I have been waiting on a pile of sessions to blog, waiting for questionnaires to roll in, so I am super excited to bring Miss A. to the blog today. This babe was one of the women who responded to my 45+ casting call to show that age is just a number and nothing a woman should fear. Miss A's story was incredibly awe-inspiring and she is one of the strongest women I know. While her story is hers to share, I just want you readers to know that our daily struggles are literally NOTHING. Without further adieu, here is the incredible Miss A, proving to us that age & adversity have no effect on a person's beauty, worth, and ability to succeed.
At 45years old I had emergency openheart surgery to repair my mitral valve, which suddenly failed and left me gasping for breath in the fall of 2014, I was hospitalized in isolation for 6 weeks after developing a hospital acquired infection post-op.
One day I even played with my fur baby Whitney in the yard of our secluded country home and waited for my sweet and medically fragile foster daughter's school van to bring her home at the end of her school day. When the van pulled into the drive I was well and happy. I opened the back door to the van and gave that beautiful smiling girl a kiss and asked if she had a good day. Then I went to open the front door and my right arm began to tingle, I couldn't reach for her bag on the floor. After 17 years of nursing experience under my belt, I knew exactly what was happening.
I'm a warrior, survivor, lover of life and "Hey, did you see my rockin' 48 year old ass?"
Miss A has been through more struggles than many of us and I truly believe it was her inner strength and ability to see humor and light in every experience that the universe dealt her. It's women like her that remind me every day, just how fragile our lives are and how we do the things we know in our hearts to do.
Miss T is quite the firecracker. This woman brought a whole suitcase of amazing garments, but perhaps my favorite item she brought was the 8X10 printed photo of Brad Pitt that we stuck around the studio when we needed her to "look lustful". It mostly just created laughter, but it was such a good time. Miss T was one of the gorgeous babes that responded to my casting call for babes over 40. The reason I did that specific casting call was that, while I do shoot women over 40 (up into their late 70s so far!!) many of them come from a generation where you don't share your naughty bits on the internet, or they have higher profile jobs that prevent them from sharing their images, so they are under-represented on my website and I needed to change that!! People need to see that age is nothing and if you aren't aging, you are dead, so embrace the laugh lines, the wrinkles, the age spots, and whatever else comes with it. (We have a project c0ming up to pushback against what the media makes us think of aging, so stay tuned for that!!) In any case, check out Miss T's glorious story below!
Let’s see, where to begin - it all started in a 5,000-watt radio station in Fresno, California. With just a $50-a-week paycheck and a dream. Haha…TV viewers of the 70’s might get that! As an 'older gal'...I have long entertained the idea to treat myself to such an experience. As often is my style...I waffled. Rewinding, I am unsure how I found Teri on facebook - but happily...I did. I adored Teri's work and I especially adored the courage of all the ladies who were 'doing it'!
Their resulting images were gorgeous – I especially enjoyed reading the stories – about the brave models, about their ‘herstory’, about their experience, about how they felt more powerful for doing it! As beautiful as the Universe unfolds - unplanned spur of the moment, I responded to Teri's 'mature' plus 45 year old gal “Casting Call”.
Absolutely I hesitated! Questioning the likelihood of being selected, questioning my ability to actually have the mustard to do such a boudoir session, and questioning myself why I was interested and wanted to do this! I somewhat ‘struggle’ with aging. Nope – I do not resent my aging body. Only post divorce (15 years ago) did I do some ‘self-work’ and discovered a girl who allowed her true colours to become lost and buried. Awakening a stronger, more confident me…I found happiness with being me. Back at 42 years of age I finally ‘fell in love with myself’, and not in an arrogant way, simply being happy being me. For me, the struggle with aging is and remains a mental or emotional ‘fear’. Ka-Boom. Sending in a reply to the ‘call out’ – the wheels were now in motion.
Giddy was I when I received reply from Teri. Few days later I found myself somewhat floundering about my ability/courage to do this, contemplated cancelling, then reasoned that I would regret not doing this. Slowly I warmly embraced the personal challenge – and – a big driver for me was a passage I read in Teri’s VIP Boudy Babes: Because I want you to look back in 10 years and say “I knew I was gorgeous” instead of I wish I knew how gorgeous I was… THAT drove it home for me! Like a prawn who yawns at dawn…it was on!
I became determined to push myself out of my cozy comfort level and let er rip! Results have left me feeling completely over the moon… I enjoyed the time and experience of having my make up applied by Nicole – she is a true sweet girl and I felt so comfortable in her hands. Certainly a fabulous prelude to this photo experience! The quick-thinking, warm personality, and great sense of humour of Teri immediately made me feel ‘at home’…I very much like that! I enjoyed the ease, the comfort…everything rolled up…giving myself permission to ‘dig in’ wake up and allow my inner bombshell to surface and breath!!!
I had picked up my album on a workday lunch break. Getting back to work I chose to wait til I got home to open the beautifully wrapped album. Rewinding... I pulled the boxed album out of the UBER kewl bag...nice. I opened the box and my eyes immediately landed on a little white envelope. In that precise moment my little heart pitter-pattered! Thank you Teri for adding the personal card. Your thoughtfulness is amazing and this little detail...well you could have knocked me over with a feather! I have loved every moment of this Epic Empowering Adventure! La Grrrrr *roar*
PS. Bombshell has NOT gone back to slumber. She is me. I catch glimpses of her in a reflection, I feel her in a quiet moment when a silent sly grin appears on my lips, I sense her courage when I recall this fucking fabulous experience. ~ Viva la Empowerment XO
To anyone contemplating doing a boudoir session: "Gather up your mustard - and - do it! You can do this! You will be happy you did. You will not regret it. Seize the moment. Celebrate the gorgeousness of you You YOU! Tap into & wake up your inner bombshell...she is in there!!!"
