You have probably seen the beautiful Britt in various locations on my website. This babe was one of the other gorgeous women we had the pleasure of photographing at the Stripped Down workshop. The first day, Britt wore this amazing top from Free People which took my instagram by storm when I posted it and then on day 2, I had the pleasure of photographing her again, but this time in kind of a tag-team collaborative fun shoot with my buddies, Paige Rynberg of Paige Rynberg Photography & Stephanie Wells of the Girlfriend Experience Boudoir. The 4 of us were so high on energy that we caused a bit of attention to ourselves, but it was so much fun and it's always cool to see how other photogs shoot! Keep scrolling to see the beauty that is Miss Britt:
She Could Be Very Judgmental {of herself} ~ Winnipeg boudoir photography
I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of Miss H on the blog in the future! She was a blast to hang out with and also helped me out a few weeks after this shoot with another shoot for a tutorial that I am working on. Not only did Miss H kill her shoot, but she got WHY we do what we do here. This babe was a little bit of a chameleon on camera, changing her look for every pose and outfit I gave her. Turns out, she was a theater kid, so she loved being in front of the camera and giving me everything she had. I will let Miss H take it from here and talk about her experience being in front of my lens for the first time:
[It made] me feel confident in my own skin again, I haven't felt this beautiful in years (I truly mean this, Teri is an absolute inspiration with the way she empowers body image and cuts negative thoughts out of her shoots). The biggest thing that stood out with me was before the reveal, the way she spoke, and how she spoke about not looking at yourself with a judging eye. That truly stuck out to me, as someone who is always judgmental of myself, and I called my mom afterwards to boast about how great that was and how amazing the experience was!
From the first phone call, to consultation, to the shoot and to the reveal, Teri was absolutely phenomenal to work with. The way she portrays positive body image absolutely blew me away. Not once during my shoot did I feel self conscious, and that's all thanks to Teri. I would HIGHLY recommend every single person to do a shoot with Teri, because the way you feel so empowering, beautiful, and sexy throughout the shoot is worth more than money can buy. Even if money is tight, she has amazing payment plans.
Boudoir shoots can definitely feel very intimidating if you've never done one before. I had kind of done one before, but wasn't fully satisfied with my shoot. I came across Teri's page and thought I would give her a call. The shoot itself was absolutely life changing. If you're even considering doing a shoot- DO IT. You will feel so strong and sexy and that feeling is priceless. Teri's photo's speak for themselves, and the experience with her was great. I would really love to commemorate her though for her outlook on body positivity which is the sole reason I think every single individual should do at least one shoot with Teri. She is kind hearted, and totally empowering. I have never met someone as inspirational as Teri who believes so much that each and every single one of us is beautiful, and wants to show us through her way of photography. My entire experience I felt safe, sexy, and not a single self conscious thought crossed my mind. The experience is priceless, and worth every single penny.
Needless to say, I may have shed some tears when I heard back from Miss H about her experience. It is my wish with every session that I help the person in front of me to gain a little more confidence and put a little crack in their negative self-image. Slowly, we work to help chip away at those negative thoughts and doubts about ourselves that we have, erasing the judgements we cast upon ourselves when looking at images or previewing a video.
If you are ready to explore yourself and help knock back some of those negative voices, I invite you in just for a consultation to learn more about how we can help you "find yourself" again. You're in there, we just need to bring that bad ass babe out!
She Can't Wait To Do It Again ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
By the time Miss S and I got together, I had already photographed a handful of her closest friends, so while she knew what she was getting into, I don't think she kneeeew. This babe (who can look like a variety of celebrities: Taylor Swift, Olivia Munn, Aubrey Plaza, etc.) was trying to come to terms with her new body (which she will talk about below) and I assured her this was the perfect way to start that journey. I am 100% certain the reason we hate our bodies is because while we think we do have control over them, we actually don't. You can put on as much face cream as you want, dye your hair, eat healthy, and so on, but your body is an entity in it's own and it's going to throw you curve balls from time to time. If there's one thing people hate, it's change....and change that they didn't ask for, which is why it is easy for us to fixate on "fixing" or "repairing" our body when in fact, it's going to age, change, and grow. Our body is a living organism, constantly changing and we fight it at every turn...but why? IF we are aging, that means we are living, and if you ask me, that's a pretty good thing. Anywho, here is Miss S to share her story and experience:
This was such a fun experience to have and I highly recommend it to everyone! Teri is amazing at making you feel completely comfortable and like a gorgeous babe while your photos are taken.
Ever since I had my daughter I've been very self conscious of my new body(endless stretch marks) and this was a great step for me in accepting that my body has changed but is still beautiful . I was really nervous before my reveal because I thought that I would hate to see all of my imperfections laid out for me to pick apart in every photo, but that wasn't the case!
I had a huge smile on my face looking at all of the pictures and I couldn't believe these were my photos! I've gained confidence and enjoyed this entire experience from start to finish and I can't wait to do it again! My favorite outfit was definitely the sweater and socks! I couldn't decide which ones to pick and it was impossible for me to narrow them down.
I am so happy that we were able to help Miss S see the beauty in her accomplishments. Why we think stretch marks are the worst thing on the world is beyond me (stay tuned for an upcoming project about this). Stretch marks are quite literally a signal of GROWTH. I mean, she grew a human life...that's incredible (motherhood baffles me btw...the human body is ridiculous). So embrace the bits of you that are symbols of your hard work, challenges, experiences throughout this journey we call life.
