A few times a month I offer up casting calls as a way to practice shooting, lighting, and posing. Miss A came to the studio as part of a boudoir casting call and this babe did not disappoint. With her firey hair and an attitude to match she slayed her session. Take a look at her gorgeous session below:
She Left On a High ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
As 2016 comes to a close, I am looking back at all of the babes that I had the pleasure of photographing, learning from, and empowering. While I haven't been able to share all of their stories due to privacy, I can guarantee you that ALL of them are inspirational, bad ass babes ready to rock 2017! For today's post, I am featuring Miss N, who came out to help me with our promo shoot last summer. Her story and message is extremely inspiring as 2016 was her year to "find herself" and this session was part of that adventure. Miss N describes her experience as "fun and exhilarating. I left the studio on a high. The week I had to wait to see my pictures was painfully long, but in the end so worth the wait. I was blown away. It was a great experience and I get to keep the memories forever."Take a look at her photos below and be sure to check out her interview during our video at the bottom of the post!!
She Finally Saw Herself ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
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!
She Was An Expert At Misery ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
I received an email from Miss J that started with the following:
Her harmony came not throughthe complete absence of chaos,but in the realisationthat she was resilient enoughto come back stronger than anythingthat she would endure.~ Becca Lee
Miss J has frequented my blog on a few occasions, but I think this session was the one that took her to new depths of her soul. We always have fun shooting together, but when she came in for her consult this time, I told her that I wanted her to realize that she is more than just a comedian or a "funny gal". I wanted her to realize how sexy, strong, feminine and amazing she is and the humor just adds to the amazing cocktail that is Miss J. Here's Miss J's take on her boudoir session:
This was not my first photo session with Teri: we met at the style-off competition last winter, then she took some hilarious and fun headshots for me, and finally she was there capturing the precious moments of my haircut for cancer.
Strangely enough, I hadn’t yet booked myself a true boudoir session. I jumped on one of the fabulous monthly promos, and the excitement began. When I met with Teri she made an effort to push me into a real, raw boudoir shoot. She saw that I am more comfortable playing a role than being myself, and I am so grateful she could see that in me, because I realized afterwards how satisfying it was to see ME in every photo. Boudoir has a way like nothing else to look at ourselves and celebrate our bodies, our beauty, our sensuality, our womanness.
I noticed a lot of people comment on my photos saying they could NEVER do a boudoir shoot. I stand in front of these amazing, beautiful, breathtaking women with my mouth agape as they pinch at fat and carefully deconstruct their faces until I’m not entirely sure whose face they are talking about anymore. Do they think I have not done the same to myself? Of course I have. A million times over. But I just got tired of it. I got tired of always finding something wrong in my reflection, and it started transferring into every interaction in my life. I became an expert at misery. I spent my life thinking my nose entered the room before I did, until I let my guard down and listened when people told me that my eyes often shone the brightest in a room, how my laughter was contagious, how my story inspired them.
This boudoir session allowed me to be vulnerable AND empowered. Our lives, our bodies, are so precious, and we spend so much precious effort on loathing our “flaws.” The cold hard fact that I have learned in the last few years is that you can’t take “beauty” with you, “beauty” is fleeting and worthless without a big heart, passion, ambition, and love for your life and your world.
Strip down, in whatever sense of the word that suits you best, let the world see the cracks in the facade, and don’t be afraid to shine as bright as you can.
Jessica quickly became, like many boudy babes do, a good friend of mine and it is so exciting for me to watch her come into her own. Also, she always brings me baked goods which doesn't hurt! You can check one of Miss J's talent for writing here: 50 First Swipes and if you want to follow her life in comedy, I would assume you can hit her up on Facebook! Once you have done all of those things and are ridiculously inspired by this babe, I would assume you would want to book your own life changing session, so head on over to the Contact page and send me a note!
And She Started To Take Care Of Herself Again ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
The first time Ms. T bopped into my studio I knew we were going to be good friends. This woman's personality can only be described as "sparkly" and I could feel it as soon as I looked into her beautiful eyes. The past year has been a bit rough for this beauty, but she doesn't let it get her down, she just does what she has to do and moves on! As a single parent, Ms. T works hard to do the best for her daughter but along the way, she somehow forgot about herself. At the beginning of 2016, she vowed to start taking care of herself and doing things to give back to herself and her boudoir experience was only part of that adventure!
My favorite part about this bombshell, was the amount of swearing that came out of her mouth when she saw the Polaroid that I had taken from her session. I believe her exact words were: "Holy fuck shit goddamned." Ms. T had told me that seeing photos of herself in the past, she always picked at herself mercilessly and hated the way she looked, so it was extremely refreshing for her to fall in love with herself! When she came in for her reveal, it was even better. This beautiful woman with the mouth of a truck driver reveled in her gloriousness, appreciating the way her body looked, her expressions, her smile, and of course, those beautiful sparkly eyes. Every photo made her grin (and swear) and while she had a hard time narrowing them down, she was finally able to decide on some kick ass images to put into her luxurious album.
While Miss T.'s story maybe isn't that uncommon from a lot of people, but it is something that requires extreme strength. I find that mothers especially, have a hard time putting themselves first, investing in themselves, and doing something that could be seen as "vain" or "expensive" but when it comes to their kids, they will literally crawl to the ends of the earth and do what they can to make their family happy. The problem with this, is that a person can only give so much of themselves before they need to fill up their own cup...with experiences, self-dates, and most importantly, self love. Taking the time to reflect on the awesome human you are, how strong you are, and appreciate all that you give to the world is crucial to your mental health and making sure that you can give to those that need to take. Doing the things that make you feel happy, feel excited, and get you out of your comfort zone is absolutely key.
I always say that my boudy babes' stories are what inspires other women to live their life to the fullest, and Miss T is no exception. She gave me full permission to share her images, but also her experience with you! I am so excited for the next time this boudy babe comes back to the studio because she is super sparkly, delightful, and sexy as fuck. Here is what she had to say about her experience:"All I can say Teri is "holy shit! ". It is by far the best thing I have ever decided to do for myself. I've always been very self conscious about my weight. I've never enjoyed having my photo taken, and when I've seen photos of myself in the past I've always picked myself apart mercilessly. At the beginning of 2016 I decided that this is my year and suddenly I have a self confidence I never had before. That has only increased exponentially since meeting Teri! I was nervous about the shoot, although Teri has a way about her that really put me at ease right from the beginning! I think my biggest fear was that the photos would be good, but not as good as other girls I've seen on Teri's blog. After all, I figured, I don't have those great hips, long legs or beautiful faces that those girls have. I couldn't have been more wrong! I loved every second of the shoot and really gave it my all. Teri is so funny that the hardest thing was to wipe the permanent grin off my face while I was supposed to be looking sexy and sultry. She made me feel very comfortable and at ease, and made me feel super sexy too! I was probably more nervous to see the photos than I was having them taken. In England we would say I was "gobsmacked" when I saw them. (That's a good thing!). I swore a LOT, because I didn't know how to otherwise express how incredibly happy I was with the photos. I look amazing :). What I love most is that the photos look like me, they've captured who I am as a person, and I recognize and identify with that sexy girl too!! I can't wait for the next photo session! I'll be back for sure!"
Now, take Justin Beiber's advice, and GO LOVE YOURSELF.