Would you ever consider posing for an outdoor boudoir session?

When this client sent me a Pinterest board of her inspiration for a spooky outdoor boudoir session, I was SOOO excited! Her birthday is in October and Halloween is one of her favorite holidays, so she wanted to celebrate both with a “witchy” session that included some magical elements

It was a gorgeous day at Jacquot, and I’m so honored that I was asked to be there with them. Congratulations Eric and Faith. I know that your marriage will be as beautiful, full of love, happy, and colorful as your wedding day! Thank you for trusting me to document the beginning of your lives as a family!

By the end of my session I gained something even better than my own personal hype girl though. My own confidence. I was my own cheerleader. My eyes stopped looking at my “problem areas” by the third outfit and I was way more focused on how good my chest and butt looked. I’m not lying when I say I could have walked out to my car in the strappy red outfit, head held high with no fear.

I got home with the biggest smile on my face ready to change out of sweatpants and go out! I gave my fiance his little sneak peak polaroid and he was just about as excited as me to see the rest of the amazing shots. I took my fiance out to lunch, walked around the mall, then eventually he wanted to take me out to dinner. I wanted to show off wearing a tight dress I hadn’t touched in my closet since college days, and his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. I absolutely could not wait to see the pictures and as soon as I got my sneak peaks I fell in love with myself all over again.

Damn I looked good.

One thing that I love about my job, is that I get a front row seat to so many special moments in my clients’ lives. So, when Joe contacted me about photographing him proposing to his girlfriend, Georgia, I was absolutely THRILLED to have the opportunity!

When it was time to walk down the aisle, Shelby met Andrew at the end of the aisle under a beautiful archway (with an amazing view!). They were married by a family friend, and cheered on by their loved ones.

Faith and Eric made a trip up to the Vancouver area in the spring to visit family and do some in-person planning, and we were able to schedule a time during their trip for their engagement photos!

I sent over several location suggestions for them to review, and we ended up meeting at Wintler Community Park for their session.

I remember looking at the photo and just beaming with how I was seeing my true self - I am beautiful, I found me and in that moment I realized I had nothing to hide ‘cause I was perfect the way I am.

Last winter I set out with these two lovebirds in search of a beautiful location for their late spring wedding. Shelby and Andrew were planning on getting married on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge in outdoor wedding, so we wanted their engagement session to highlight the beauty of that area, too.

This boudoir session was a long time coming, but completely and totally worth the wait!

(And I got an AWESOME Tik Tok shout out, too!)

It didn’t actually take that much to get this set up… an acrylic sheet clamped between two backdrop stands, my ring lights, and a water bottle! It’s totally an example of “what you see vs. what I see” type of photography. lol It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but OMG I LOVE the effect that I’m getting!

My client told me that she wanted the photography session to have a “Cottage Core” vibe, so (after quickly Googling what the heck that was. lol) I delivered with an outdoor photoshoot that had softer elements used in the background and foreground of the photos.

The garden background tied everything together and gave the session the feel she was looking for! The plants and soft fabrics really added a ton to the mood of the photos. Plus, the natural lighting we had for the photography session complemented the set beautifully!

Celebrating life is always one of my favorite things to do while working as a photographer! There are so many ways that I capture life through all of my photography sessions, but it’s definitely special to capture brand new life, too.

I came to realize that for me, sexy is not just one thing. It did not have to be all lacy or all sweaters or all my partners tee shirt. It could be all of that! And I know that may seem common sense to some, but I had spent so much time trying to be what someone else wanted that I thought you had to be a “type”. It was a very liberating and exciting feeling and gave me a great confidence when time for photos finally came around.

Women empowering women is such a beautiful and magical thing. Being able to see the beauty in each other and lift that up instead of tearing it down is so powerful, and let me tell you that I had to channel that power when stepping into that shoot! In the few days leading up to the photo shoot I suddenly lost all of that confidence that I had built up during all of my prep. I was not skinny enough, my outfits weren’t the right ones, my skin was weird, and obviously my cellulite was going to be an issue...Damn these negative voices in my head!

When my client booked her session, she was looking to do something for herself that was special! She stayed busy with family and worked hard on her education through the pandemic, so this was her way of taking some time for herself and prioritizing self-care. It was so awesome to help create an experience for her that she could enjoy and remember down the road through all of her stunning images!

While reviewing these photos and looking back through them, it was so clear to see that she was absolutely GLOWING during this session. These photos show the beauty and confidence of my client plus all of the hard work that was put into this space! This is always going to be a very special session for me. <3