Whenever I mention the word “boudoir” to girls, I always see their eyes light up.  And just as fast their eyes light, they immediately dim.  Boudoir, for good reason, make girls nervous.  Heck, it makes ME nervous!  So I totally understand.  The thought of being in a room with only lingerie on can be daunting.  Add on top of that, a photographer pointing a large black lens in your face.  Horrific right?  But I can tell you one thing: most girls I’ve talked to have thought about getting a boudoir shoot done.  However, there’s usually a couple of things stopping them from truly doing it.  The major factor being how they view their own bodies. 

 Before I get into this, let me just say that this post isn’t to talk about body image nor am I going to make you change your minds about how you think you look.  I’ll speak to my own experiences a little bit, but this post is mainly to introduce you to the PROCESS of a boudoir shoot.  At the end of this post, my goal is for the girls reading this to think maybe boudoir as something not as daunting as it seems. 

 In my idealistic early 20’s, I had a vision for myself.  I knew I needed to be a certain size and I knew when I should get married to leave time to have two children.  The married and children thing, let’s not go into that in this post.     But in my younger years, I remember feeling like I was never thin enough.  Now fast forward a decade later (OK…now you all know my age…grrrrrreat), when I stumble on pictures of myself in my 20’s, I think, “Wow, I looked pretty good back then!”  And I now know this will only continue throughout my years.  In my 40′s I’ll yearn for my 30′s, in my 50′s I’ll long for my 40′s and so on.

 Look, I’m a lot more mature than when I was in my 20’s.  But somewhere buried deep inside my self confidence is still a little bit of that 20 year old’s insecurity.  I know I’ll never be my ideal size, but I know for a fact that I can’t dwell on it.  Because before I know it, my 30’s is going to just pass me by while I’m spending it thinking about how I could look.  My goal this year is to put my insecurities aside and finally bite the nail to do a boudoir shoot for myself.  The thought of it still haunts me a little bit, but I’m ready to face the experience. 

And it is an experience.  When I do a boudoir shoot, I tend to talk about it as an experience for the woman.  I encourage my clients to not only look classy (and sexy) but also FEEL sexy from within.  Whether it’s getting hair and make-up professionally done before the shoot or going out and hunting for new lingerie or getting a facial and a massage the day before.  This is all a process in itself to help us not only look, but feel beautiful from within.  I don’t know about you but whenever I get my hair professional blow dried, I instantaneously feel 10 pounds thinner and prettier. 

 The process doesn’t end there and it’s not just your responsibility.  As a photographer, I’m responsible for making you feel at ease during the shoot.  If you don’t feel at ease, your guard comes (swooping noise) way up and you immediately lose confidence in yourself.  When I’m in a room with you at your most vulnerable, trust is a huge thing.  And trust me when I tell you that through tricks in lighting, posing, camera composition, and my skillful ninja maneuvering that I will make you look your best. 

The honest truth is we as women are so concerned with how we COULD look, we often forget how beautiful we DO look.  Let’s not waste time self criticizing for another 10 years before looking back and realizing how beautiful we truly were.  Let’s capture this moment, at your best, to cherish forever.  Boudoir sessions are one of my favorites to shoot because I feel that it EMPOWERS women. Whether you are a size 2 or a 22, you ARE beautiful.  Trust me and let me show you how stunning you can be.  Email me for more information on a Boudoir with Cindi session and if you’re interested (and brave), I might share my own boudoir pictures with you.

She’s a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an ex-coworker, and a great friend.  I am sure for those that follow our blog closely that you’ll remember Theresa and her family photos we took last fall.  When she asked me to help her surprise her husband with a boudoir shoot, I was ecstatic!  Theresa holds a dear place in my heart because she and I used to work together and she was one of the first girls I connected with at my last job.  We bonded over a beer at an after work happy hour when we started to talk about photography and I found out her and her husband had an equal love for it.

Theresa often joked about how she’s indecisive and always asked for people’s thoughts on whether she’s making the right decisions.  However, on the day of our shoot, I saw a confident woman fully comfortable in her own skin.  Theresa told me I made her feel so pretty in these photos but I think it’s the exact opposite.  The fact that I can make women such as herself feel that way about themselves makes me feel extremely flattered and empowered.  And that feeling is equally priceless.

