Flabbergasted by Their Own Beauty | Boudoir Photography | Pittsburgh, PA

I tried something new for the last year in my business. I decided to put myself second. I know. You don’t hear me say those words very often and it’s a rarity that you will hear me say that putting myself second was the right thing in many situations, but for this one it was the truth.

For so many years I have photographed from a place of creativity, creative purgings, and from a place of “photographer knows best”. This wasn’t a bad thing entirely. I mean, my experience and creativity certainly lent a hand in providing the expected experience and photographs (hopefully exceeding expectations on occasion). However, for the last year, I deliberately put my own desires and expectations on the back burner, allowing for a more open space for my clients to really explore what they wanted and who they wanted to be in their sessions. I was a little nervous that the work wouldn’t be what women ultimately expected but the funniest thing happened…they loved it.

That is to say, to my own surprise and utter delight, I watched as woman after woman after woman came in my studio believing they were about to pay a shit ton of money to embarrass themselves and instead they walked out completely flabbergasted by their own beauty.

Now, loving their photographs is nothing new to me. Goodness, after being in business for 16 years, my work better be far beyond passable. But this is different. This is women with jaws on the floor, shocked, and shaking their heads in disbelief at their own bodies. The same bodies that walked in accompanied with a laundry list of areas I was to pay particular attention to. The same bodies that they believed were so flawed. The same bodies they hoped with all their might would produce a photo or two that were acceptable, only to be presented with gobs of photos that were undeniable proof of their beautiful, sexy, gorgeous selves. 

I can say without a doubt that my experiment worked (thank goodness). Backing off took some doing. Releasing control and my own expectations wasn’t easy, but also without a doubt the most gratifying part of my job has been and will always be that look on a woman’s face when she really sees herself for the first time, or at least the first time in a long time.

As my latest client put it, as she was telling me what she said to her husband after her session, which made him choke up, “I think I finally see what you see, and it’s just so amazing.”

*camera drop*. My cup runneth over.

If you’re ready to be flabbergasted by your own beauty then fill out the form below and let’s do this!