I feel like most of the world won’t even make it onto this blog to read this. But to those that do-
Hi. Hello. How are we all doing?
Probably not great, maybe kinda struggling, most definitely scared (unless you live on an island called Denial) about the future of the planet.
So let me inject a little whimsy into your day. A sprinkle of fairytale. A dollop of daydreaming. If the world is going to burn because the big men at the top aren’t making good choices and Mother Earth is trying to expel us like the infestation that we are…maybe you should think about abandoning a few of those limiting beliefs you’ve built up about yourself.
Specifically, the idea that because you’re an adult you aren’t allowed to be silly or play unless it’s in an ‘adult-approved’ way. Maybe it’s time to stop caring so incredibly much about how strangers on the internet perceive you. Maybe it’s time to frolic a little, create a little, express a little. In whatever way you fuckin’ want to. Before it is too late.
I know that all sounds a bit alarmist and confrontational but the truth is that I spend so much of my time trying to convince people that they need to do a shoot NOW instead of LATER when they have the perfect body or whatever that I just want to scream this-
You might be DEAD later. Do the shoot now.
I don’t say that (but maybe I should start).
These photoshoots are not about how you LOOK. They are about what you want to EXPRESS, what story you want to tell, what facets of your personality you want to bring out. They are about capturing a snapshot of time in your hopefully long life, exactly where you are right NOW. And where you are now is just as worthy and deserving of capturing and celebrating as where you were before and where you will be in the future. Want to know why? Because ALL of those selves are YOU. And your worth doesn’t change when your body does.
Onto Holly.
She first came to me ten years ago for a boudoir session and I knew then and there that we weren’t done. I have been told that working with me is kind of addicting, and I can see why. When you’re in my orbit all I do is think about you, our shoot and every tiny detail. It’s the autistic in me, hyper focusing. (Recently diagnosed at age 39 and boy oh boy do a LOT of things make sense now!) I literally cannot do it any other way.
Holly booked another shoot a few years ago but then Covid happened so our plans were waylaid. When she heard I was coming to Wisconsin this past summer…she jumped.
And that’s the thing I’ve noticed about the people who are my clients and the people who aren’t. They JUMP into the pool with me. They take the risk. And it’s so incredibly worth it.
This time around we did three looks/concepts, all focusing on the idea of boudoir but with a twist. I’m breaking it down into three separate blog posts because they all deserve their own applause. And because they are so incredibly different.
That’s another thing about me- If you book multiple looks, I really try to push you to show different facets of your personality. We all contain multitudes, and it’s really rewarding for your soul (and sometimes quite healing) to let certain parts of yourself come out to play. That’s kind of what we are doing here after all- adult playing. (Especially if you dress up!) It can be very therapeutic; in fact, a lot of therapists recommend doing photoshoots as part of your healing journey if you need another excuse to book just sayin’….
For this first look Holly wanted to wear these wings I had custom made just lying around. (The magpie in me just buys crazy shit knowing that one day they will be put to use. It’s worked out so far!) Because she trusts me and booked me for my creative vision I sent her multiple ideas. Along the way I figured out that she was gravitating toward GLAM, VICTORIA’S SECRET, and DREAMY. I was thinking about old Hollywood. I was thinking about vintage showgirls. I was thinking about how to make an outfit but also keep her pretty much naked. The first idea was to cover her in rhinestones but with her amazing tattoos they would just not show up enough. So eventually I decided to make a dress out of chandelier style pieces. No big whoop hahaha.
Another thing about me is that I try to do different things for every shoot because otherwise I’m bored and uninterested. I don’t work well that way. I always have to push it. With the outfit, a new idea I have, a weird pose or angle, SOMETHING. Which is good for my clients because then it truly is unlike anything else. Other photographers do their regular shoots and then maybe once in awhile they go on a retreat and work with a model and shoot a creative concept someone else has engineered for the group. Or they do a creative concept once a year just to get their fix but the rest of their portfolio is the same poses with different clients. Cookie cutter. BORING. Me, well, it’s all creation all the time, every shoot. Otherwise, I would never pick up my camera. I’m here for the ART of it all.
But enough about ME and back to Holly.
Obviously these turned out AMAZING. We had the dream team of Elle on hair and makeup and also assisting to make the whole look come together. (She’s also a damn good family photographer so if you’re looking to have some wonderful storytelling style portraits taken of you and your loved ones and you are in the Midwest then book her now!)
This day was hot. It was filled with biting horseflies. The smoke bombs were doing whatever they wanted (which is to say not what WE wanted!). The dress was fragile so it was more posing than fluid movement. But somehow, even with all of that, we made literal magic.
Here’s just a snippet of what we created-
