Tag: philadelphia boudoir sessions

The Results Are In! Best Photographer in Montco is…

Posted on by cassieadmin in and Business Is Good

Have I been biting my nails for months, waiting to see who Montco Happening would crown best photographer for 2024 in Montgomery County?

Not exactly, but I have checked several times to see if results dropped without me noticing.

But the wait is over!

2024 best photographer in montco finalist badge from montco happening, Montgomery county's best photographer
it’s a major award!

I’m excited to announce that, while I didn’t win the whole deal, I was voted a finalist! So I’m not quite the best photographer in montco, but I’m one of them! I might even be the best boudoir photographer in montco; the list doesn’t get that specific. 🤔

Congrats to the winner, the other finalists, and the nominees! If you’re curious you can find everyone’s info at Montco Happening; we all do very different genres of work so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. And I also love being part of an industry that has so many creative woman-owned small businesses.

Thanks to my clients, friends, and everyone who took the time to vote or share and hype me up on this journey. I appreciate your time and energy and love so so much! I’m gonna take another try at the title next year, and in the meantime I’ll be here working on my craft! <3

Some things I’ve got planned:

✧ More themed mini sessions, announced ahead of time so payment plans can be accessible to more clients!
✧ An exciting collaboration & promotion with other local businesses, because teamwork makes the dream work
✧ A super special giveaway? 👀

If you want to be the first to know, be sure to join my VIP mailing list!

hate lots of emails? me too bestie. it’s RARE you’ll get more than 2 per month from me!

Lastly: congratulations to my friends at Gold Door Gallery in Hatboro for being a finalist in their category too!

Best Friends Photoshoots and Why We Love Them

Posted on by cassieadmin in FAQ

Best Friends Forever!

Let’s be real: lovers come and go, but there’s absolutely no life partner like your best friend. So why is everyone always talking about couples boudoir and not the magical best friends photoshoot? I love love in all its iterations, especially the platonic, ride-or-die kind that grows between soul siblings. So let’s talk about why you should do a BFF session.

Reasons To Book with Your Best Friend

✧ Automatic hype! I’ll always cheer you through the photo process, but nobody is as experienced at making you believe how incredible you look like your best friend.
✧ Instant morale! How are you gonna be nervous if your best friend is right here with you?
✧ Mark a milestone. Book a best friend photoshoot for any occasion: friendship anniversary, birthday celebration, a breakup party, Tuesday (let’s be honest, it needs all the help it can get)
✧ Celebrate your similarities! Wear matching outfits or coordinating colors. #twinning is winning. OR…
✧ Emphasize your differences! Are you an odd couple? She was a punk and she did ballet? Make the most of your mismatched aesthetics and show the world it’s never gonna hold you back.
✧ Plan a pajama party. Picture it: pajamas, pizza, ice cream sundaes, pillow fight! CUTE.
✧ Longer lasting than a spa day: Getting your hair and makeup done is pampering as hell even if it doesn’t relax you like a massage. And while a steam room is exactly where you’ll find me on my day off, that joy is temporary and photos are forever.
✧ As unique as your relationship. Let’s work together to make your best friends photoshoot as perfect as you are.

Pose Together…

bestie boudoir! schedule your best friend photoshoot
love boudoir? love your bestie? how about a best friend boudoir photo shoot?
best friends boudoir: are we the drama?
BFF photoshoot
boudoir for best friends!
best friend photoshoot: grab your bestie and schedule your platonic couples session!

…and Pose Apart!

You can do your whole best friends photoshoot as a team! Or you can do some together, and some individually. Or you can share the experience with back-to-back solo sessions, so you’re each the star of the show (okay Aries/Leo pairings, I see you) but you’ve got your best hype mate in the wings.

a curvy blonde woman with long wavy hair and a sleeve of tattoos. she kneels on a green velvet sofa, wearing a black sheer bodysuit. she's looking over her shoulder at the camera.
a tattooed plus-sized Lebanese American woman with short orange hair wearing chartreuse lingerie in a bold pose on a green velvet sofa surrounded by lush plants and golden light in a boudoir photoshoot at Neon Velvet Studio
a beautiful woman with pinup styling and red lipstick wearing a sheer black robe and thigh high stockings. subtle Christmas holiday decor
A tattooed plus-sized burlesque performer in glamorous makeup. she has a partially shaved head and wears a black faux fur caplet, a strappy lace bra, and a striped corset.
a fair-skinned plus-sized tattooed burlesque performer reclining on a checkered floor against a velvet sofa, wearing a sheer leopard print dress and corset, lit with moody red gels

Get your Bestie Boudoir shoot scheduled!

