K’s Casual, Sexy, Self-loving Boudoir Portraits

K connected with me through Flirt Boutique’s Instagram, and we started planning in the summer for a December session. She is a creative in many ways - photographer, artist, actress, model, and about to start a grad program for film-acting. She is a creative person, and I had so much fun collaborating with her throughout her boudoir experience and bringing her vision to life.

Bringing personality into K’s session: how we made her portraits feel true to her

It was really important to K that she would have photos that would feel like “her”. This is a request or concern I get from a lot of my clients, because there are so many reasons why we can look at a photo of ourselves and feel like it doesn’t look like us. An important piece of my job is to create pictures that feel like you, and that is why I make it a priority to get to know my clients through the conversations I have with them. I’ll ask questions like:  What do you want to feel when you look at these pictures? What favorite body features do you have? What do you want the energy to be in these portraits? What colors and textures do you want to wear and be surrounded by? 

I ask all of these questions because my ultimate goal is to show you a collection of portraits that really feel like a piece of your soul has been documented. I work diligently to curate an atmosphere that feels authentic and natural to you. I want you to feel comfortable and like yourself in my studio because if you feel comfortable and at ease, you will look comfortable and look like “you” in your portraits.

In our first conversation together, K imagined her session in the context of maybe sharing with a romantic partner, wearing lingerie, and in her words a more “traditional boudoir” session with a sexy vibe. In the weeks leading up to her session and as she reflected on what doing a session would mean to her, her motivations evolved.  Her goals shifted from considering outside viewers, to focusing on herself at the center of her session: what she loved about herself, channelling a more cozy and relaxed version of sexy. We all are constantly evolving as people, and I think it is really cool when a personal evolution can bring you closer to pictures that feel really true to you.

Her minimal vibe brought to life in wardrobe and hair/makeup styling

K’s wardrobe consisted of some beautiful, effortless pieces that helped create the mood she wanted to set for her session. One of my favorite pairings was her blue off-the-shoulder sweatshirt that she wore with white high-waisted lace bottoms. I love this portrait of K facing the brick wall in this outfit pairing. It is a figure detail portrait, and I love that even though you can’t sere her face this holds so much,personality and story.

K also brought a black wardrobe pairing that consisted of a turtleneck and lace bottoms. I thought this wardrobe choice was inspiring because a lot of people wouldn’t think of a turtleneck as an option for boudoir, but it is so elegant and sexy-without-trying in K’s portraits. 

Kelsey from the Hair Badassery styled K’s hair and makeup. She wanted very natural makeup with light foundation to allow for her freckles to show through. Kelsey went with a tinted moisturizer that was super glowy and light, while being simple and minimalist like K wanted. With K’s hair, Kelsey played up the natural wave in her hair and added a little more texture, curl, and volume.

This minimalist look felt really natural with K’s t-shirt and comfy underwear pairings that brought a more casual and relaxed vibe. We also did a couple portraits that were implied topless, where K held her arms in front of herself with an open back and ended the session with a pair of bottoms she got from Flirt Boutique that had beautiful lace detailing in a cool blue color. One of my favorite aspects of K’s session was that she was able to take her collection home with her the night of her session - which is always amazing!

K, thank you for bringing your creativity and authenticity to my boudoir studio. I loved working with you to create your collection of portraits. I’m so excited for all of your new adventures now - it’s an amazing season of life for you, and I’m really grateful we were able to document and celebrate this with such powerful portraits. Thanks for being amazing!!