Annika’s joyful & glamorous boudoir and videography session 

As Annika and I started planning her second boudoir session with me, she felt filled with excitement, noticing that she didn’t have any hint of nerves or uncertainty as she understandably felt before her first session. While reminiscing on her first boudoir session, Annika shared how much she loved the portraits that captured her beaming and laughing – filled with genuine joy. This giggling, light-hearted energy is a theme that continues to resonate in her life, and she initially wanted her second session to feel effortless, candid, and full of joy while also integrating a soft and romantic aesthetic. 

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“A new beautiful”: Ashley’s reflective, peaceful maternity boudoir + videography session 

Ashley had a clear vision for her maternity boudoir session. She wanted her portraits to feel confident, radiant, and peaceful. While her first session featured a ton of bright energy and wide-smiles, for this session Ashley wanted her portraits to capture the quiet joy and inner peace that has marked this time of becoming a mom. Her warm, self-loving energy shines through powerfully in both sessions. 

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Five types of Boudoir Photographs: explore what kind of images you'd like in your session!

The different types of boudoir photographs refer to the artistic photographic approaches I can take when composing and designing images. After all my years of working as a boudoir photographer in Minnesota, there are several distinct aesthetic approaches to boudoir photography that I love to create with clients. However, I've found that many of my clients can look at examples of images and, even if they can't put it into words themselves, they have a strong sense of what types of photographs speak to them the most. So scroll down and explore away to help you discern your favorite type(s) of boudoir photographs!  

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Kiki Burgdorf
M’s studio boudoir session full of personality, confidence, and joy

M had been dreaming about doing a boudoir session for years, intentionally choosing to wait until it felt like the right moment. This year, she arrived at a season of life where she felt grounded, joyful, and ready to say an unwavering “yes” to boudoir. As a body-positive photographer, I believe strongly in the power of boudoir as a self-celebratory act, so it is such an honor to know the depth of meaning a photoshoot can hold for a client too. It felt so special to help M create the empowering boudoir session of her dreams.  

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“You found the sun”: AmandaJean’s joyful, self-celebratory boudoir videography session

When planning her session at my Minneapolis boudoir studio, AmandaJean shared that although recent years have held both grief and beauty, she has arrived at a season of life where she feels a sense of strength and acceptance in her own skin. She wanted printed art that would help her remember and savor this time of feeling beautiful and at home with herself and her body. She envisioned candid, storytelling portraits that would capture the genuine emotions this season of life has held - including joy, reflectiveness, self-love, softness, gratitude, strength, resilience, and ease.

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The magic of doing a boudoir photoshoot again, and again, and again 

Just as it makes sense to wonder when is the right time to schedule a boudoir session for the first time, it also makes sense to wonder: what makes another boudoir session uniquely magical? Many folks initially do boudoir as a way to mark a meaningful life moment. Boudoir can be a powerful way to capture the unique milestones in life, yet it can also be an inspiring touchpoint to return to again and again. Each session is an opportunity to document the ever-shifting themes and self-expressions in our lives. Each photoshoot has a unique fingerprint of its own. 

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Celebrating growth and transition: Sarah’s elegant and openhearted boudoir portraits

Sarah brought so many beautiful intentions and hopes into her boudoir session. When she reached out to me, she was approaching a milestone birthday and entering one of those life chapters where one door closes and another opens. This was a threshold moment she didn’t want to let slip by, so she decided to schedule a photoshoot as a way to pause, reflect, and celebrate the growth and changes she and her body had experienced to arrive here, greeting a new season with gratitude.

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Hannah’s powerful, artistic boudoir videography session 

 It is such an honor to work with returning clients and help them document what has shifted, changed, or grown in their lives since their previous session. Hannah told me about the healing journey she has been on in recent years, working to align her life with her natural strengths and authentic intentions. She wanted her boudoir portraits to feel dramatic, bold, and artistic – capturing her resilience and bravery in this season of life. 

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How to prep for a boudoir session: a holistic, body-positive, and self-celebratory boudoir planning resource

Over the years as a Minnesota-based boudoir photographer, I’ve encountered a lot of unfortunate resources about “how to prepare for a boudoir session.” It’s common for new clients to wonder how to best prep for their upcoming photoshoot, and yet too often the dominant messaging about boudoir reinforces toxic beauty and harmful diet culture standards that tempt us to believe we have to change in order to be “photo ready” and beautiful. This is a really hurtful misconception about boudoir, and it is one I am striving to change. 

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A year in review at Illuminate Boudoir

Looking back, I am inspired by the breadth and depth of moods and styles that this year has held across the dozens of sessions I’ve photographed in my studio and in gorgeous outdoor spaces. Some sessions felt super glamorous and dramatic; some felt very artful or whimsical; some exuded an effortless, everyday energy; some held profound gentleness; some captured inspiring strength; some were bursting with joy, vibrancy, and color; some felt like a peaceful, self-loving exhale; and many times a single session held a multitude of these moods.

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A reflection of joy, beauty, and strength: E’s self-loving boudoir session

In the year leading up to her photoshoot, E’s life had held multitudes – including moments of joy and challenging unexpectedness – and she wanted her boudoir session to capture the breadth of who she is now and who she is becoming, all through the lens of self-compassion. It felt extra fitting to mark her milestone birthday with a day devoted to gentleness, reflection, and self-care. 

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A’s powerful, whimsical, and elegant floral boudoir

A wanted her boudoir session to balance her love of artful boudoir portraits with her vibrant, creative energy. She envisioned portraits that felt at once strong and poised, playful and serene. She was excited for this session to capture the well of confidence she has come to fill within herself and to celebrate the mosaic of styles she feels drawn to in this season of life. A also felt delighted to incorporate two different flower bouquets into her session. I helped with her wardrobe planning for this session, choosing three looks that complemented the colors and textures of the bouquets.

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All hair, no hair, let’s normalize body hair! 

In a culture of insurmountable beauty standards, many of us have been trained to think in pretty polarizing ways about what is or is not okay with our bodies, including body hair. So many of my clients wonder whether or not to remove body hair before their boudoir session, and too often I think the hesitation comes not from personal preference but from fear of how the presence or absence of body hair will be perceived. 

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"In their own voice" - Love letters to yourself

This fall, I invited clients to write a love letter to themselves and then created short reels with clients reading their words aloud “in their own voice,” and I’m thrilled to be sharing all six of those virtual love letters here! May their stories bring you strength, solidarity, and a seed of brave inspiration to encourage you on your self-love journey.

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About AlyssaKiki Burgdorf
Poppins’ adventurous and serene outdoor boudoir session at sunset

Poppins had been dreaming about doing an outdoor boudoir session for a long time, saving up and waiting for the right moment. This year, Poppins reached a point where she felt really proud of her body-positivity journey, and she began exploring an intentional practice of doing special things just for herself. She decided an outdoor boudoir session at sunset would be the perfect way to celebrate herself and mark her progress on the lifelong journey of cultivating self-love.

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