“I don’t want to photograph anybody famous,
I want to photograph Sandra from Canada and Amanda from Florida…
I want to photograph any woman in the world who’s ever looked in the mirror
and not felt good about herself at any time in her life.
I want to photograph her every year through the changes of her teenage life,
through her 20s, through her 30s, through her 40s, through her 50s,
and as she flowers into her most beautiful-ness.
I want to photograph her every year of her life to watch
and celebrate the changes of who she is and what she is,
so she can experience how she looks to other people”
~Sue Bryce

That was it. That was exactly what my heart was feeling. I have had the BEST time shooting boudoir portraits for the last few years and I fully intend to keep doing it, but I feel as if EVERY woman no matter what her age needed to feel beautiful and have beautiful portraits of herself. Not every woman wants to do a boudoir shoot, but every woman wants to feel beautiful. There really isn’t anything else in the world that makes me happier than giving that opportunity to women. I know it’s what I’m here for and that’s what I’m planning on doing. While I will still keep my boudoir business and move forward with it, it is going to take on a new direction. A new look, a new brand, a new name for myself. This in itself is scary for me. I’m going to keep my Bold Boudoir name and website for now, but I will be branching off as a new division of Gardner Photography. I’m going to keep it simple. Most likely, Katie Gardner Portraits or something. =D  But I want my portraits of woman to take on a new meaning. Beauty is ageless. I feel boudoir has limited me in shooting a small window of ages. I want to showcase woman of ALL ages, in all walks of life. Beauty is 10, 15, beauty is 25, beauty is 35, 50, 60, 80+! I will still be infusing boudoir into these portraits for those of you who want the lingerie looks. They will just be a lot simpler, fresh and have a more magazine, high fashion look than my full studio shots. So still bring in sexy lingerie if that’s the look you want.

With that being said, I need your help! Help me make this a dream I can bring to fruition.

I would love to gift a makeover and photo shoot experience to some wonderful woman in exchange for letting me showcase your beautiful faces on my new website. I thought it would be a great time as it’s close to Mother’s Day. I would love to extent an invitation to 7 groups of woman, to come into the studio for your very own transformation day on me. You could be a group of sisters, best friends, mothers and daughters or partners. I will do your hair and makeup and you just show up with 2-3 tops or outfits that I’ll help give you ideas for. =) On top of having this wonderful makeover and photo shoot, as a gift each girl in your group will be given a beautiful 8×12 mounted image of your choice, a web size profile picture for your Facebook, and a $100 voucher to use towards a purchase of anything you’d like. You are not obligated to buy anything. In exchange all you have to do is sign a model release form and let us display your before and after transformation. If you are interested in being apart of these special sessions please send pictures of yourself and the woman you’d like to be in your group (up to 5) and a personal story about you, or your mom, or your sisters, or friends, telling me why this day would be special for you. You can email your submissions to katie@gardnerpd.com

For this event we request that the age limit be 8 years old and up.

I cannot wait to get your entries! We will be picking groups by next Tuesday so don’t delay in sending them

Thank you in advance for your submissions! =D

- Katie

Katie

Lisa and Greg decided to skip the big shindig and do a court wedding but still wanted to have pictures taken of them. Even though we weren’t shooting the actual ceremony or wedding I still really wanted to make it special for them on the day of their bridal portraits.

When they arrived at the studio we had Lisa lay out all of her shoes, outfits and accessories. Just so ya’ll know Lisa is a badass Sergeant in the Army and a totally hottie too! This girl has style! She’s one of the strongest woman I know but yet totally girly at the same time. I love that about her! After all the ruffles and jewels were laid out we had her get ready in the studio room and had Greg wait out in the hall until she was all ready. Even though he’d seen her that day, and had seen the dress, the look on his face when he saw her all dressed up was just adorable. I think the photos say it all. Congratulations you guys!

MAKEUP BY PRISCILLA DIAZ of The Dollhouse in Brentwood, CA.
HAIR BY CAT PEREZ of The Dollhouse in Brentwood, CA.
FLOWERS BY POSEY’S BY DESIGN – SHERRY TULLY in Concord, CA.

After we took the bridal portraits we went back to the studio and did an outfit change and headed downtown for some more portraits.

