How Boudoir Can Impact You — Evansville Indiana Boudoir Photographer

As I carefully read what this beautiful client of mine wrote about how the boudoir experience she had in the studio impacted her afterwards, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. As they began to spill over, I got to this section of her writing where she told me — I cried as I stroked my hands down the page of this body of mine and said quietly, "This is me, and I am so beautiful."

Upon reading how emotional seeing her album for the first time made her, I immediately thought back to her image reveal session we had about a month earlier over Zoom. I shared my screen with her to show her how the photos from her session turned out before we began the arduous task of narrowing down her favorites for her album, and I noticed her eyes beginning to get misty. She put her hands over her heart as her brow furrowed, and she thanked me. We paused as she emotionally explained to me what these photos meant to her in that moment after so much time of feeling that she wasn’t quite good enough, to finally see herself from someone else’s eyes and see the beauty in her humanity meant more to her than she could articulate.

I felt my eyes getting warm too, and I thanked her for her vulnerability in sharing that with me and for trusting me with capturing these intimate photos of her. Before we got back to the task at hand, I made sure to let her know that she is indeed lovely inside and out, and that it was a privilege to have spent time with her getting to know her and to be able to call her a friend. We both wiped our tears and got back to looking at her photos while admiring how beautiful she is, and I made a mental note to myself to never forget what this experience meant to her.

So before I show you her photos and share more about what she thought about the experience as a whole, I want to share in entirety what she wrote about the impact the boudoir experience had on her:

How has this boudoir experience impacted you?

I cannot even begin to express how it has altered how I view myself. Like many people, I have criticized, dieted, and done everything to not live comfortably and HAPPILY in this body of mine. I have spent years being overly critical of each aspect of myself and torn myself down in front of the mirror for years with no sight of and end to this kind of self-hatred. I went into this session telling myself, "P, a size 2 will never be you. A size 12 will be. And you know what? Let's remember how beautiful this double digit gal is and celebrate her." I kept pep-talking myself and reminding myself it was a time to love all of me, and not criticize her.

Having Ellie behind the camera feeling into me the words I was hesitantly feeding to myself of how gorgeous I am, made me believe those words even more. I felt more confident than I ever have in that studio. I sobbed upon seeing my photos for the first time, and had a complete meltdown when I saw my leather bound album. I cried for the girl who has been beautiful all along, but just couldn't see it. I cried as I stroked my hands down the page of this body of mine and said quietly, "This is me, and I am so beautiful." It was as if for the first time in my life, the words didn't get stuck in my throat because of the lack of confidence I had in saying them, but instead, they got caught in my throat because of the entire belief in each and every word.

Why did you choose *me* to capture your boudoir session?

One of my friends booked with you about 2 years ago and it completely altered the way she viewed herself. I looked through her pictures and said aloud, "I want to feel that confident in MY skin." She assured me I could, and that you could be the hype woman to encourage what I already had deep inside of me.

What were the biggest questions you had before your session?

For me it was, "HOW DO I POSE AND WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HANDS?"

How did Ellie make you feel throughout the process?

She made me feel the way I feel on my best days in this beautiful body of mine. She made the whole process easy by just exclaiming, "OH MY GOSH THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!" It was exciting for me to have someone behind the camera who not only had confidence in her abilities, but also confidence in who I am. I genuinely felt like a friend in her studio, and it showed in the comfortability I visibly showed in the photos she took of me.

Was the experience worth the financial investment that you made?

I was hesitant to spend money on a session, but it was worth every single penny. The amount of self-confidence I carry around today has no price that wouldn't be, "worth it."

What would you say to a friend who's on the fence about doing a session with me?

I'd tell them my story, which is not unlike many people who are hesitant about capturing themselves as they are. I would tell them that you don't have to lose the 10 pounds to be "worthy" enough to get photographed (Which is something TOO many people told me when I showed them my pictures.) I'd tell them that embracing all they are now will transform what they think about those 10 pounds that don't matter. I would tell them that they don't have to believe they will be worthy one day, but that they are today just as they were yesterday and the day before. I would say, "GO TO ELLIE BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER CHEERLEADER."

Did you enjoy this post?

I would love to have you in the studio so you can have an experience like this for yourself! Whether you’re all in and ready to go, need some more info before we get started, or are on the fence and want to talk things through before you commit – I’m here for ya! Click the button below to get in touch!