What Happens During a Boudoir Image Reveal

You’ll hear the phrase “Image Reveal” during a consultation call or recalled it mentioned in past blogs, but you’re still not quite sure what to expect when you sit down for your own Image Reveal. This week I want to take the time to breakdown the parts of an Image Reveal so you know exactly what happens during this very important part of your boudoir photoshoot experience.

Clients walk into our Minnesota boudoir studio excited for hair and makeup, a mix of nervousness and excitement for the photoshoot, and unsure of what they expect when they sit down for the Image Reveal. This is my favorite part of the day, so I want to make sure everyone knows why it will end up being a highlight of your boudoir experience too!

What Is an Boudoir Image Reveal

Quite simply, the Image Reveal is when we get to show you the images from your photoshoot and help you pick out your favorites! There are different ways photographers go about this process. Some will send you an online gallery to go through them on your own, others will have you come back to the studio at a later date make your selections. At Belle Marie Boudoir, we take a short 20 minute break after your session to upload and narrow down the 300-400 photos from your session down to the best 100-130 for you to pick from. And then we make your selections that same day!

Olivia has been a photographer for over 15 years, and a specialized boudoir photographer since 2022. Over the years she’s learned how to making culling images a quick process! I was once talking to other photographers at a conference and they were asking how we are able to manage same day Image Reveals. They were astounded at how efficiently Olivia was able to narrow down the gallery! It’s just one of those skills you learn from doing it over and over and over again across many years.

Why Same Day?

It’s not uncommon for a photographer to require clients to book a second appointment solely for their Image Reveal. However, we know that wouldn’t be realistic for many of our clients. We know you’re are busy, with work, kids, or other commitments. It’s already a scheduling feat to make the time to come to the studio once for many women!

Especially those that travel from across Minnesota, or even out of state for their boudoir session. It would be a lot to ask someone who already drove hours (we’ve had people drive 8+ hours to get to us) to make the trek again days later. We’ll spare you the gas and the scheduling headache.

We also know you’re excited to see the photos! Olivia will give you sneak peaks from the back of her camera during the photoshoot, but that will just get you more excited to see all that she captured!

Can’t You Just Sent Me a Gallery So I Can Pick?

Narrowing down your photos is hard! It can help to have someone walk you through the process to end up with a selection

you feel great about! Our most popular packages include 20 or 40 images and clients still have a hard time cutting images because they love the 100+ images they’re shown!

A couple years ago, Olivia and I hired an incredibly talented photographer to take photos of us to use on our website and social media. A few weeks after the shoot she sent us an online gallery with so many good photos and we had to narrow it down to fit the digital package we selected. Olivia and I were surprised by how hard it to pick our favorite photos. We do this with every client, it should be easy for us!

We found scrolling through an online gallery on our phones and laptops was more difficult to compare images, whereas we will look through the images in Lightroom and this allows us to pull up multiple images at ones to compare side by side.

We were also missing the outsider eyes to help us make sure were were getting a variety of each look without selecting too many similar photos. Looking back we felt like we didn’t make the best choices. We were overwhelmed by the sheer number of photos and it was difficult to efficiently sort through them all in the online gallery format.

The Expert Eye

This is why we take the time to sit down with you and look through all the photos in Lightroom. We pull the images up on the Studio TV so you can easily see each photo and we’ll go through the gallery multiple times. You’ll get to compare images by pulling up similar poses, all the photos in one outfit, or any other combination of photos at a time to help you get a good variety of images!

We help clients through Image Reveals every week, so we’ve developed and eye for certain details that we point out for you to consider as you make your selections. Are your eyes closed in every photo you’ve picked so far? Do you have a lot of photos of where you’re in very similar poses? Even little details like the way your hair lays, the lift of your chin, or placement of hands and feet can help you decide between one photo or another.

We don’t want you getting your album weeks later and feel disappointed about the photos you selected, wishing you had kept other photos. This is why we take the time to carefully go through all the photos and end up with a highly curated collection of images.

After you’ve narrowed down your photos, we’ll help you design any products like albums or wall art! By the time you leave the studio, everything is set and ready for editing and ordering!

Get Your Photos Sooner!

One of the biggest perks of our same day Image Reveals? Because we’re making all of selection and design decisions on the same day as your photoshoot we can get the final products to you sooner! Olivia gets to start editing soon after your photoshoot and that’s how we’re able to deliver your fully edited digitals within 1-2 weeks.

We only take on 4 boudoir sessions a week. This give us the ability to dedicate enough time to each client to make sure they’re getting a great experience. Limiting our number of photoshoots also means we don’t have a backlog of editing. We know you’re excited to get your digitals and albums, so the Belle Marie Team is going keep waits to a minimum!

Be Warned!

It’s so common for new clients to worry that they won’t like enough of their photos to fit one of our four packages. Which is why Image Reveals are my favorite part of the day! I get to watch those client’s eyes light up as they see all their photos for the first time and realize how incredible they look in all of them! They see themselves but in a new light.

After the first look through the gallery, clients start to realized how hard it will be to narrow down their images to their preferred package. It’s the best problem I can give another woman. Too many photos of herself that she absolutely loves. Photos that boost her confidence and leave her feeling empowered in her own strength and beauty.

Ready to see yourself in a new light? Reach out below, and let’s get planning!