We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michelle Franzetti a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry

The more widespread use of AI is playing a role in the evolution of every industry, and photography is not exempt. While AI will continue to get better and better and produce a usable final image, one thing it cannot do is create an experience and alter self-perception through that experience.

I specialize in wedding and boudoir photography and those industries will need to rely more and more heavily on the experience side of service. Clients aren’t just hiring me for images—they’re coming for an entire day that feels special, indulgent, and unforgettable. They want to be pampered, celebrated, and made to feel like the main character in their own story. The photographs are important, of course, but the real magic happens in the way they feel during the session.

One of my favorite moments this year was with a client who booked a boudoir session as a gift for her anniversary. She expected to love the photos, but what surprised her was how the whole day unfolded—the professional hair and makeup, the laughter in the studio, the confidence that kept building as we went. A week later she told me, ‘The photos were amazing, but honestly, that day changed the way I see myself.’ Boudoir isn’t just about delivering images—it’s about creating an experience they’ll relive every time they look at them. That’s where our industry is heading, and I think it’s a beautiful thing.

Another big trend I see is a return to valuing printed items. We now have an entire generation who had their childhood captured on cell phones. While they have more documentation of growing up than any previous generation, their homes are likely not filled with shoe boxes filled with prints or photo albums with the date and location scribbled on the back of each image. Their childhood might only live in the cloud! And because of this, I believe that generation will hold a new and higher value for printed items Images get buried in camera rolls, but a beautifully printed album lives on coffee tables, shelves, and in hearts for decades.

Michelle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve always loved making people laugh. For years, I did it on stage as a performer or in the classroom as a teacher. Now, I do it from behind the camera—helping people relax, be themselves, and capture moments of genuine joy. I always knew I wanted to be an artist, but photography wasn’t originally on my radar. Looking back, I was always the friend with the camera, the one getting rolls of film developed, the one posting Facebook albums—but I never thought, ‘This should be my career.’ That changed in the most unexpected way: the guy I liked was in a photography class, and I thought, ‘Maybe if I join, he’ll think I’m cute.’ It worked—we’re married now, and we run our photography business together.

These days, I help people celebrate their own stories, primarily through wedding and boudoir photography. The photography industry can often feel like it’s full of perfect, polished women. I want to be there for the people who feel a little messy, a little less polished, and a lot more real. My proudest moments are when a client tells me their session helped them see themselves in a new way. At the end of the day, I want my work to be a joyful reminder that you are already worthy of celebration—exactly as you are.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building a social media audience in a way that truly feels meaningful TAKES TIME! There are very few shortcuts. One of the most wonderful, unexpected joys in my business is my Facebook group for potential, current, and past clients. It is called Franz with Benefits which is a play on my last name.

I had a great mentor suggest I start the group. It is common in my industry to have these VIP groups and all I could think was, “Who in the world wants ANOTHER Facebook group?!” But, my mentor continued to encourage me to dig down into creating a space I wish existed. And it worked!

That group has grown bit by bit, year by year and I consistently hear, “This group is the only reason I get on Facebook!” We have an absolute blast, make connections, and it is responsible for about 65% of my boudoir bookings each year.

Copying someone else won’t work. Copy and pasting from AI won’t work. You need to create the account you see a need for and then show up for it consistently.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I thought I had to be a part of the cool crowd. I would brainstorm ways I could show the cool crowd that I was a good time and smart and worthy of their friendship. There was this group os established businesses in my area that were just crushing it and I wanted in!!! Turns out, I needed to focus on organically finding my own crowd and growing with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.franzettiphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m_franzetti
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FranzettiPhotography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Michelle_Franzetti