Here is Theresa in her own words:

“Ever since we are little girls, we want to look and feel beautiful. As with everything in life, we are our worst critic. We feel we need to have a thinner waist, skinnier arms, but at the same time, have curves in the right places to have a body with an hourglass shape. The truth of the matter is, being beautiful is something that every girl has inside them, but only YOU can show just how beautiful you really are.

I’ve always wanted to surprise my husband and give him an album of boudoir photos. This year, I decided to put my self- conscious and self-critical emotions behind and give him a birthday gift he’ll never forget. I said to myself, “I might not be perfect now and hey, will never be perfect, but maybe for that moment, I can feel perfect enough for him.” So what did I do? With the help of Cindi, we created an experience where I looked and felt perfectly beautiful. I got dolled up from head to toe and bought clothes that I’d feel sexy in. For the two hours we were together, Cindi’s sole mission was to make me feel comfortable and relaxed through the entire process. The way Cindi directed me to sit, stand, turn or look a certain way really captured me at my best. I couldn’t ask for a more amazing experience. Thank you Cindi for being such a great photographer…for adjusting my hair when in my face, for reminding me to arch my back and suck my stomach in, and most of all, for being such a great friend.”

Theresa's before and after shot. Amazing isn't it?

Now that is a smile of a confident woman!

I especially loved the right photo because Theresa's smile was just so natural. This is literally how she looks when she smiles and it's beautiful!

This is what you call fierce.

I love this photo for it's softness and I love how Theresa can look so soft and romantic and also sexy at the same time. A photographer's dream!

Theresa uttered "This is so much fun" uncomfortably as she was shaking her hair. It was hilarious and probably THE only time she felt uncomfortable during this shoot. Funny!

GORGEOUS!

Hotel Murano in Tacoma was just a great venue for this shoot. We found this huge green glass wall right near the entrance way and right behind me were a couple of valet guys staring at the beautiful model.

By far one of my favorite shots of the day. Just beautiful!

I don’t think I truly started to understand the definition of a beautiful woman until I picked up a camera and looked at her from behind the viewfinder.  Not to say I’m an expert at defining beauty, but I have a whole new perspective I’d like to share.  You see, when I was young, I found many girls pretty.  In high school, I would be extremely intimidated by these pretty girls because well, I wasn’t one of the pretty ones.  I know I know, some of you reading this might think, “Awww…!!” but really, I know I wasn’t.  At least not based on how I defined it then.

That was the “past Cindi”.  Present Cindi is a much more mature and wiser person from past Cindi.  When I step back and look at all the women I’ve photographed, I bucket all of them into one category: beautiful.  Even though they all look different.  Different race, different height, different size.  They are all stunningly beautiful.

Diana is no different.  Past Cindi would call her pretty.  And she is.  In fact, past Cindi would have been intimidated by past Diana if they attended high school together.  But last weekend as we hung out in the Presidential Suite inside Hotel Deca, I got to know Diana in a totally different light and she is indeed a beautiful woman.  She’s obviously beautiful on the outside, the pictures don’t lie!  But it’s the small things despite what can be phyically seen that makes Diana one of a kind.  It’s the way she wrinkles her nose mid-shot because she’s trying to relax her face, it’s the willingness to do anything I tell her to do with the sweetest smile, it’s the way she chuckles when she realizes she’s being silly.  It’s all these things that make her the amazingly beautiful woman she is.

As women, we always are our own worst critic.  As we mature, we learn to put most of our insecurities away and live life in the moment.  I’ve learned that youth comes and goes REALLY quickly and we should focus on the little beautiful quirks that makes us who we are.  Boudoir or beauty portraits is a way for me to help capture you at your best.  It’s an opportunity to freeze this time in your life, when you feel the best you can ever feel about yourself and provide you with something tangible you can look back years later and think, “WOW, I am beautiful”.

If you are interested in boudoir of beauty portraits, give me a ring or send me a note.  Let’s make beautiful things happen!

This is by far my favorite one from the shoot. Diana looks so soft and romantic here. It's just dreamy!

I'm not sure other photogs experience this, but oftentimes my best shot is my last shot. Might you agree?