What If...? | Artistic Bridal Boudoir | Brooklyn Boudoir Photographer
I have been waiting a few months to share these amazing images with you! Ms. H is a POWER.HOUSE. She is an actress, dancer and currently works in the fitness industry, so needless to say she is very body aware and knows how to move. It isn’t even fair for me to take full credit for these photos because she brought SO MUCH to the table — she SERVED it with the looks, was willing to take some risks and most of all trusted me to do my thing. The results were nothing short of magical.
This is a woman you can’t help but want to be around. She’s real. She’ll tell it like it is. She’s sexy without trying. She has freckles and she loves them. She’s charismatic and she’ll kick your ass in a workout (I speak from experience here, holy hell we worked out together and for a week afterwards every step I took was pain). She’s got a passion for life, for love, she’s got a tough “New York woman” energy with a soft side… which is how I like to think of myself.
Ms. H just got married this past month. The STYLE of this couple. NYC meets Nashville: edgy yet somehow still traditional, stars everywhere, the most gorgeous flowers, and a couple who are so clearly into each other you can’t help but want to fall in love. I’m SURE their wedding will end up in the pages of a glossy magazine — and I am so pleased I got to be a small part of their incredible day. We captured a few more traditionally bridal looks with a veil, and then went more artistic & raw with some portraits on black, a shower set and some of my favorite “in the sheets” shots ever. I love how much variety we captured and how we illustrated the different sides of her personality.
Said Ms. H about her Brooklyn Boudoir Experience:
I am so blown away. I've had my picture taken a good bit, so while I've never done a boudoir shoot, I'm comfortable in front of a camera and had a pretty good idea of what results I could expect. I have NEVER seen myself like this on film. Sometimes, I'll get dressed up to go somewhere and look in the mirror and be like "damn girl you look good!" but then I see a picture of the same night and it makes my heart sink. Do I have an elevated opinion of myself? Is my mirror broken? Which one is really me? Which version are other people seeing? Working with you made me realize that it comes down to the person behind the camera caring as much about me as I do, or probably even more. Working in the fitness industry I take a lot of care to make it less about physical results and more about empowering women. But, at the end of the day, it's a physical result driven business. It's always about progress and the next step. What can we improve, what can get even better? This was the first time I've been able to stop and, in your words "be where I am now".
These are easily my favorite pictures of myself I've ever seen and I'm so happy I have these images to capture and celebrate this phase of my life. I felt so cared for and celebrated.
These words meant to much to me, because (and this is somethingI hope this comes through in my blogs, my newsletter, and my instagram — and is worth repeating here): I care about you. We may be strangers at first, but we will get to know each other, we will likely become fast friends, I will want to know your story, your “why,” hear all about the crazy things happening in your world, and will be following along your wedding photos just like I did with Ms. H here. I care! Everyone comes to a boudoir session for a different reason. Sometimes you just want pretty images of yourself, often times it’s something deeper than that. Whatever your reason, I want to honor it, and celebrate YOU and through the process, my clients and I often make real connections with each other!
Her advise for other women who are thinking of having a shoot of their own? “Do it and go for it. Push yourself as far as you can. If you don't like the result, nobody ever has to see those shots! But if you don't do it, you'll always wonder "what if."
^^^^^^ THIS! Personally, one of my biggest fears is looking back on life and wondering “what if…” Back in my dating days, I used to go out with pretty much everybody who asked (insert joke here). I always felt like there was nothing to lose - if I didn’t like the guy, at worst it would be a funny story to tell my friends (and let me tell you there are some REALLY funny stories). Saying YES can lead to some great adventures - and also some bad ones, sure. However, I really do believe that people rarely regret the things they go for, the things they say YES to. So much more common seems to be regret over saying no. Did I go on some really bad dates by saying yes? Ummm, you have no idea (i.e.: strong YES!) But was it really so bad?? Nah…and I have to believe if I hadn’t gone out with Barbara Streisand’s nephew (true story) I would have wondered “what if” I had.
Anyhow, I digress, as I sit here thinking of all the bad dates of my past, lol. My point is, there are a lot of excuses you can think of NOT to have a boudoir shoot. But who wants to look back and think, “if only I had done it before I had kids” or “i wish I had been able to appreciate myself earlier in life.” I wish I had learned to appreciate myself and my body earlier in life, but it’s never too late to start saying YES. It’snever too late to start appreciating yourself and loving yourself. You don’t have to be perfect - you just have to be YOU. (And by the way, you ARE perfect, and I am happy to be the one to remind you of that).
OK, this blog post is much more rambling and tangental that I intended it to be, what can I say, Ms. H and her wedding brought out a lot of feelings in me.
Love you guys - my readers, my clients, my women, my muses, my friends.