Girls Compete. Women Empower | Beauty, Boudoir & Glamour Photography | Pittsburgh

Wow-oh-wow do I have an incredibly touching and empowering post to share with you today. So so excited to put this out today.

Sunday morning I wake up, grab coffee and begin my daily ritual of sifting through my daily bag of emails and BAM. I see an email with some girth to it from a beautiful, charismatic and magnetic young woman I had the honor of photographing a few months ago. N and I immediately connected and it was so fun to be around her. She brought such a lighthearted, sunny and FUN energy to the studio and I just didn't want her session to end. It's been about a month since we last talked so I was excited to get this random note from her. As I read it, my heart broke open and I felt a lovely warm glow start from my roots and pour down to my toesies.

"Hi Elizabeth!! How are you?? I hope this finds you well. I feel like we haven't chatted in ages - I'm sure you're swamped with weddings. Hopefully you've been in places with this gorgeous weather :)

I just wanted to reach out as I've been doing a ton of reflecting lately - this past winter was brutal. Not just the cold and snow, but for myself personally. As to not completely word vomit everything, 2014 has been one of the most difficult times of my 28 years on earth - I know, more lows (and of course, highs!) in my future, but when you aren't expecting your life to shift and it does, it's a blow you don't know how you're going to recover.

It was like you KNEW life had been kind of down for me and BOOM, Monday AM at the beginning of May my proofs come in...and I thought to myself, DAMN. I still got it! I love the laughing ones of course, but I never thought I could feel sexy in my skin. I feel it! In fact, I've been taking care of myself more (mani and pedi treats, making diet and exercise fun, some new clothes, etc) and wish I could do the shoot again now that I know what to expect. I imagine I would be less dyslexic and have more fun with posing :) instead of being terrified. HA.

I cannot wait to see the book proof and it's final print to share with my husband. Marriage is not easy (though it's only been a year and a half, we've been together for 9 years)...and to give him something to show off my confidence for his eyes only is going to be a special gift for the two of us. It's killing me that I have to wait until January to give it to him, but I just want to THANK YOU for your phenomenal talents and for making one of your life missions to help women be confident in our own skin.

I saw this quote and it made me think of you: "Girls compete with each other. WOMEN empower each other."

Thank you for being a beautiful woman, inside and out, to help empower other beautiful women. We're in this together!

Have a phenomenal Sunday! XO"

I love, adore and simply break wide open when I get emails like this. There are times when I second guess what I do for a living. Sometimes I feel like I'm just adding to the already saturated pool of sexual imagery of women, and maybe you can argue that that is exactly what I do. But when I get these emails it reaffirms that I'm on the right path to doing what it is I was meant to do (and this is a direct quote from my husband after he read this email, along with some of the other emails I've received in the past). My heart simply explodes when a woman comes to me and actually believes that I can help them look and feel beautiful. When a woman looks at the imagery I have created just for them and they feel empowered and confident by those images...well...it makes this photographer feel proud. It makes me fall in love with my career choice over and over and over again.

At the end of the day, it's not just what the photograph looks like, ladies; it's how it makes you feel when you look at it.

Quit sitting on that fence. Hop down and come see me. I'm waiting.