Grace’s Shining Inner Light Boudoir Portraits
Grace is a person with a lot of passion and care for the people around her; she is one of those people who is super easy to talk to and laugh with. I first worked with her last summer, when she and her wife Ella joined me and a group of wedding vendors to do a LGBTQ wedding styled shoot (Grace and Ella actually have one of the best love stories ever - they planned a wedding in just a week when they found out that Ella, also a nurse in the Army Reserves, was going to be deployed. Check out this post from my wedding photography blog if you want to read their story and see a lot of joy and confetti!). Ella is in the midst of her deployment right now, and when Grace and I started talking about doing boudoir session, I was so excited that Grace could do something special for herself during this chapter of life.
Grace works as a nurse and is such a light in her community. She takes care of and is always looking out for others, so doing something just for herself at this point in her life was super powerful. She loved the idea of a boudoir session providing the space to feel fancy and done up with an opportunity to step back and see herself afterward. She viewed it as a way to reflect on herself and have pictures to represent this specific chapter of her life. It was the perfect definition of a self-care boudoir session!
She wanted portraits that would feel “cute and sexy” but also radiate confidence overall. We talked a lot about the idea of inner light-- feeling sexy through loving her own body and being really proud and confident in that, so much so that her energy would be shining out from within. This intention and mindfulness resulted is Grace’s portraits feeling glowing, confident, and self-loving.
Grace brought along three wardrobe choices that fit so well with her confident, inner light, self-loving vibe. She paired a soft and comfortable wrap-around bralette with strappy high-waisted bottoms in a deep navy color. The set photographed almost more like black with a cool blue color undertone. High-waisted bottoms are always really wonderful for folks who love their waist because the style highlights the waistline and an hourglass shape.
Grace also wore a glamorous black bodysuit with sheer panels on the sides that felt both classic and modern, as well as a lingerie set in a sage green with lace detailing. This sage set added a romantic pop of color, and we also incorporated the bottoms into a couple ‘illusion of topless’ portraits, where she is facing the window or laying down with an open back - they feel super simple and elegant.
Hayley from Hayley Sachs Artistry styled Grace’s hair and makeup. On the morning of her session, Grace asked for her hair to feel sort of messy and bedhead-inspired Hayley gave her hair volume and movement that felt soft and natural. In some of her pictures you can see more defined waves and in some her hair looks more textured and relaxed- I love the mix.
Before photographing boudoir sessions I ask clients if there is anything they really love about themselves and want to highlight more or styles they are drawn to so I can be mindful of their preferences throughout their session. Grace’s collection of portraits is representative of the variety I aim for overall. There’s a mix of horizontal and vertical, color and black and white, distanced and close-up portraits; but more than anything, there is a range of expressions and feelings - from relaxed smiles to big glamorous laughs, confident moments to self-loving candids.
Grace, thank you for letting your inner light shine in my studio. Your expression of self-love was inspiring, spending the day with your glowing energy was energizing, and I’m so proud of these portraits we created together.