How a Boudoir Photographer Went From Checking All The Boxes to Multi-Six Figures & an Industry Icon
Featuring Déjà Revél
Client
Déjà Revél
Project Scope
Brand Strategy
Brand Design
Website Design
Email & Social Templates
Studio Interior Design
Merch Design
Client Gift Design
Booking & Session Prep Guides
Signage
Creative Direction
Location
Fairbanks, Alaska
Industry
Fine Art Boudoir Photography
When Kara reached out to me, she was running a successful six-figure boudoir studio. Her calendar was booked. Her work was stunning. Layered, transformative, deeply human. Her clients left sessions saying they'd never seen themselves that way before.
But her brand wasn't showing any of that.
Her old brand, Midnight Sun Boudoir, was dark and moody with hot pink and teal accents. It had all the things you're "supposed" to have: luxury client closet, same-day reveals, behind-the-scenes selfies from the studio, testimonials from names like "Miss K."
She was checking every box. Following every script. Doing all the things the "successful luxury boudoir photographers" told her to do. And it was leaving her completely bored.
Because here's what was actually happening... Kara wasn't just photographing women to make them feel beautiful. She was creating soul-deep transformations. She was working with women juggling dozens of roles, women in recovery, women who'd spent decades living in bodies they were told weren't theirs to claim.
She was holding up a mirror (sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically) and helping women see themselves in ways they never had before.
Her work was about revelation. Uncovering what was already there but had been hidden.
But her brand? It looked like everyone else's.
Dark. Moody. Basic enough not to offend anyone.
And the disconnect was killing her.
She'd finish sessions knowing the transformation that just happened in her studio, but her brand wasn't transmitting any of that power.
When Your Brand Doesn't Match the Depth of Your Work
The Previous Brand & Website
The New Brand & Website
I remember being like 'Amy I don't know what this voodoo is that you do but it works.' I was getting so many people reaching out and complementing me on my website and just how beautiful it is and saying 'I knew I had to go with you because I've never seen anything like it before.'"
“We hit publish & I was flooded that week with so many bookings.
In Kara's Words:
Kara was stuck in a trap. She'd built her brand by following the formula.
✓ DIY your website
✓ Add luxury client experience language
✓ Post behind-the-scenes content
✓ Talk about same-day reveal
✓ Lead with empowerment messaging
But none of it was actually HER.
And here's what happens when you build a brand by checking boxes instead of excavating your true identity:
You end up performing someone else's version of success. You say the right things. Post the right content. Show up the "right" way. But it doesn't feel like you.
And worse? It doesn't attract the clients you're actually meant to work with.
Meanwhile, the women who needed the depth of what Kara actually offered? They were walking right past her because nothing in her brand signaled that she did that kind of work.
This is what happens when your brand doesn't match your identity:
You're successful, but you're invisible. You're booked, but with the wrong clients. You're making money, but it feels hollow.
Because you're not actually being SEEN for what you do.
The "Luxury Boudoir Photographer" Trap
When Kara and I started working together, we didn't start with colors or fonts or website layouts.
We started with identity.
Who was she actually? Not who she thought she was "supposed" to be as a luxury boudoir photographer, but who she ACTUALLY was in the studio with her clients.
And when we dug in, the answer was immediate. Kara wasn't an "empowerment photographer."
She was a REVEALER.
She helped women see what was already there but had been hidden. She created space for transformation that went beyond the surface.
Her work wasn't about making women feel pretty. It was about soul-deep revelation.
So we built a brand around that truth.
She renamed her studio Déjà Revél, a luxe and mysterious brand that speaks to recognition, to seeing something you've always known but never fully witnessed.
We rooted the entire brand in a story of revelation and transformation.
We moved away from the "jewel tone" aesthetic that every other boudoir photographer had and created something that felt otherworldly. Colors that felt electric, magnetizing, sensual, powerful.
We redesigned her website to immerse potential clients in the experience before they even booked. We created email templates, social templates, merch design, signage, a playlist, an entire brand world that transmitted the depth of what she actually does.
And we didn't just make it look different.
We made it an ENTIRE IDENTITY for her clients to step into.
Excavating the Identity That Was Already There
- Immediate uptick in inquiries: Not just more inquiries, better inquiries. Women who were ready for transformation, not just photos.
- Total confidence in how her business showed up: Kara no longer felt like she was performing. She felt like she was finally being SEEN for the work she'd been doing all along.
- Industry recognition: Other photographers started reaching out, asking what changed. Asking how she did it. Asking if they could work with me too.
Because when your brand finally matches the depth of your work?
You stop being comparable. You're no longer just another "luxury boudoir photographer." You become the one doing something completely different.
When Your Brand Finally Reflects Who You Actually Are
“I still stand by your work being the best investment I’ve ever done for my business.
Once my brand got a full makeover, I didn't think it would hit this level, that everything would kind of explode and turn into what it has been. But I'm all for it. I'm riding the wave. The brand feels personified in a way. I feel like I live my brand, and it's such a cool thing. It's so worth the investment of reaching out and even just picking Amy's brain. I know she offers free consult calls just to see if it's worth your while. Just do that, and she can give you really awesome insight on how she would change your brand or help it be more you. That alone is worthwhile."
If your work is transformative but your website looks like everyone else's...
You don't just have a design problem. You have an identity problem.
And no amount of tweaking colors or updating your website copy is going to fix it.
You need to excavate the real identity your work creates and build a brand world that transmits it.
That's what I do.