We call this one her perfume ad shot! Hottie!

Katie

REQUIREMENTS & EXPECTATIONS: These will be stylized kids – young adult sessions. I’m going to be planning out some fun, eclectic shoots and will be photographing these sessions at specific times and dates and will have no set timeline for when the photos will be ready. So please no requests like “Can you edit these in two days so I can send them to grandma & grandpa for christmas??” This is our busiest time of year, but I also want to have some fun and try some new ideas! I will try my darndest to work on them as quickly as possible with the help of my amazing assistant Rachel. For girl models, you must be ok with them possibly wearing very light makeup, such as mascara and very light blush or lipgloss/lipstick and for older teen girls full makeup application. I will be providing most of the outfit pieces. We’ll have 1 Skype or in studio meeting to go over details such as your child’s size and we will work together on the outfits since you might already have some great pieces that would work for the session! =)

COMPENSATION: You will be compensated with a beautiful 11×14 mounted print for your home. It comes ready for you to either frame or put on display on a small easel stand. I love them! I have them all over my house.

DATES & TIMES: I will be photographing these sessions on weekday early evenings and select Saturday mornings.

TO APPLY: Please send a photo of your child(ren), their age(s) and your contact info to katie@gardnerpd.com

I will get back to you as soon as I can. I will be taking a limited amount so please don’t be offended if I don’t get back to you right away or your child isn’t chosen. I may be swamped in emails and going through the selections process. If your child is chosen I will email you back within 7 days of your application.

I would love to create some beautiful images for you! Hope to hear from you soon!

Katie

-Katie

-Katie

What I’m looking for:

- Someone hardworking, who learns and picks things up quickly, very organized, and pays attention to detail.

- Basic Lightroom and Photoshop knowledge.

- A passion for photography, art and fashion.

- Music lover! We’re always listening to music around here.

- Great customer service and professionalism.

- Friendly, outgoing with clients and well spoken. You will be interacting with clients on shoots, phone calls and emails.

- Must have a working laptop with Photoshop.

- Must own your own DSLR camera.

- Whoever takes on the internship must be ok with kids. I have a 11 month old son and while you will be working I may need to take breaks to give him bottles, feed and play with him. Don’t worry, I won’t make you be the babysitter.

- Up to speed with social networking such as Facebook, twitter and blogging. You must have a mild obsession and knowledge with 1 or all of the mentioned sites like I do and keep up with whats going on with our business sites, fan pages, etc. If you think a tag is just something you put on a Christmas gift, this job may not be for you.

- Punctual

- Available at least 8 hrs a week.

Job Tasks will include:

- Image processing, editing, and sometimes prepping images for blogging.

- Client photo premiers.

- Basic office organization.

- Photo orders. Submitting, packaging and scheduling client product pickups.

- Scheduling photo sessions.

- Assisting on shoots.

- Light design work.

- Running small errands.

- Helping plan and prep for editorial shoots.

- Data entry on our studio management program.

Sounds scary but it’s really very simple! We’ll be doing it together and you will be trained completely in how to do it all. No experience required.

What you will gain from this internship:

I will teach you as much as I can about using your camera and how to shoot manually, lighting techniques and tips, editing, workflow and design work, and exactly how I run my home based photography business. You can come along on as many shoots as you’d like. You can ask me anything you’d like to as well! I don’t claim to be the best but know that a good artist is always learning, growing and pushing themselves to better their skill. During your internship will be do 2 portfolio shoots with a model for fun. Images will remain copyright of gardner photography, but you may use images for your personal portfolio. At the end of your internship you will be given studio credit for a photography session for you personally to use as you wish for family portraits, headshots or a boudoir session valued over $800.

To apply please submit your resume and the following to Katie@gardnerpd.com

- 3 personal references
- 5 of your favorite images you’ve taken
- photo of yourself (so I know who is who for interviews)

In your email please answer the following:

What is your favorite type of music, food, and movie.

Why you want to do this internship

Short paragraph about your personality.

What your availability is.

Thanks in advance for applying! I look forward to reading your resume’s. I will contact you to set up an interview if we think you might be a good fit for our studio. Have a great day!

Katie