Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Hayes.
Michelle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was photographing weddings in NYC and my brides started to ask me if I offered Boudoir sessions. I was so excited to do this type of session because my true first love was, and still is, portraits. I quickly realized these are very special sessions that allow the everyday woman to look and feel beautiful. It was an instant confidence boost and every woman left my studio feeling really good about herself. That was all before even seeing her final images!
Today my studio is all about female empowerment and how you want to look and feel in your portraits. A boudoir session can be anything you want it to be. It does not have to be the typical sexy shoot with lingerie. You can wear whatever you feel the most beautiful in. I’ve had women wear a little black blazer with stockings and stilletos, I’ve had one woman bring her boyfriend’s guitar and place it strategically over her body, and I’ve had a woman bring her purple boxing gloves because wearing them made her feel powerful and sexy.
My goal is to have women look to these images when they want to see beauty, especially in those hard times when they don’t feel so great, and not turn to the glossy pages of the fashion magazines that generally make us feel not so great.
Has it been a smooth road?
Making your passion into your business can be very tricky. You quickly realize you have to be do many things and the actual art of taking pictures make be a small percentage of your daily duties. But, the return in seeing my clients love the experience and their photos makes up for all of the other not so creative things I have to do. I feel like I am helping women love themselves a little bit more and we need that now more than ever these days.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Michelle Hayes Studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Michelle Hayes Studio is a boutique photography studio that specializes in photographing only women through Boudoir, Beauty and Branding photography.
I am known for being able to quickly put my clients at ease very quickly in a not so comfortable type of session like Boudoir. I know that they just want to feel beautiful. All women do. But it’s my job to hold the space to allow their own unique beauty to shine through, not what society is telling us what is beautiful. Because when you experience you own beauty that’s very empowering.
I am most proud that I am a woman who owns a business that serves other women and that I am able to do it through my first love of portraiture.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
San Diego is my home and my heart. I grew up in La Mesa and my parents still live in the same house. I have lived in San Francisco, Chicago and New York and coming back to San Diego after many years felt wonderful. The beaches fill me up and the urban neighborhoods excite me. It is my perfect city.
I don’t like that it’s getting too expensive to live here. My parents were able to buy a modest home in a good neighborhood and unfortunately that’s not a reality anymore for young people. But, I totally understand. Everyone wants to live in SD. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: www.michellehayesstudio.com
- Phone: 347-684-1088
- Email: info@michellehayesstudio
- Instagram: @michellehayesstudio
- Facebook: @michellehayesstudio
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
