Today we’d like to introduce you to Misty Higgins.
Hi misty, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
So I began my business 14 years ago this past May, truly it was simply desperate measure to survive. Having not been able to get a job, I decided to just create one. I borrowed a Canon t2i and a 28-300 mm lens and made a social media page and started a business. I had zero idea what I was doing, except for having had a lifelong love of photography. I didn’t know how to use the camera so I shot everything in auto until one day realizing I couldn’t keep faking this “faux-tographer” thing. So I devoured every bit of information and utilized a free bit of training I could get from people I felt comfortable enough to tell that I was clueless.
I started photographing little girls as a specialty- I’m really actually only remembering this now in this moment. I called it shabby Chic Princess Portraits, ha! Which came with all lovely signs of a newbie like overprocessing, horrible white balance, awkward posing and really out there color toning and filters. Then shortly I evolved to weddings under the brand Moments by Misty. Early on I took a workshop where I had the opportunity to photograph a boudoir-like session. And I immediately fell in love with photographing women. I continued to build clients, experience and a good reputation. Surviving as a starving artist really not because I was that good but because I refused to give up.
In 2016 my business was thriving as a wedding and portrait photographer specializing in capturing people’s best day ever and boudoir- but also never turning down a dollar having to learn the hard way to niche down and after some genres like newborn proved not to be my specialty. In December of that year, I was diagnosed with an agressive form of breast cancer. I had to take 2017 off for some intensive treatment which ultimately saved my life but wrecked my body.
After treatment I could no longer keep up physically with a wedding season as a mainly solo shooter. I decided to shift to boudoir and more studio work. I rebranded under the name Boheme Bridal & Boudoir and focused primarily on boudoir and women’s portraiture including branding, headshots and senior portraits.
I have built a reputation for being one of Northern Virginia’s top boudoir photographers shooting timeless, soulful, romantic boudoir in an artsy, moody and creative way. My studio has been a full-service operation, offering hair & makeup service, wardrobe and just a warm, open, fun, safe atmosphere for women to experience the empowering way boudoir can complement their journey of self-love, boost self-esteem and help nurture, identify or find their own unique brand of sexy.
I had a background in journalism and I have traveled to developing countries to photograph humanitarian projects for NGO’s and other organizations. I have always had this dream to do that full time, waiting for National Geographic to give me a call to hire me. I wanted to travel the world and capture important stories sharing the beauty and resilience of humanity, especially in those types of countries. But then I have also realized that the stories I tell at home are just as iimportant. The best day ever for so many brides and the many women I have connected with through the years in my studio, trusting me with their naked bodies and naked truths- it has been one of my greatest honors to share that experience with them.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh my gosh, life with me has never been a smooth road. You know, artists are deep feelers and deep thinkers and we are often not the best at the business side. I’ve had to learn so many things and many of which I have learned through making mistakes. There were many lean years before I could make a comfortable living. Constantly adapting to an ever-changing market. Even now it is challenging in a super saturated market where for me, in the mid-market, the bottom seems to have fallen out. It has been even more challenging to stay the course, to keep making a living and to now especially with technology and social media, we have to sorta also become content creators, which for many of us introverts is not our wheelhouse nor something we really want to do. But the way I have survived is simply by being adaptable and refusing to give up.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have had my wedding photography described as Romantic documentary with an artistic, film-inspired soul. A blend of emotion first imagery, creative compositions and timeless processing. My approach to wedding photography is rooted in emotion and intuition. I focus on what is real, fleeting and deeply felt. The wind in a veil, a quiet breath before vows, the way two people reach for each other without thinking. I capture wedding the way memories live- softly, honestly, with emotion at the center. Each image is guided by feeling, light and the quiet beauty of what naturally unfolds and infusing scenes with visual rhythm and movement. The result is imagery that feels timeless, authentic, cinematic. Not staged, not rushed. Simply true.
Beyond technical choices, my style centers on feeling- capturing not just how a moment looked but how it felt. Joy, laughter, quiet tenderness, the drama of weather, textures of light on a fabric and the magic between couples are all central.
These days I am mostly know for my boudoir photography. Capturing women in creative ways in a warm, gentle space that allows them to feel safe and seen in a vulnerable session. My boudoir photography emanates a soft, emotive light that feels ethereal rather than overtly posed. The sexy factor is understated and at times vulnerable. It aims to capture that paradox of tenderness and power that all women have somewhere within them. I understand the power of this experience and how photographs can affect the way one sees themselves. I approach each session with intentional care, a gentleness and with an enthusiasm to show women how they are seen through the eyes (and lens) of an artist. Which is often the way the rest of the world already sees them yet they have rarely seen in themselves. It has been extremely rewarding to share this experience with so many beautiful women through the years.
Whether I am photographing weddings or boudoir, my iintention is always to create something that feels like visual poetry.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was extremely shy. I was a tomboy, athletic, I had two brothers and often was doing boy things. I have been in love with photography and being behind the camera since I was a small child. I remember being in 6th or 7th grade and posing my cat on the bed and using a blanket as a backdrop. By the time I started my business it had long slipped my mind that this had always been a forgotten childhood dream. I had a pretty dysfunctional and poverty stricken childhood and so I always found myself getting lost in things to escape that,whether it was books or creating things or learing or dreaming. I’ve always had a vivid imagination, a sixth sense and an intuitive nature. I’ve always had a huge love and connection with animals. Because for so many years of my life I was in places with not much abundance and not much light- often very dark indeed- I an see why I have spent so much of my adult life seeking the light and creating a career out of finding beauty in all things and all around me.
Pricing:
- weddings begin at $3000 for full day
- elopements and small weddings begin around $1200
- Regular sessions are $550
- Boudoir begins at $850-$3500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mybohemebridal.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/bohemebridalandboudoir
- Facebook: Boheme Bridal & Boudoir
