How I got my start in boudoir photography + why it stuck

Many years ago in my very first year of business as a full-time wedding photographer, winter came, and with it a new vision of what my work as a photographer could look like. I decided I wanted some photography work that was less tied to the seasons, allowed me to work with individuals, and provided a different outlet for my creativity. In really mulling this over in my mind, I had this idea of trying boudoir. I had a couple people ask me about it and was sort of familiar with it, but honestly I didn’t know too much about it to begin with. 

Regardless, I thought it would be cool to try and found four friends who were willing to let me test out a session with each of them. I was completely blown away when I did these sessions. It was so interesting because these were all people I knew, was friends with, and cared for - yet they all came out of the photoshoot and reveal standing so tall, proud and in love with themselves in a way I had never seen before. These were people who I thought I had seen be confident in themselves, but this self-love on another level. This was a very unique kind of inner light and confidence and power, and I knew immediately that there was something magical about boudoir. 

I had this realization that there is power in giving yourself space and time that is just for you, feeling comfortable in front of a camera, giving yourself permission to be proud of how you look, and then having this moment of loving your pictures and seeing a piece of your soul in them looking back at you. This all came across in those very first sessions I did, and I fell in love with this genre of photography because of the incredible power it encapsulates - there is undeniable growth and space for radical self-love.