Kelly's Intentional, Inner Fire Boudoir Portraits

Kelly came into her boudoir session with a totally different focus than her first session in my studio. In the last year, she has experienced an intense period of personal growth and challenges and came out on the other side feeling more like herself than she has in so long.

While Kelly’s intention for her first session was gifting the pictures to her partner, this session was a gift completely for herself. This shift resulted in a full and rich collection of portraits that document the sense of inner self she’s been feeling in this phase of life.

Hayley from Hayley Sachs Artistry did her hair and makeup and leaned into Kelly’s love for big, voluminous hair. A winged eyeliner effect added just the right amount of drama to create a vibrant and natural look.

Kelly was really intentional with her wardrobe choices for this session - she brought along some cozy layers from home, included something meaningful from her first session to tie in continuity, and picked up a number of beautiful pieces from Flirt Boutique in St. Paul. One of the biggest questions I get from clients is “what do I wear for my boudoir session?” So, I thought I’d walk you through Kelly’s intentional choices to explain what her variety of styles added into her final portraits.

Kelly brought a striped  sweater a romantic, fuzzy texture and the jersey she wore in her first session. I love that this jersey brought continuity to her two sessions while being presented in a new light, with different meaning.

An elegant black bodysuit with sheer long-sleeves from Flirt combined perfectly with one of my favorite sunny corners of the studio to create a glowy, backlit photo. Kelly really loved the idea of contrast and lightness, so we used the white walls and window light in my studio as background textures to make her portraits feel airy and relaxed .

Kelly chose a second bodysuit from Flirt that she paired with a purple and blue robe. I love this lace on lace moment, and the and short length of the robe made for some fun layers. The blue bodysuit alone and it’s back cut-out added a playfulness to some of her photos, too.

A bra and bottom set from Flirt with stockings and a garter belt, feels super dramatic in her portraits.I love that she is laying down in these portraits - it brings a cozy, comfortable feel while showing off  the details of her garter in a really organic way.

Then she had this totally unique, interesting set: a slip and robe with really modern textured lace and little cream details. For a few photos we paired it with a pale turquoise silk that I picked up from a fabric store and have been keeping in the studio for a time like this. We threw the fabric over a wall for a little background color, and I adore the result.

Kelly’s pink and maroon lace bodysuit from Flirtand elegant long black robe brought some warmth and energy to her portraits, and wrapping up in white sheets for illusion portraits evoked a timeless softness

Kelly, thank you for joining me in the studio again. It was such an honor to document this phase of your life - I love how these portraits are full of intention and inner fire. I loved working with you again!