I’m a 24-year-old riding that fine line between being a Millennial a part of Gen Z. I work at a local credit union helping them make their website better and work harder – aka I spend a lot of time looking at analytics and running usability studies. When I’m not staring at my three monitors for work, I love to read and lift weights at the gym. I’ve been a big reader for as long as I can remember, and once read 65 books in one year. My love of the gym didn’t come around until about college but has really exploded in the last year. I actually was just able to do my first unassisted pull-up last year, and that’s been on my goals list for several years now. Basically, I’m your average not yet married twenty-something year old who spends way too much time on TikTok, doesn’t know what they want to do with their life, and calls their cats their babies. Hey – even us never married youngins can get in on the fun of boudoir!
Tell us about everything that lead up to your session.
I’ve actually always wanted to do a boudoir section because I find human bodies to be incredibly beautiful. I have a gallery wall in my apartment that features only mirrors and mostly thrifted art of “beautiful women” as I call them. It ranges from french portraits to lithographs of wood nymphs to busts of Victorian women to modern-day drawings and moving photography of vulnerable women. I consider myself an amateur self-portrait artist as well and have attempted to create similar art. Something about it just seems so beautiful to me. I guess you could also say I have taken my own boudoir photos before as I have done some sessions of myself in lingerie. And that feeling of seeing yourself as art is just such a magical feeling.
So yes I always wanted to get professional boudoir photos taken. I always thought it would be something I got done when I was engaged but I saw an ad to win a free session last year and thought, “Why not?” I got an email not too long after saying I had won and a month later I was in the studio. I was quite crazy and almost meant to be it seemed like!
I don’t think I had too many fears about my session. I was slightly concerned about someone else doing my makeup because I have a very set way of doing it on my own. I was also just worried about being cold in the studio because I have a circulation disease that makes my hands and feet turn purple when even slightly cold (I have to wear gloves even when it’s 60 degrees outside) and with such little clothing on, I thought I would be cold and my hands and feet would look bad in the photos.
I think the thing that stood out as being totally not what I had expected was it went by so fast! You can tell the team has so much practice in their routine that they are able to get hundreds of amazing shots of you in such a short span of time. It’s truly incredible! I’d have to say the best part of my session was Rob just being so funny and always cracking jokes to put me at ease. He’s got lots of charisma to crush any doubts and anxious thoughts you’re having. And he gives really great compliments, too! Or actually, the best part may have been the two asking me if they could take shots on the swing or not because they loved my last outfit so much. It made me feel super special! I had been scared to see my photos actually because my hair and makeup didn’t feel like me and I thought I would look ridiculous. But I was wrong. As soon as the first preview of photos was on the screen I’m pretty sure I said “wow” out loud. I looked SO GOOD. Thinking the photos would turn out horrible but then seeing how completely incredible they were was an amazing confidence boost for me. It made me think that if I think I look unflattering, I actually probably don’t and it’s just my own bias weighing in and being a little middle school bully. When I’m having a hard day I definitely just flip through my photos sometimes haha It’s just such a great reminder that like, “That’s me! I’m hot!”
Every single person should have a boudoir session at some point in their life! Being able to see yourself through someone else’s eye is truly a magical thing. It makes you stop critiquing everything about yourself and just see the beauty you have as a human being – you just become art. And then you have amazing quality photos to keep forever and always remember that feeling! Plus, some spicy photos to show a partner as well. I ordered the top package so I got 20 digital photos, 40 photos in an 8×8 linen book, a metal print, and I had also won a free 11×14 print with my session. The digital photos are my favorite and I wish I just forked out the money to get all of them digitally. Besides that, the linen book is amazing. I wish I could have chosen the placement/order of the photos inside, but having it is fun to flip through. It’s nice to have something tangible from the sessions and not just digital. The two prints are of amazing quality, but certainly hard to find a place to hang. In my session, I worked with Savi, Rob and Amanda. Amanda made me feel at ease instantly and like I was just talking to an old friend. Rob and Savi were amazing at giving instructions during the shoot and always made me feel like I was doing everything perfectly. As someone with social anxiety, I feel awkward almost everywhere I go but somehow this team made me feel like I belonged there. I keep thinking about how I want to do another session and would love to eventually do a couple’s sessions because those look so spicy!
