Today we’d like to introduce you to Kara Dunn.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Midnight Sun Boudoir was started in the North Pole, Alaska while living there with my husband who is an Active Duty Service Member in the Army. I had just given birth to our first son and lost my “spark”. I once used to love how my body looked and due to motherhood changes, I was struggling to see the parts of me that I once loved. My husband, being my biggest supporter, encouraged me to take a few images of myself to help show that I “still had it”…and I did! I felt an instant rush of confidence and knew that other women deserved to feel the same. Most of my fellow Army wives are mothers as well, so I reached out to a few of them to see if they would be interested in letting me take boudoir-style images of them, they agreed, and BAM Midnight Sun Boudoir was born.
We officially became a business in 2020, and from the start of my career, I have only exclusively shot Boudoir Portraits. In our first year open, we hit six figures in revenue, were featured in over 20 publications, and were awarded Best of Boudoir 2021 not only once, but twice by The Association of Boudoir Photographers! We truly hit the ground running! We relocated to the DMV area back in July of 2022 and have since created our dream photo studio with multiple sets, an inclusive luxury lingerie wardrobe with sizes XS-5X for our clients to use, a product wall, and a changing room.
At Midnight Sun Boudoir we pride ourselves on ensuring all of our clients feel comfortable and like our friends. We take care of you from start to finish. When you book, you get access to our team should you ever have any questions, professional hair and makeup, access to our client closet, a complimentary lingerie fitting, and more! You will be pampered the day of your session, have fun during your photoshoot, and leave feeling like a million bucks!
Midnight Sun Boudoir is all about self-love. We want YOU to fall back in love with yourself and discover the confidence you never knew you had! Everyone, and yes I mean EVERYONE, deserves to treat themselves to a boudoir experience at least once in their lifetime. Nothing beats the confidence you gain after you see your final images!
What made me fall in love with being a boudoir photographer was seeing that spark inside of my clients reignite.
Seeing women who think they aren’t worthy, aren’t beautiful enough, aren’t skinny enough, aren’t curvy enough, look at their images and just stare in amazement, is why I do this. You are ALL worthy and ALL beautiful! And I love that I have been trusted by many of you to show you how the world sees your beauty.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Starting a business is never a smooth road. I think that if anyone tells you that, they have got to be fibbing. There are ALWAYS going to be hiccups and setbacks, but it’s what you do with them that sets you apart. One of the biggest struggles we have had in our two years in business so far was relocating.
We literally moved our business from the furthest west state, Alaska, to the east coast. With that, comes finding a new market, getting settled, making connections, and rebuilding that trust with new clients versus relying on referrals. Essentially starting over is intimidating, but what I love so much about here is the fact that there are so many creatives and we all have our own fresh take on what we do!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Midnight Sun Boudoir is a Fine Art Luxury Photography Studio. We exclusively photograph boudoir-style portraits in a dark and moody tone. We use light to carve the shape of the body and really highlight our client’s (ASS)ets. Aside from making our clients look amazing, we are known for being a welcoming and confidence-building space. Many, if not most, of our clients, arrive with those pre-session jitters, but by the end, they are on cloud nine and radiating confidence. Most of our clients come to us from previous clients who can’t help but sing our praises.
You deserve to feel like a Queen, so we treat this experience as such. You can literally roll out of bed in the morning and leave with amazing images and the confidence to match! We encourage you to make this session all about you. We want you to add custom elements to your images to make them your own. But most importantly, we want you to love the entire experience from start to finish. We truly believe that there is nothing like what we offer and that everyone deserves to feel how our clients feel leaving their session!
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
It is tough to find a mentor, especially in a local market. However, I have had great success finding mentors in Facebook Groups with like businesses. There are many well-known names in photography that offer education and mentoring sessions. While I haven’t had a mentor 1:1 type, I absolutely have been furthering my education in the field and utilizing the knowledge of other successful photography business owners to elevate me and my business.
In regards to networking, is one of my favorite aspects of the business. I would essentially be nowhere if my clients did not love what I offer. As such, when I network with other businesses, I typically offer my services to them in exchange for their services so we can shout each other out to our clients and friends. This has been tremendous for us, as many of our current clients have come to us through our business relationships. I personally love partnering with other small businesses!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.midnightsunboudoir.com
- Instagram: @midnightsunboudoir
- Facebook: @midnightsunboudoir
- Other: https://go.midnightsunboudoir.com/consult
Image Credits
Headshot photographed by Steph Beguhl Photo + Film