She Hid For So Long ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
Miss R responded to a casting call that I put up and came in for a killer shoot with me. When I post casting calls, it's usually because I want to try new lighting, new posing, or I just get the itch to do some shooting (no coincidence this happens around the time I should be doing my taxes....) In any case, if you want to get in on Casting Calls, request an invite to our VIP Boudy Babes group, but make sure you respond quick when I post them, because people tend to scoop them up relatively quickly!! Even though I do these sessions more for myself, I tend to find that the clients also get a huge reward out of the session and here is Miss R to tell you her side of the experience.
There is so much to say about this experience with Teri and Nicole. It is so much more than having your makeup done and your picture taken. The first reason I wanted to do this was to face my fear of being seen, outside of the privacy of my bedroom, as a sexual being. I don't know if it's because I was born female or if it is because, like many people, I have been abused in various ways by various people at various times throughout my life but I have always felt it was necessary to hide the sexual and sensual side of me. Not that I quite felt ashamed of it but just that it was a secret thing not to be expressed.
The second reason I wanted to do a boudoir shoot with Teri is because I have long preached about body acceptance, about how vitally important it is to love yourself in all of your shapes, sizes and ages and though I encourage this with everyone I meet, I didn't quite believe it to be true for myself. I have had many internal conversations that start out with "I love myself except..." or "I think I'm awesome but I wish I could change..." I wanted the exceptions and the list of things it would make me happy to change to go away. I wanted the internal conversation to simply be "I love myself." Full stop.
When Teri posted a casting call to her site, and her criteria matched me I thought to myself "this is it! No delaying or excuses, this is the universe telling me GO!" and so I booked. I wasn't very nervous leading up to the day, but once Nicole was done my make up the jitters got me a little. Nicole left once my hair was done and Teri's first words were "deep breath" with her bright beautiful smile and my nerves disappeared. Right away she talked about what she wanted to do, she asked about my comfort level, she even did some of the poses she wanted me to do herself so I could see what she meant. She was very natural and at ease which put me very at ease. I felt very at home in her studio and in front of her camera.
It was a neat feeling, like I have always, every day stood around mostly naked in front of someone's camera. I never expected it to feel that normal. As we shot, Teri was very complimentary and always positive. I never even heard a "no" escape her. Her words were always positive, uplifting and encouraging. Shooting was done before I knew it and I headed home.
A week or so later I made my way back to the studio for my reveal. Teri showed me a slide show of my images, my reaction was a half cry/half laugh. I didn't have the "that can't be me" feeling I hear a lot of people describe, I didn't have the "I hate these" feeling I have heard some people describe, I had a full on "I f*cking love these, holy sh*t I am crazy HOT, I want to have sex with myself" reaction. What I felt was a total re-connection to myself, to part of me I didn't realized had been disconnected. And that's why the tears and laughter. Thank you Teri for helping me get that part of me back. It seems like such a small thing but my outlook has 100% changed thanks to this experience.
This is WHY I do boudoir and this is WHY I push women out of their comfort zone....sometimes we are comfortable in the self-hate, so much so that we don't recognize how fucking amazing it feels to love ourselves!! Are you ready to embrace your sensuality and have an epic love story with yourself?? If so, hit the contact button at the top and let's arrange a chat!!
She Found Peace ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
Another Miss J!! This beauty took advantage of my dark and light promo session and upon meeting I could see she was very hesitant and nervous to do her session. As a boudy photog, I can usually get a feel for my babes and I could sense her anxiety. Nevertheless, she pushed past her fears and jumped into her session with 2 beautiful feet! This gorgeous babe had a hard time seeing her gloriousness and when she came in for her reveal with her mom and best friend, someone must have been cutting onions, because there were tears all around. All this time she had felt less than, undesireable and yet, here in front of her was the amazing woman that her family and friends knew the whole time. Miss J finally realized what everyone was telling her. But don't take it from me, check out her story below:
I was really second guessing my decision to do this shoot. I was so nervous the days before the shoot, even more so the morning of. However I bit the bullet, picked up my heels and off I went!
I felt very welcomed greeted by Teri's and Nicole's smiles. Make up almost done, that crazy nervous feeling returned. Teri assured me I would be ok and have a great time. A few moments into the shoot I chuckled to myself and thought yes she was right. Teri made me feel so comfortable and I had a great shoot with her!
I brought my amazing mom and one of my oldest and dearest friends to the reveal. Sitting there the nerves were almost too much. I was scared to have them see what I had done and hear what they thought. Once the photos started I thought wow, tears uncontrollably fell and not just from me. What a feeling, it was overwhelming. Looking over at my mom and my friend seeing tears in there eyes and mamma validating what she has always said..... you are beautiful! I felt at peace.
Teri you have helped me see my beauty outside and within once again!!
Miss J.'s experience is unfortunately not uncommon. Too many women second guess their beauty, their strength, and their sexiness and it is a session like this that will help them see the reality of who they are as women. While I am very happy to help women experience that on their journey, it also pains me that so many women go years without ever knowing or acknowledging their true worth. So don't wait for the "right time", until your body is "perfect", because 1 year waiting to see yourself as anything less than phenomenal is 1 year too long. Are you ready to REALLY see yourself? If so, hit the contact button up above and we will have a chat!