Sexy isn’t One-Size-Fits-All – Evansville Indiana Boudoir Photographer

"Should I wear my glasses for my boudoir session?"

This a question I hear all the time. Or another version, often sounding like "Is my everyday jewelry okay?" or "Should I try to hide my insulin pump?"

These questions usually come from a place of worry, which I think is totally understandable. The idea of doing a boudoir session can be intimidating. You’re showing up to a new place with someone you don’t know that well, you’re taking off your clothes, and there’s gonna be photo evidence?! As a boudoir photographer and someone who gets in front of the camera frequently, I know all too well that there’s a lot of pressure to look a certain way, to perform, or to “be sexy” in a way that isn’t true to who you really are.

But in my experience, the photos you’ll treasure most are the ones that capture the real you.

A session in my studio is about capturing your truest self.

When clients ask these questions, my answer is always the same: I want you to show up as the most honest version of yourself.

Whether you wear a cochlear implant, your favorite earrings every day, or glasses that are part of your signature look, I want to capture you. Not a version of you that you think you should be for the camera. This doesn’t have to look like a winged fashion show. I want you to see yourself in your photos and recognize the same person you see in the mirror every day.

I don’t care what lingerie companies say is sexy—I care about what makes you feel confident. What you think about yourself is what matters most to me at the end of the day.

I don’t want you to shrink or hide the things that make you, you.

The pressure to perform

A lot of boudoir imagery out there is created through the male gaze. It pushes one version of sexy that requires performing a persona that often doesn’t really exist. Many people book a session with this idea, thinking they need to present a “camera-ready” version of themselves that’s ultra-glamorous, sultry, and perfectly polished.

And if that is your personality, then I want to see that!

But oftentimes, it’s not really you, it’s just the “desirable woman” archetype portrayed in the media by the men in charge. (Oops, did I got a little too hard there? #SorryNotSorry) Anyywayyyy–that’s why your session shouldn’t be about pretending or performing. I care most about capturing the version of you that’s comfortable, confident, and unmistakably you.

And I want to deliver the kind of photos you’ll look back on in 5, 10, or 50 years with love in your eyes for the you who you are in this season of your life.

I don’t want you looking at your photos and thinking, “that was me for one day only. This isn’t what I look like or how I see myself; this is a version of me I’ll never be again.” That’s a horrible (and completely avoidable!) feeling. How you view yourself matters.

The difference when you show up as yourself

I see how this manifests in every single session. The moment you see your unedited images during your same day image reveal, I can feel your pride. You see the confidence you embodied during your session reflected back at you. I’m literally just holding a mirror up to how incredible you are so you can be reminded of it.

That energy sticks around, and you walk out of the studio with your head held higher knowing you’re worthy of this experience not because of something you did, but because of who you are. as you are.

This approach reinforces a powerful idea that I care so deeply about: you don’t have to be anyone but yourself to deserve to be documented. And when you carry that from your session and into your life, you start to believe that you deserve all the things you want without having to earn the confidence to go after your dreams.

How you view yourself is what matters most

You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not to be beautiful, confident, or worthy of photos of yourself.

The best images come from allowing yourself to be seen as the person you are at your core and the one you recognize when you look in the mirror.

And if I can be reallyyyy honest with you, it all boils down to the fact that there’s only one you. Hiding your true self would be doing the world, your favorite people, and yourself a disservice. You bring something unique to the world just by being who you are and I want to see that! I want to get to know the real you and showcase that person! Plus, the confidence that you’ll feel from seeing yourself reflected in beautiful images is unmatched. And the reassurance that you are seen and loved just as you are is priceless.