M had been dreaming about doing a boudoir session for years, intentionally choosing to wait until it felt like the right moment. This year, she arrived at a season of life where she felt grounded, joyful, and ready to say an unwavering “yes” to boudoir. As a body-positive photographer, I believe strongly in the power of boudoir as a self-celebratory act, so it is such an honor to know the depth of meaning a photoshoot can hold for a client too. It felt so special to help M create the empowering boudoir session of her dreams.  

Sarah brought so many beautiful intentions and hopes into her boudoir session. When she reached out to me, she was approaching a milestone birthday and entering one of those life chapters where one door closes and another opens. This was a threshold moment she didn’t want to let slip by, so she decided to schedule a photoshoot as a way to pause, reflect, and celebrate the growth and changes she and her body had experienced to arrive here, greeting a new season with gratitude.

Looking back, I am inspired by the breadth and depth of moods and styles that this year has held across the dozens of sessions I’ve photographed in my studio and in gorgeous outdoor spaces. Some sessions felt super glamorous and dramatic; some felt very artful or whimsical; some exuded an effortless, everyday energy; some held profound gentleness; some captured inspiring strength; some were bursting with joy, vibrancy, and color; some felt like a peaceful, self-loving exhale; and many times a single session held a multitude of these moods.

In the year leading up to her photoshoot, E’s life had held multitudes – including moments of joy and challenging unexpectedness – and she wanted her boudoir session to capture the breadth of who she is now and who she is becoming, all through the lens of self-compassion. It felt extra fitting to mark her milestone birthday with a day devoted to gentleness, reflection, and self-care. 

K went into her boudoir session with the primary intention of doing something beautiful just for herself. She envisioned portraits that captured various aspects of her personality – some romantic, some elegant, some strong and dramatic, and some soft and effortless – and she wanted all of the portraits to have a strong undercurrent of self-love.

A wanted her boudoir session to balance her love of artful boudoir portraits with her vibrant, creative energy. She envisioned portraits that felt at once strong and poised, playful and serene. She was excited for this session to capture the well of confidence she has come to fill within herself and to celebrate the mosaic of styles she feels drawn to in this season of life. A also felt delighted to incorporate two different flower bouquets into her session. I helped with her wardrobe planning for this session, choosing three looks that complemented the colors and textures of the bouquets.

M was in an exciting season of life where she felt able to see and savor the self-compassion she had worked hard to cultivate over the years. She wanted her photoshoot to celebrate the intentionality she had poured into building a life full of self-acceptance. M envisioned a boudoir session that felt candid, confident, effortless, and everyday.