When I put out a call for some babes to tell me why they needed an empowerment experience, I had NO idea the stories that I would receive. After much deliberation (I sound like Tyra from America's Next Top Model), Jill & I narrowed it down to 3 incredibly inspirational, well written stories. Miss J was one of those bad ass babes, who wrote out her vulnerability for us and when she came in for her consultation, I knew this was exactly what she needed.
She brought some gorgeous lingerie and we paired it with some fun stuff from the studio and while all of that was gorgeous, what was even more shining, was the way Miss J spoke, held herself, and talked about her "love story" with herself. Read on to see how this experience affected miss J.
I would describe it as a landmark moment in my adult life (no exaggeration). The fact that [Teri] does this for women every single day makes her SO MUCH MORE THAN OPRAH! She doesn't give a gift that can be used up. Even a car will only last so long, but this is something that women will look in the mirror (and their albums) and be changed by for the rest of their lives.
While I very much enjoyed getting my hair and makeup professionally done (and despite the fact that taking my everyday makeup off somehow made me feel MORE vulnerable than being naked, lol), it was 100% Teri (as well as Jill, especially at the reveal) who MADE this experience. Even though I know they do this every day, they came across as SO FUCKING GENUINE. Every compliment, every encouragement, and even every laugh, was 100% pure, and never felt repetitious or rehearsed. Looking back on it, that really floored me. These incredible women made me feel more special (as corny as that word seems, it's truly the perfect one) in my time with them than I've ever felt, even on my wedding day. Teri Hofford Photography is a gift, and one I truly wish every woman could be given.
To see why we chose Miss J's story out of the pile of submissions, watch the video here:
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 
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 
Launching the Uncovered Sessions may not seem like a big deal, but it absolutely is. In our VIP group on Facebook, I questioned my babes about how they would feel if they saw an unretouched photo of themselves and why they would feel the way they did. The majority of them stated their perceived flaws would be amplified, they would see their "imperfections" and they would be faced with what the world has told them is true: they aren't "perfect." Well, here's a fun fact: you will never be perfect to everyone and the only person you need to be perfect for is yourself.
The beautiful girl in this post is an amazing makeup artist and currently working towards a fitness competition which means A)she uses makeup a lot (now for fun more than anything) and B)she is working to attain a strong body and someone else's idea of what perfection is (in addition to her own). Now, the cool thing about that is, she came forward saying she wanted to partake in this photoshoot and I promise you that if you aren't thinking "What does she have to be concerned about? She's tiny and beautiful" then the next person to read it will. We are drowning in comparison hysteria (something I made up). We see someone else and automatically assume that they can't possibly feel as terrible as we do. We look at them and say "Oh!! How I wish I had their XXXX!" When in actuality, those people are probably look at you and thinking the exact same thing!!
I invited some babes to my studio to talk about body image and where it all began for them and one of the questions I asked was "If Photoshop wasn't a thing and you didn't know there was a way to change your appearance in photos, would you still want them to be changed??" Like, who decided that a poreless face was an ideal standard?? Who decided that the "perfect" waist size was 26 inches?? And who the fuck decided to tell us to despise all the natural parts of us SO much that we would spend countless dollars, hours, and energy trying to remove, manipulate, shrink, enlarge, erase, or color them?? Whomever it is should start worrying, because I am only a small part of the upcoming revolution to body acceptance.
It's time to raise up, ladies, and shout from the rooftops that we will no longer buy into the bullshit that we aren't enough of one thing and not too much of another!! It's time to say "I'm okay with all my bits!! I am okay with my rolls, with my skin, with my color, with my age, with my waist size, with my shape, with my height, with all the bits that make up the perfection that is me!!"
What does this mean for boudoir sessions with me? Will ALL of them be photoshop free?? Not at all!! "But what the heck, Teri," you are thinking to yourself, "You just said..." Yes, yes I know. My goal with the Uncovered Sessions is to give you a resource to help you on your journey to self-love and acceptance. These sessions are more of a therapeutic tool rather than the luxury experience that you will experience with the traditional boudoir sessions. I want you to love seeing yourself unretouched as much as you do retouched. I want you to love yourself without makeup as much as you love seeing yourself with makeup.
Now, things you can expect with the Uncovered Sessions:You will have rolls. (these are beautiful)You will have texture to your skin. (gasp! what a concept!)You will see your scars, birthmarks, beauty marks, and all the other makings of your story. (yours is unique to you!)You will see a true documentation of yourself in this particular time in your life. You will have to face your true beauty.Do I believe these sessions are for everyone? No. Do I believe that everyone should experience an uncovered session at some point in their journey? Yes, but I know that not everyone is ready to face these parts of themselves just yet.
We've all seen the #nomakeup#nofilter selfie on Instagram for the world to see (and don't get me wrong, I love a good selfie) but when are we going to start looking at these photos for ourselves and actually spending time with them. I mean, looking at ourselves in the mirror or in a photo and seeing the awesome boss babe that is staring back instead of picking apart every little thing we have been told is the wrong way. (Note: I didn't say "IS" wrong, I said you have been TOLD it's wrong.)
So, dolls, you will see the details for these sessions under the