Madeline’s artistic and celebratory boudoir photography + videography session
When Madeline and I began planning her second studio boudoir session, she felt settled into a really lovely season of life marked by confidence, energy, and joy. She felt proud of herself, her mind, her career, and the life she has paved, and she was delighted to document this meaningful time with self-celebratory portraits. Madeline wanted her session to feel at once soft, strong, and effortless - capturing the feel of life and what she loves most about herself right now.
When envisioning the types of photographs Madeline wanted to include in her session, she felt a gravitational pull to take more figure detail photographs and artsy, sculpture-inspired images. When looking back at her first boudoir session, right now she was really connecting with some of the artful portraits focused on body lines and movement. She felt so empowered to see her body in that way, so we chased that vision as the foundation of her second boudoir session.
Madeline’s boudoir video + reflections full of self-appreciation
Madeline is also one of the participants in my Dear Body boudoir videography series. She wrote such an inspiring letter to her body and a moving reflection on her boudoir experience - all filled with joy and appreciation. Check it out below!
“Hey amiga,
You are doing such a good job. You’re living your life like the movie that it is - setting yourself up for saying yes to all your hopes and dreams. Drinking fizzy water because it's more fun than regular, adopting cats just because it feels right, finding the best life partner in the most kismet way.
In spaces like this I always feel so sure - like I can ask for anything, do anything, be anything, and it feels so rewarding to carry that strength back into the real world.
Cheers to romanticizing life, saying yes to everything I can, and to this adventure.”
Madeline’s empowering boudoir vision + portraits
On the day of her session, I offered several different ideas for how we could create the artful images Madeline hoped for, and we settled on two different looks. For the first part of her photoshoot, I hung a beautiful, turquoise silk fabric from the rafters in my studio with a lovely, rippling texture that reminded us both of water. I also layered in several sheer fabrics alongside the turquoise fabric to add extra texture and movement. I photographed Madeline resting on the floor, standing up, and running the fabrics through her hands, all the while offering pose suggestions to highlight Madeline’s natural body lines and curves in a sculptural way. I also held fabric in front of my camera, creating an artistic, dreamy look. These portraits all carry a strong sense of peace, fluidity, grace, and ease.
For Madeline’s second look, she decided to use my studio shower. Illuminated by a skylight above, the shower/bathtub has a soft and luminous feel that photographs beautifully! Madeline wanted to incorporate both implied and fine art nude portraits into this setting, so I photographed her getting into the tub and taking a real shower. She appreciated how fun it felt to see herself from this perspective - an artistic elevation of such an everyday routine.
Some portraits felt very candid, as Madeline smiled and ran her hands through her hair, and some felt very fine art and sculptural, as I adjusted the focus of the camera to highlight the water droplets streaming down the pane of glass and down Madeline's body. We also took several figure detail portraits, which turned out to be some of my favorites from the photoshoot. While you can’t see her full face in these portraits, her body language emanates confidence, groundedness, and peace.
