An empowering boudoir photoshoot in Minneapolis

While the clients I work with decide to do boudoir for a wide variety of reasons, one of the most common reasons is to celebrate an important life chapter or milestone. Krista is a recent client who scheduled her boudoir session right before running a marathon! Feeling physically strong, proud, and at home in her body, Krista wanted her boudoir portraits to honor and document this pivotal moment in her life as a runner accomplishing such a huge feat. 

When planning her season, Krista opted for my Minimalist package, which is a session option I launched last year. Minimalist sessions offer a slightly shorter and simplified boudoir experience that still captures the same heart and intention of my full-day signature boudoir sessions. Some folks have found Minimalist sessions to be a really lovely fit budget-wise or time-wise, and some folks have found the shorter session to be a great way to create portraits around a singular concept – like focusing on one chapter, rather than a full story. . Krista felt excited to focus her Minimalist session on celebrating herself through body-positive photography. 

When Krista arrived at my boudoir studio in south Minneapolis on the day of her session, we started our time together by talking through her vision. She imagined her session holding a beautiful balance of energies: powerful, fierce, driven, determined, delicate, and gentle. We spent the first half of her session playing with lighting techniques and movement while creating portraits that showcased her physical strength. Following Krista’s request, I also structured this part of her session around taking photographs Krista could turn into a triptych documenting her body in a motion it loves most: running. Krista also felt drawn to the more ethereal and sculptural boudoir examples I showed her, so we incorporated a sheer white fabric into the second half of her session and created a series of artful implied and fine-art nude portraits on the floor and in front of the wall of windows in my studio. These photographs capture her vision of fierce gentleness so beautifully. 

After her session, Krista shared such meaningful words: “I was looking to feel empowered, sensual, and strong, and I can say this was one of the best gifts I have ever given myself.”

Minimalist boudoir portraits