Meet Christine Tremoulet.  She is an a fantastic pro photographer who specializes in boudoir photography!

Award-winning boudoir photographer, Christine Tremoulet, of Hot Mama Boudoir, is spending tomorrow night with us on the SOARORITY forum’s Ask and Learn Thursday! We are so excited!  If you were wondering how to start a Boudoir or Wedding Photography business-you will not want to miss this.  Christine also lets us into her heart on her personal blog, Big Pink Cookie.  She has been keeping this blog since 2000.  Yes, 11 years!  She is also the owner of Wholly Matrimony, a blog about destination weddings.  She writes often about making the most of your business via the internet, whether it is blogging, Twitter, SEO, marketing, branding.  We are going to learn so much from her…be ready! By the way if you really need SEO services now and you can’t wait for the blog, you can look for Sage Mauk Brooklyn. Their expert team is dedicated to execute an SEO strategy that yields more leads and more revenue

Q.  When did you start your business and what was the turning point of taking it from a hobby to a business of charging people?
I launched my business in late 2006 as I sold a blog hosting company that I owned. Since high school, I had wanted to do something with photography, but I had this idea that I couldn’t do it without a formal education. Being “liberated” from what I was doing, and after doing research online, I decided that no one could stop me and I was going to go for it!

Q. What inspires your photography?
The moms in front of my camera, and the ability to show them their beauty as I see it through my camera lens.

Q. What inspires you as a person,artist?
Oh goodness – EVERYTHING! I’ve always been a visual person, so I often see things that are simply beautiful. We just moved into a historic neighborhood in Houston, Texas called The Heights, full of bungalows & Victoria houses with modern houses tossed in, so right now that is my biggest inspiration. I love all the architectural details of our 1920s Bungalow. I love the eclectic neighborhood. Being able to walk & bike places.

Colors & textures are also very inspiring to me. I’ve been a knitter for a few years now, and I love seeking out the perfect yarn for just the right project – the tactile sensation of the yarn is fabulous!

Q. What is one or two pieces marketing/self-promotion ideas that you can give our newbies? (something you did to get your name out there).
Houston has a very active social media community with things like Tweet-ups and other events. I make a point to go to as many events as possible and just mingle with the movers & shakers. These people tend to be early-adopters, and also the type that will tell all of their friends if they like something.

I tried offering free sessions, but surprisingly no one took me up on them. I realized that if someone gets something for free, there is no cost to them and therefore no value either.

I have just started doing donations to different charity auctions such as schools or the Heights Homeowner Association annual event. By the way are you looking for a professional association management company? if yes there’s a simpsonville sc hoa management near me. They host silent auctions, where people can bid on things to win it. I have my first session with one of these winners coming up, and I’m excited to see how it works out! It was very important to me to be sure to look at the costs involved with doing a session, editing, product, making marketing & display materials, and everything else involved before I did it though. I tried to keep it in the $50-75 cost range to make sure it was a win-win situation for the charity & for me.

Q. What is one of the best things you have done for the success of your business?
Shifting the focus of my business to what I found the most passion and joy in. I’ll take on other work from time to time if I can work it into my schedule and if it is a good fit for me or makes sense, but my entire focus now is on boudoir work for moms. I did take time to get to that point though – when I started out, I thought I wanted to be a children’s photographer and nothing more. Or maybe take some weddings too. How about seniors? (In other words, I was all over the place for awhile.) Give yourself a chance to test things out and see what is a good fit for you. Some people love doing boudoir – and others aren’t comfortable with it at all. Same goes for weddings, portraits, anything. If you’re not comfortable, your clients won’t be either and it will show in the photographs.

Q. What are the classes/workshops/DVDs/books or websites that you’ve watched or read to teach yourself photography? Were they helpful?
I’m a big believer in learning, so I’ve attended several different workshops & events. I’ve learned the most from:

– Zack Arias, who is such an amazing teacher of how to use off camera lighting! I’ve attended his workshop and viewed his DVDs. Both are incredible! Definitely worth every penny and then some.
– Jared Platt, who is a great instructor on using Lightroom & streamlining your workflow,
– Dane Sanders, whose Fast Track Photographer group has given me so much support over the past 3 years, and his Roadshow workshop which helped me break through stumbling blocks in my own business and personal life.
– Jeff Jochum, who has encouraged me through his Selling & Biz Clarity workshops along with his Startup Strategy business coaching to get down to the very heart of where my passion is and build up for there to build a business that is truly centered around me and what I love.
– and of course, Me Ra Koh! Meeting Me Ra was actually the “bonus” part of the first workshop I attended with Jeff Jochum. (I knew Jeff first, opposite of most people!) She joined us for a round table conversation at the end and caused a huge shift to happen in my business transition from wedding to boudoir photography. She asked me what my biggest, most audacious dream was. I realized I had no clue – I don’t dream like that. So then she asked me what I didn’t want to be doing in 5-10 years. And as much as I loved wedding photography, I realized that my true passion resided in my boudoir work.   I heard her speak at WPPI 2011, and I am looking forward to attending one of her CONFIDENCE workshops sometime in the future!

Q. Can you tell us a fun back story behind this GREAT photo!

This isn’t so much a fun story as it is one of the most meaningful stories to me. Miss J came in for a boudoir session for her husband. During a session, I normally chatter away about whatever it is that is going on in my life at the time – and just a few days earlier my business coach, Jeff Jochum, had asked me what I was healing in myself through my boudoir photography. I mentioned to Miss J that I was a bit stumped by his question, because to me it was all about helping my clients heal, but that the more I thought about it he was right and I was healing my own issues with my body image and self-confidence.

Before I knew it, she opened up about how she had severe body issues all of her life and it had been a constant struggle for her. The part that really got me & made me cry was when she went on to say how right then & there, in the midst of our session, she felt more beautiful than she ever had before. I was just at a loss for words. It was so incredibly moving to know that it has had such an impact on her, and that she will have photographs to help her remember that feeling from now on.   There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about how lucky I am to share that with other women.

Q. What type of camera equipment did you have when you first started shooting portraits? And what have you added to your camera bag since then?
I had a Canon 20D and a “thrifty 50” 50mm lens when I decided to launch my business. Working in weddings, it was essential to me to have gear & backup gear, so I’ve added a lot to my bag since then! My main cameras are the Canon 5D mkII, the 5D, 3 580EX flashes (I’ve had them break mid-reception, so important to have a spare!), the 50mm f/1.2, the 85mm f/1.2, 16-35mm, 70-200mm, and a few others. For boudoir sessions, I rely on the 5D mkII, the 50mm & the 85mm. I don’t use the others very often.

Q. How do you know about Me Ra and the SOAR! community?
I first discovered Me Ra through the Pictage community forums as I was starting out my professional photography career. She was always so helpful with information that it was inspiring to see people sharing so freely. I heard about SOAR! from Roxanne of Pixel2Canvas when she launched the first SOAR! scholarship program. It was so wonderful watching what she was doing, I’ve followed it ever since!

All I can say is…OMG…I really want to shoot Boudoir!!!

Gather your questions for Christine!!  Tomorrow night, she’ll be with us for TWO hours on the SOARORITY forum to answer all your questions!

Ask and Learn session Thursday, June 9th, from 5-7pm  PST on the SOARORITY FORUM!!

Have a great day!
Wendy (your SOAR! Coordinator!)