Why I shoot Boudoir
When talking to people about what I do for a living people will say, “You have a great job! You get to work with beautiful women all the time.” Yes, I do have a fantastic job, and yes I work with beautiful women, but not in the way most people think. The women I work with are your average people that anyone else works with at the office, at the store or anywhere. Each and every one is beautiful, I just get to help them show it off.
I have yet to meet anyone that is unattractive. Sure many people don’t match the commercial version of beauty but we don’t live on TV or in a magazine. As much as is feels like it sometimes, life is not a daytime soap opera, nor is it Downton Abby. Reality shows aren’t all that real either, we are somewhere closer to true reality. That means that we have flaws and these flaws can make us even more attractive. My job is to show the attractive flaws and minimize the not so attractive ones. When my team and I do this we empower our clients. We don’t give confidence, but we do build upon it; our job is to make it shine!
Boudoir photography is not about sex, it’s not about fashion, or even beauty. Boudoir is about empowerment, confidence, and personal strength. In order for these things to come out you have to allow yourself to become a little bit vulnerable; you have to risk feeling silly to look beautiful. Lets face it, a great boudoir image pose can put you in a position that your rarely, if ever, find yourself in at home! The rewards for that small risk? In my client Cheryl’s words, “I allowed my curiosity to outweigh my nervousness. The result? Far and away the best thing I could have ever done for my self image!!”
Men as well as women can get similar benefits. In fact it has been my experience that men are even more reluctant to take the risk of showing that side of themselves. Those that do find that they not only enjoy the experience but they get even more out of it than empowerment. For men the benefits can include confidence, self assurance, and much, much more. They can even brag to their friends at how brave they were to be the one among them to do the nontraditional!
If my clients can feel all of this, grow within themselves, and generally be the the beautiful person they are, how can I know enjoy the work I do? I love to make people feel better about their day, and about themselves. So if this is the result of my work, I do indeed have the best job in the world!
