Walking the walk: M’s powerful self-love portraits
M found her way to a boudoir photoshoot first by watching her friend go through the process. She saw how impactful the experience was for her friend and became curious about experiencing it herself! Also, as someone who works in a caregiving profession empowering others to live with self-compassion, M was excited to have an opportunity to gift herself a photoshoot and send some radical love back to herself. In her words, “I wanted to walk the walk” of self-love.
In our planning phone call, M set a beautiful intention to have her boudoir session celebrate and document her body in this moment of time and to honor the inner strength that led her here. She wanted a day where she felt special, fancy, and strong– both emotionally and physically. She wanted her portraits to look natural, feminine, and romantic, and she also wanted to showcase her physical strength and athletic side. M also was about to be married when she had these photos taken! So while she wanted the focus of her photoshoot to be about her relationship with herself, she also wanted to celebrate the joy of her upcoming wedding and the romance of this season.
M’s Boudoir Portraits
M’s clothing choices helped capture her intentions for how she wanted her portraits to look and feel. She wore a pale pink bra and underwear set that had a soft, effortless vibe, with a geometric waistband detail that showed a fun sense of her sportiness and strength. She stands confident and tall in some photos, and gently holds herself in others. As M reflected afterward, “It was validating to see in the photos my sense of strength and my sense of kindness/softness. I was able to see from the outside what feels important to me on the inside. That is such a gift."
M also brought in a gorgeous white robe that looked very bridal, with long, flowy sheer fabric and detailed lace. She has one sequence of photos where I documented her slowly taking off the robe while walking away from the camera, capturing this incredible movement of calm confidence.
She also decided to wear her wedding dress in several of the portraits, which was a really joyful way for her to slow down and feel the fullness of her current season of life! Looking at her wedding dress photographs and seeing her take this moment to pause and celebrate her life was such a tender moment in the studio. In pausing to celebrate herself, M gives us all permission and encouragement to do so too.
M wanted to end her session with some fine art nude portraits. These portraits against my silhouette panel have a bright, airy background, and I love how these feel artistic with a focus on shadow and light and body lines. She also loved the brick walls in the studio, so we took some portraits of her lying on the bed with the brick in the background, and a series of her standing next to the wall – I love how those standing portraits have a sense of confidence and a joy in taking up space. These photos capture how embodied and empowered she felt during the session.
In reflecting on the session, M speaks to the constellations of feelings she began the session with, and the pure gratitude she felt afterwards. "I was nervous and excited going into this experience since I wasn't sure what to expect. I can't say enough positive things about how comfortable I felt throughout the whole day. You made it safe, celebratory, fun, and empowering. Also, I felt like you could really see me and capture a piece of my spirit in the photos - thank you so much for that! It's vulnerable but in the best way.”
