :D

cant fault any of them!

You have to tell your wife not to give up, tell her to use this as a learning lession (ie Model relese etc..and not everyone will like her work)

As far as the gallerys and web page...all you have to do is when you click on the page you should slip in a page that says something like:


"Due to the implide nature of this gallery, i would advise that only persons over the age of 16 should continue. These gallery contain no nudity or pornagraphic material"
"all models showcased are 18 years or more of age"

"click "continue" to enter the gallerys or click back to the main gallery"


or something along them lines!

Just to give your customers a pre warning! (not that these pictures are classed as porn, it just cuts out a part to cover all bases)

Apart from that such a great job and you should feel proud she wants to push her boundrys!

hell tell her if i lived closer i would ask my girlfriend to marry me just so she could get some pictures like this for me! :D


Hope this is helpful in some way! if not ill just shut up :)

best of luck

[hawk911]

I'm trying to find the right words without coming off like a prude.

The ladies in your wife's gallery could give them impression they are borderline legal age. She might seem a little more legit with a few older women in her portfolio too. Here's where people might sense a moral question: you're on her "about Me" page, helping in all facets of her shoots. With the young girls, and you as an integral part of the shoots, they might make incorrect assumptions. If she's the photog, why have you on the website? I have my son (17yrs old) assist me, and he's not listed. I don't shoot boudoir either, nor would he ever be part of that shoot.

passing the salt shaker- take me with a grain of salt, please.

[stathunter]

Why not offer the service but have a secure gallery online that she can direct potential customers to. In my opinion it sounds as she makes more income with the daycare than the boudoir - and should preserve that income stream.

[hawk911]

that too- passwords issued upon request kinda thing.

[lblaschke]

Thanks guys for all the feedback. I just went and made some changes. I buried the links to the boudoir galleries on my pricelist under Engagement. I'm thinking the families and senior are not going to look down there since they aren't interested in that kind of thing, they'll stop reading after the Senior Portrait package.

Is that a good spot for it? -- aside from making a whole separate site, which I may do in the future.

[Cosha]

I buried the links to the boudoir galleries on my pricelist under Engagement. .


i thought bridal boudoir was one of the parts you want to premote since theres not much of a market in your area? dont hide them have them on full show!!

[hawk911]

I think the links are very hard to find now, and maybe a pwd protected gallery would be better.

[sspellman]

I think that family and boudoir photography just do not mix. Your wife was naive to think that there would not be any concerns, especially if she is doing daycare and taking boudoir pictures in the same home. Since she is just marketing to brides, I would pull all boudior pictures off the website, and just present them in person.

[4honor]

OK, to me, because I have shot many 18 year olds in glamour, I know some may look young, but are actually older. If anyone has problem the age, tell them to prove to your wife that the girls are indeed illegal. Other wise, they can shut their mouth.

Secondly, the photos look really nice, it would really be a shame to not shoot it. I know from experience that many models still shoot with a creep (not that your wife is weird, I am just using an extreme case), even when they know it, but because the results/photos are too good. Your wife just have to worry about the quality of her photos and let the photos take care of her.

That's what I think anyways. Good luck!

[Viper97]

I took the time to actually look at the work and I must say, no where do I find anything distasteful. Come to think of it even the milder stuff in the Glamor section of this board is by far racier than anything on her website.

All to often people tend to accuse, make snap judgments or get their right wing in an uproar. Frankly I wouldn't be concerned.

My daughter who is turning 20 this year, still looks like she did when she was 16. I know, dad says that but that is the truth. Would I be offended if my daughter decided to this prior to her marriage? Hmmm.. the photographer side of me says no, they will be tasteful however the father side says... Hey wait that's my daughter!

Parents seldom let children grow up and I guess always see them as little. New parents are not an exception. This dad does his best to remember that and while I might have this Freudian guilt complex about it I would not chastise my daughter for her actions in any way shape or form, after all she IS an adult. As an adult she is capable of making her own decisions. I have to respect that.

I'd agree with going for a separate site though, all this angst isn't worth it. As I said, you still have morals to deal with and even though the majority of us posting here take it as well done photography, you will always have the two percentage of folks that will always take everything the opposite of what it actually is.

Call it human stupidity. Or whatever you wish. Unfortunately they also live in our world. Perhaps things are working out for the better. You're wife's work is fantastic and should be out there. Maybe this is a sign that she should continue going about her creative life and less a sign of ending it.

Just my two cents.

[jblaschke]

Issue resolved

[Sharpstat]

Thanks for all the comments folks. They're all appreciated!

Now that the shock has worn off, we're realizing that their objections to boudoir is most likely a convenient excuse to blow us off. There were some limited boudoir-style images on her site from the start, which said family saw and complimented her on even before the family and children portrait sessions were discussed. Suddenly, the same shots they liked four months ago are obscene? I don't think so. Plus, some odd behavior on their parts the past several months are taking on different meaning in hindsight. There's something else going on that we're not privy to.

But this discussion has been very useful to us. We're considering future plans with this sad incident in mind.


I looked at the website and there was nothing distasteful on it. I was going to mention that there are deeper issues than the photos since initially they were not an issue! My first guess is plain old jealousy and envy. Unfortunately some people in our society still hate to see others succeed. If anything just rearrange the site as you are doing.

[jblaschke]

Issue resolved

[cdifoto]

Go all out and put up a billboard. F* the prudes.

[4honor]

My daughter who is turning 20 this year, still looks like she did when she was 16. I know, dad says that but that is the truth. Would I be offended if my daughter decided to this prior to her marriage? Hmmm.. the photographer side of me says no, they will be tasteful however the father side says... Hey wait that's my daughter!

Good point. I have shot lingerie stuff myself, so maybe us photographer have been desensitized. A "normal" person probably thinks a Victoria's Secret catalog is a porn magazine... :confused:

[Jim M]

I have a job that deals with public financial support. One of the things we have found to be almost universally true is the threats to withdraw support turn out to be from people who aren't really giving much support to begin with. We also find there are often underlying issues that have little or nothing to do with our services. Sometimes people really do have ethical issues that you can't do much about. At that point, it is often better to just move on without them. I suspect there are other children to care for in your community. I don't know age range for children your wife cares for, but they will inevitably get too old her services even though I am sure it is a financial burden to have them leave prematurely.

[RDKirk]

From what you've said, there has been only one family complaining, right? Yes, losing the income from childcare stings, but that's still only one family.

However, I would put the boudoir work on a separate website from the family work. It can be on the same website as other wedding work, but should be separate from anything including children or teenagers. I'd even give it a different brand, but don't fake your own name, just identify it as a wholly separate line of products for a wholly separate market.

[epatt250]

OK I read a few replies but then stopped, so if this has been covered I am sorry for wasting time.

Here is the problem I see. We are in the bible belt of the south. Many here in the US and around the world dont quite get how different that is than say... California.

I would love to get into the boudoir photography business as it combines two things I enjoy. The problem is it's not well accepted around here. I have had some interest but one thing I do not do is show any nudity or downright sexy images in a port that everyday people will view. If someone is interested I will create a folder on photobucket with a password and provide it them to go look at or I will take printed images to them to look at . Even in my MM profile I dont show nudes in my port.

I think she should do what she wants to do though. Daycare is hard to find and expensive, and if someone pulls out it should not be too hard to get someone to fill that spot. But showing images of boudoir to people who are not interested in that only leads to issues. Keep that work private and only provide it to interested parties.