Miss D traveled in for her shoot and though it started out as a gift for her fiancee, she quickly realized that it would also be a gift to herself. As per her request, I am only showing anonymous shots, but lemme tell you this babe is super saucy and we kept the good stuff for her now-husband. In any case, I am extremely thankful that Miss D let me share her images and it comes after me having a conversation with another boudy babe that there are not as many middle-aged women in my galleries. While I would love to represent every age group, ethnicity and size, it is not always up to me! I take my client's request for privacy extremely seriously, so I will not post their story if they don't want to share and I find my middle-aged and older clients tend to be more private. Miss D, however, wrote a stunning follow up and was very eager to share (after the wedding, of course!) So without further adieu, here is her take on her boudoir experience:
I am 51 years old and I have wanted to do a boudoir shoot for years but I could never work up the courage; I was too fat, too jiggly, too old, you know! I was going to wait until I lost the weight and toned up. I've had body issues my entire life - even when I was a size 7 so this was something I wanted to do for myself eventually.
When I came across Teri's blog and website I knew this was my time. I had my consultation and upon meeting Teri I instantly felt comfortable and at ease. I booked right then. I was nervous when I arrived but once again, Teri made me feel so at ease. As soon as my makeup and hair were complete she told me which outfit to wear and we got right to it!! Teri's direction is so easy to follow and she encourages every step of the way. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life!!
I had my reveal the next day and I was so nervous to see my photos, way more nervous than I was for the actual shoot. I didn't need to worry - the photos were incredible. I am giving my fiance an album of them for a wedding gift. I've already had my gift - an unforgettable, empowering experience that has stayed with me, making me feel strong and sexy every day since! Thanks Teri, your talent is remarkable! Ladies, book your session now. You will not regret it.I can't say much more than that. Miss D is right...this is an experience that you will never regret and I can tell you that until I am blue in the face, but until you actually do it you won't really know. If you want a peek into how fun it can be, I am doing a fun promo/fundraiser for the month of October! Essentially you get to choose one outfit from our Boudy N' Beauty Wardrobe, get a 20 minute shoot (hair & makeup NOT included), and 2 digital files!! Contact me with your email for more info!!
These Years Are About Them, But This Day Was About Her ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
Miss J traveled in for her Classy Session and we had a lot to chat about as she currently lives in the hometown where I grew up. This beautiful farm girl has a gaggle of her own and hasn't had a chance to acknowledge her womanhood in quite sometime, so she was excited to have the chance to feel pampered and have the spotlight on her for a bit. She brought some amazing heels covered in sequin which I couldn't pass up and I also found out that she does MMA! How cool is that? This little beauty is a perfect example of the quote "Though she be but little, she is fierce." Ps. check out how well our new rug photographs!!!!
Everything about my experience with Teri was amazing. I'm a stay at home mom to 3 and a farm wife. My kids leave the house all looking like superstars and I follow behind in sweats, a bun and no make up. That's always been okay for me because these years are about them. But being at Teri's, I got to be the attention. I was pampered and got to step out of my mommy shoes and just be a women again. I needed to remind myself that even though all my focus is on them it's okay if sometimes it's on me. And my husband will be very happy with the outcome!
I wholeheartedly agree. Her husband will be VERY pleased with these images, but more importantly Miss J was very pleased with her images and the overall experience. I think it's really easy for babes to forget they are women when they are focusing on just keeping their babies alive and healthy! So many of my clients are moms and wives, used to putting themselves last, but it is also important to take a few hours a week to remember who you are a woman and human. That may mean hiring a babysitter, locking yourself in the bathroom, putting on mascara while you are in the car parked outside your kids' school...SOMETHING. And when you have a few more hours, come see us and we will get you feeling all sexy, glammed up, feminine, and what not.
Unforgettably Life Altering ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
The first time I met Miss A was a few years ago when I was casting for a fashion photo shoot and it has been awhile since we last shot together. This time around, she contacted me because she wanted to do a boudoir session and she took advantage of my July 24-hour promo, giving herself a classy session. You see, Miss A worked as a model (you probably saw her in Warehouse One ads back in the day) so you would think doing "another photoshoot" wouldn't be special for her, but this was totally different. I have come to find that sometimes models are harder to work with because they are trained to be whatever the photographer, art director or agency wants and they have a hard time connecting with themselves. We even chatted about this prior to her shoot while she was getting her hair & make up done. I told her to leave her "modeling shit" behind and to get vulnerable with me today (I get bossy when I need to be.). Miss A brought it...she was sensual, feminine, sexy as hell, and natural. Her reveal was interesting to me. I was nervous. Would she see the photos, just like every other photoshoot? Or would she see herself as a woman?