Select a couples session or schedule two solo sessions (full length or themed minis!) back to back.
If y’all love this I’ll build a special bestie package for 2025 sessions!

Valentine Dreams: How to Heart Your Vibe

Posted on by cassieadmin in sets and themes

Love is in the air with a Valentine’s Day boudoir shoot

I’m an elder goth, the absolute last person you’d expect to get fired up about Valentine’s Day. And you’re right; I don’t care about it as a commercial occasion. But I love it as a themed boudoir session opportunity! These can feel more playful than a classic boudoir photoshoot because they’re colorful and can involve cute props. Valentine’s Day has always been campy and Valentine’s boudoir is too. Want hot pink femme euphoria? Got it! Or maybe you’re a them fatale. Classic widow robe vibes. Or you want to dress up like a powder-blue fox and wear heart-shaped pasties. I’m for it.

There are three types of people I think Valentine’s Day boudoir sessions are perfect for:

  • People in love
  • People out of love
  • Happy singles

Let’s get into it!

People In Love

Got that special someone you want to be sure is thinking of you when you’re thinking of them? Nothing says love like the personal and sensual gift of sexy photos! Flowers are beautiful and candy is nice, but a custom photo album will last forever. Valentine’s Day boudoir sessions are a little sweet, a little spicy. Use them to set the romantic vibe for the year to follow.

Or really lean in and schedule a Deluxe Couples Session with your sweetie! You’ll be together forever in your album and prints, memorialized for the hot pair you are.

People Out of Love

Look babe, I get it. Heartbreak hurts. But sometimes the best way to move on is to be so hot they regret everything. Let them cry. Let them regret. Block their number. You’re hot and you’ve moved on. You’re dressing for revenge. You are a sultry siren ready to break the heart that broke yours, and maybe a few others on the way. I don’t judge. That’s for god and drag queens to do.

These photos are for you, but maybe they’re for the internet too. So let’s accentuate your favorite features and get you feeling fire again. And if you want extra moral support, book back-to-back sessions with your pal for Galentine’s Day and make it a party.

Happy Singles

Welcome to the Self Love Club! You’re living your glorious unattached life and this session is about you creating a glamorous archive of self-adoration. I love the other kinds of sessions but between you and me, this is my favorite one. You’ve got no one to prove anything to but yourself, and it’s time for a luxurious little treat. Like those expensive bath bombs, but longer-lasting.

Get fancy in professional hair and makeup styling, have a dress up dream in the Client Closet, and pose your heart out! You can be sweet or spicy or a bit of both!

keep it sweet or make it suggestive! Valentine's Day boudoir photoshoots are a cute way to treat yourself or your partner.
Let them know how you really feel with a campy fun Valentine's Day boudoir photoshoot!
classic red and pink Valentine's Day lingerie combo! Be as traditional or as unorthodox as you want in your Valentine's Day boudoir session! it's for you, after all!
keep it sweet or make it suggestive! Wear a harness or bring some props to tell that special someone how much you care.
Hate Valentine's Day? make them REGRET leaving by getting hotter. Valentine's Day boudoir sessions for heartbreakers and the heartbroken
Maybe you're a witchy woman looking to hex your ex this Valentine's Day? No judgment, bestie!
Are flowers your Valentine's Day vibe? let's add some to your boudoir session and make it femme, traditional, and fun!
Goth girl valentine vibes for all your Valentine's Day boudoir needs. you can be spooky and still into pink, bestie!

Book your Valentine’s Day Boudoir Session Now!

If you’ve made it this far I just need you to know that at some point writing this I confused St. Valentine with St. Sebastian and barely course corrected in time. But like… if somebody wants to do a St. Sebastian-themed session I think that would slap. Love you.
Please sign up for my mailing list if you want to.

Set Building: Dark Garden of Eden

Posted on by cassieadmin in behind the scenes, sets and themes

Maybe it’s because I’m a photographer and a set building nerd, but I love to see process photos of how a series of images or a set are conceptualized and created! Here’s the first inkling of the Dark Garden of Eden set:

As you can see, the inspiration was darkness, gold, and roses. Maybe you’re looking at this thinking, ‘Wow, Cassie really loves red!’ and in 2024 that’s probably true! But it still feels surprising to me because I so rarely shot with a heavy red influence until the last few years!

