Telling Your Personal Story Through Boudoir

When this gorgeous babe came into the studio we had a conversation about the things she loves about her body and the things she's still working on accepting, and she said that her stretch marks are something that she is self-conscious about, as well as her hips, so she asked if I would photoshop them for her.

As a rule, I would never photoshop out permanent marks on your body without you asking me to do so—I only remove temporary blemishes like bruises or acne—because your body is sacred just the way it is! However, I understand that we are our own harshest critics, and my main goal is to make sure that you are totally head-over-heels in love with the images from your session, so I told her that yes, I could smooth out her stretch marks in photoshop afterwards.

Then we started to talk about the history of her stretch marks—which ones came from her first pregnancy and how they spanned her entire stomach; which ones split open and bled during her second pregnancy, etc.

After a few minutes, she stopped and realized that these marks are actually a very important part of her story and came to understand that she'd be doing a disservice to herself by having me alter their appearances. I told her that I completely agree and support that decision whole-heartedly.

Self-love and acceptance are an extremely personal, ever-changing (totally non-linear btw) journey, and that journey can be scary as fuck—but it's also healing as fuck.

Boudoir certainly isn't the only route to take you through your personal self-love journey, but damn if it isn't one of the most radical (and fun 😜).

You might show up to your session utterly wracked with fear and anxiety about how you're going to perceive yourself and your greatest physical insecurities when they are up-front and center in your images—but you also might find yourself realizing that you are a uniquely stunning and incredibly strong creature whose physical body tells the most beautiful story about a human being who has lived and continues to live a full and fulfilling life.

And that's the story I want your boudoir photos to tell too.

What good is perfection when it wipes away everything that makes you...well, you?