Well, here is Miss A's recount of her boudoir experience with us:
As a model; I'm always working hard to appeal to what all the others want for their photo and outcome; but with Teri we were able to solely work on what I wanted. I'm so excited to have pictures that remind me how strong, fearless and beautiful I really am. She always makes me comfortable (maybe too comfortable -I didn't even wear bottoms most of the shoot hehe) and her direction is just as helpful to achieving a beautiful photo. I LOVED my wet TShirt outfit!
She went on to say that her experience was "unforgettably life altering" and I would have to agree. Many of the beauties that strip down emotionally and physically in front of my lens tend to change their lives in one way or another. Perhaps they realize who they were all along or they learn something new about themselves! In either case, I like to think that every client who does something amazing for themselves is rewarded with knowledge about their awesomeness!
She Allowed Herself to Feel Sexy ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
Miss R is one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever met. I had the pleasure of meeting her at my very first empowerment project back in the day and then we have seen each other a few times after that. We learned a lot about each other at our Body Positivity Roundtable and as someone who is in the same profession as me, we have quite a bit in common. This babe is a talented photog and creative person with a big heart. After our body image conversation, I knew that this session was going to mean a lot to her.
Miss R transformed in front of the camera. She definitely brought her A-game and killed her session. And when I found out how flexible she was, there was no stopping us! More importantly she exclaims that her boudoir experience was "MIND NUMBINGLY FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC" and her story is something you are definitely going to want to read!
Let me start by saying sentences were the hardest thing to form while having my reveal… only words, two or three at a time, were producing out of my mouth. “Holy shit” seemed to be my preferred combination!
What interested me the most during this time though, was how every time I fell in love with a picture and became happy, I almost immediately began telling myself to “calm down and stop being narcissistic”. I felt like I wasn’t allowed to be in love with my photos… wasn’t allowed to be in love with myself because I was being vain or self-absorbed . Then the next photo would pop up and I would go through that cycle again. I felt like I wasn’t allowed to be pretty, sexy or beautiful in these photos until someone else told me. Which, let me tell you, Teri and Jill were DEFINITELY letting me know!
But why? Why did I feel like I needed that validation, that permission? It wasn’t until I took a step back half way through my photos that I realized, all I needed was to feel as happy as I was. I am allowed to think I am gorgeous, I am allowed to believe that I don’t just look good because “these are professional photos”. I look beautiful, simply because, I am.
Another thing that interested me, no… rather, what SURPRISED me, was that I didn’t find myself nit-picking at my body. I wasn’t looking for things I didn’t like or looking for the things I “know’ are there that I don’t like. I didn’t find myself comparing myself in my head to my friends (as I normally do), or wishing that my body looked like someone else’s or wishing that I had “just lost 5 more pounds” for the shoot. I was more than happy just being me, having the body I have right in this moment. And let me tell yeah, just how FUCKING empowering that was.
I always worry about how people (even my friends and family) look at me and 100% of the time I think everyone just looks at me and thanks their lucky stars they don’t have my body. That they feel they can rest easy knowing they don’t have my body and don’t look like me or don’t weigh what I weigh etc…. But not this day, this day I thanked my lucky stars I have this body in all of its Goddess Queen like glory.
After my shoot, literally on the way out of Teri’s studio, I ironically came across this quote that I feel sums up my whole experience with my boudoir shoot. “The woman who does not require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet” – Mohadesa Najumi
I know without a doubt, that the battle Miss R was having during her reveal is one that many women go through. This is why it is so important to me that we communicate after the reveal slideshow. Whatever the reaction is, it is completely normal! For so long we look to other people for validation of our beauty, but I think the world is coming around to the fact that we don't NEED to do that anymore. It is not narcisstic for you to love yourself and tell yourself you are beautiful...in fact, it is HEALTHY to do so. It is not shameful for you to appreciate your assets and your Goddess-like nature. It is important. I need all of you babes that relate to Miss R's self-conversations to stop right now and say "I'm beautiful and I am worthy and I am a Goddess....and it's okay that I am saying this."
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!!