For years my sister and I have been told we "look so much alike" yet we couldn't be any different if we tried. She is a curvy, petite babe and I am a rectangular, tall babe, she is feisty (we called her Taz when she was little) and stubborn and I give no fucks and am a bit more relaxed. The one thing we do have in common, though, is how much we need each other in our lives. The quote "You keep me wild, I'll keep you safe" is one that resonates for me when it comes to our relationship. I have always been the free-spirited hippie and though she is chronologically younger than me, she acts older, making me eat fruit instead of cookies and all that. Like any sibling relationship, it hasn't always been rosy. There are times when our Barbies would be hurled across the room at each other, she got creative with my Macauly Culkin poster, and I passive aggressively made her do my bidding. I wouldn't change it for the world. As the years have gone by and we both "matured" into the adults we are today, there were times when we definitely didn't understand each other. One of those times includes our views on our bodies. From a young age I was bullied and had to find out who I was and become confident in myself as a PERSON and not just as a BODY, but my sister was popular, had lots of friends and was more stereo-typically pretty...but this led to her own dissatisfaction with her body, comparing herself to other girls, and just not recognizing how awesome or beautiful she truly was. Fast forward to today, where she has birthed 3 children (which are fucking adorable btw) and realized she had to become a different role model. She started to see her body for what it helped her accomplish and that was when she FINALLY let me do a boudoir session for her. Her shoot was awesome for me because I finally got to direct her and take control, whereas normally she conducts the family gatherings, but more importantly, I saw her confidence come out during her session. When asked to describe her session, she chose the following: Powerful, Exhilarating, Out of my comfort zone . Take a look below at her story and images (and yes, yes, we DO look alike...she just got all the bootay in the family.)
I was extremely nervous going into my shoot. I'm a mom of three and have always been self conscious of my body. In the past I've used eating disorders to help combat what I thought was "fat & ugly" (let me interject and say that fat does not = ugly, fyi). After having kids my body was never the same but I knew that I had my kids watching me so eating disorders wasn't something I wanted them to see. Instead I've been trying to accept that my body is beautiful and it has provided me with three healthy babies and I've earned these new curves with hardwork. However, it hasn't been an easy road accepting it. This experience was more than just pictures. It made me realize that just because I'm a curvacious "mom", I'm sexy, I'm beautiful. I'm confident. I saw myself in a light that I have not seen for many years. I feel more beautiful and happy with myself in these photos then I did the day I walked down the aisle 30 lbs lighter. I have given life, I have started a company, I have fun with friends, I live life and that is what I'm finally seeing in myself. This experience helped me see all this and more.
With her remarks about being happier now than 30lbs lighter when she got married, I know what she is talking about because I was there for it all. I remember how stressed she was about her body prior to her wedding and while she looked beautiful, she now has sun shine beaming out of her face and it doesn't come from being a certain size or achieving an unrealistic ideal, it comes from living a life that one could only dream of: She has created a ridiculously successful bakery, a gorgeous, down to earth family and is laughing and loving herself a lot more....I couldn't be more proud of my sister...(I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING).Are you ready to change your life? To appreciate for what it is right now? Then hit me up with an email and let's chat about your dream session!
Too Much of This, Not Enough of That ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
Trigger Warning: eating disorders, bulimia, etc.Miss C has the features and body that young women on Instagram and other social media platforms, quite literally, die for. But it doesn't come easy and it definitely comes with a price....and that price is her freedom. Miss C has given me permission to share the story of her eating disorder with you, in hopes that it will inspire OTHER young women to face these issues and take them seriously. I am doing my due diligence to learn more about eating disorders and why they happen, how we can combat them, etc. and the research I have found implies that more than 80% of documented cases of eating disorders are genetic, usually following closely to depression, anxiety, and OCD. What does this mean? It means eating disorders are usually the result of a cocktail of brain chemicals and environmental factors and every case is different enough for there to be no "one answer" to fixing the issue.
So, where does Miss C fit in to all of this, aside from just "having" an eating disorder? Well, she came to me in response to one of my casting calls and told me about her progress in her recovery program. I was hesitant to put up images of her on my social media (not just because it would get me banned from Facebook) but because I know the internet is a crappy place and people would say some extremely demeaning things about her petite body. So, before anyone comments on the fact that she "needs to eat a sandwich" or "put some meat on those bones" or implies that "men like women with curves, not bones" please note that you have NO FUCKING CLUE about someone's journey. For Miss C. she has made great strides from where she was a few short months ago and has not only started making gains to get to a healthier weight for her frame, but is also battling with the mental game that eating disorders provide EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
For me, it is extremely important that I represent women of ALL shapes and sizes and journeys because ALL women deserve to feel good about themselves at whatever point they are in their journey and I am very happy to have met Miss C because she can shed some light onto a different part of body image that I have no experience with and hopefully her own journey to self love will help change even one girl's life.
Now, my reason for sharing Miss C's story is not so that you will take pity on her or say "awwww, poor girl" but rather, so you will think twice before wanting to achieve a particular "body type" which is deemed perfect by stupid social media challenges and society and also, so you will think before commenting on a woman's body that she is "too much" of this or "not enough" of that. 
So, even though the casting call for Miss C's session was supposed to be an inspiration session, it ended up being more of an empowerment session. Boudoir sessions for Miss C are a good way for her to express herself and get in touch with her body at whatever stage in her journey she is at. Photos are a fab way to document her life changes and see the progress that she is making, because sometimes it may seem slower than she would like. In any case, Miss C is one hell of a young woman and she is extremely bright, beautiful, strong and full of spark and I will continue to walk beside her in her journey to understand her self. {Ps. scroll down to the bottom to watch our behind the scenes video from this shoot!}
Here is what Miss C'story and experience with boudoir:"During my session I felt on top of the world I felt like the sexiest women alive. Teri made me feel so comfortable with showing off my body that I worked hard for. My fear of seeing my photos was not even that my body was going to look bad, it was that I would have weird facial expressions and be unhappy but when I saw my photos I felt beautiful. I felt perfect I wanted to show them off to everyone. I've been bulimic for half a year and my confidence is at an all time low. There are days when I feel beautiful and confident in the skin I'm in but other days when I want to lay in bed all day and not look at myself. I needed a confidence boost and I knew that Teri always gave me the best ones. And I was right. She made me beautiful and confident just like she did the first time and whenever I'm feeling insecure I look back on those photos she took of me and just smile. Thank you for all your help, Teri!"