I wanted greenery but not too green. I wanted it to be lush and detailed but not chaotic. So I began building…

…and this is when the Eden portion arrives! I thought, ‘More gold!’ and started buying and painting toy snakes, a totally normal expense to have to explain to my accountant as a boudoir photographer!

https://www.tiktok.com/@neonvelvetstudio/video/7128810239994137902?_r=1&_t=8imjYMhyBze

It’s difficult to paint with one hand and video with the other. But the vibe continued to expand as I added light and tested how it would look with the prisms I like to use when shooting…

https://www.tiktok.com/@neonvelvetstudio/video/7129185240781786414?_r=1&_t=8imjcuZkGbu

… and here we are, after hundreds of red fairy lights, dozens of roses, yards of black lace and greenery panels!

A versatile and moody fantasy boudoir vibe for all my dark queens and kings (and queer-coded villains, I love you). It’s a little bit fairy tale, but the dark foreboding kind that suggests maybe you’re more witch than princess. It’s a set in which you can be your own dark romance.

Dark Garden of Eden returns for a limited time in my suburban Philadelphia studio June 2024 for your choice of a mini session, deluxe session, or couples session (bring a sweetheart or a friend, or if you’re into booktok tropes, a friend you’re hoping might become a sweetheart?). Prepayment plans are available! Come see what romantic vibes are in the air.

Mini Sessions: Limited Edition Themes for 2024 & 2025

Posted on by cassieadmin in sets and themes

Mini sessions: Photography for all!

Live your dark romantic truth with Gothic Romantasy! black lace, candles, and roses for all my goth boudoir kings and queens <3 mini session photography sets for a limited time

Mini Session Themes 2024:

✧  Leather & Lace, May 9-10th 2024
✧  Dark Garden of Eden, June 12-14th 2024
✧  Christmas in July, July 25-26th 2024
✧  Golden Gods, August 20-22 2024
✧ Hallowqueen! September 9-12 2024
✧ Bride of Dracula, October 14-16 2024
✧  Monochrome Red, November 4-6 2024
✧  Gothic Romantasy, December 2-4 2024

2025:

✧  Valentine Dreams, January 6-8 2025
✧  Neon Nights, February 3-5 2025
✧  Flower Heaven, March 3-5 2025
✧  Birth of Venus, April 6-9 2025
✧  Burlesque! May 5-7 2025
✧  It’s Witchcraft, June 2-4 2025

A tattooed plus-sized burlesque performer in glamorous makeup. she has a partially shaved head and wears a black faux fur caplet, a strappy lace bra, and a striped corset.

Start your consultation here!

a queer burlesque dancer posing with black ostrich feather fans in a boudoir photo session in Philadelphia PA with Neon Velvet Studio photographer Cassandra Panek

What are mini sessions?

Themed mini sessions offer all the great stuff of my deluxe boudoir photoshoot sessions (hair and makeup, wardrobe, pose coaching, and more!), but at a bite-sized duration and price. But they’re not just quicker, they’re ephemeral. Some of the themes are unique: they’re one-and-done, never to return again! Some themes will return annually, or with variations in the future. Catch them while you can!

Why Mini Sessions?

My clients have always been vocal about their love for my set building and immersive environments, and the mood it creates for them. 2023’s sessions taught me that my ultra-detailed themed sets need to be special editions, built for a week or two at a time then taken down(for my sanity), not offered all year! They often take up an entire room in my Philly studio homebase, and there’s no space for me to take other non-theme bookings around them!

Building sets with a finite lifespan in mind allows me to be more deliberate and more elaborate, creating an immersive romantic fantasy session for you! And it’s fun for me too; mini sessions let me try new things in my photography and art, with you in the starring role.

What’s Included?

All this great stuff from my deluxe photo sessions!
✧ Hair and makeup by a professional makeup artist
✧ Wardrobe styling
✧ Pose coaching and guidance
✧ Free consultation before your session
✧ Prep guidance so you feel ready and excited
✧ An image reveal appointment via zoom to pick your photos
✧ A few edits, delivered digitally
✧ The option to upgrade a larger digital collection, custom photo albums, and beautiful wall art!

romantic goth boudoir mini sessions! photography in suburban Philadelphia by Cassandra Panek

As always, payment plans are available for any session. For more information, schedule a consultation or begin your booking process!

Past mini sessions! See what themes you’ve been missing:

✧  Valentine Dreams
✧  White Room Classic
✧  Disco Days
✧  Disco Nights