My advice for other women would be yes, a boudoir session might seem a little weird at first but at the same time the outcome of the final photos are drop dead gorgeous. Katie walked me through everything and it was really great. I had fun and it was a big self esteem and confidence booster for sure!
5 out of 5 stars
I have always been a big girl, but I learned how to love myself for me and for no one else. I wanted others to see how confident I am in my skin. Society makes it to so hard for someone my size or bigger to even go out in public and enjoy ourselves because there is so many judgmental people around.
So, I had been looking for Boudoir photo sessions and came across Katie and I was impressed by her work. I contacted her to do my photos for me as a 30th birthday gift to myself. I was nervous and didn’t know what expect when I arrived, but Katie made me feel comfortable and I felt empowered about myself throughout the session.
The reveal of my pictures blew me away because I knew I was already fine, but Katies photography had me looking fine as hell. If you want to do something out of your comfort zone and want to feel confident in your own skin, then Katie is the person to go.
I never thought I would have the confidence to do a photoshoot. Especially one where I was wearing nothing! I have struggled with body image and self love for most of my life. I have always compared myself to others and wondered why I couldn't measure up. Kids to adults have been cruel throughout my life. I have had many people try to bring me down for different reasons from my teeth before braces to my weight changes.
I have struggled with eating disorders, depression, anxiety and self harm. I have to choose every day to fight to rise above it and have realized life is more than trying to fit in and measuring up to a certain "standard". I also reaIized the standards I've had for myself are unrealistic because everyone is unique in their own way.
Another thing I've struggled with is different health issues from 9 years old being diagnosed with a thyroid disease and at age 25 being diagnosed with bells palsy. Dealing with this has honestly made it hard to not lose confidence in myself but I try everyday to be positive, take care of myself and love myself because if you don't love yourself and see yourself as positive its hard to do the same for others.
I randomly did this shoot with Katie because I wanted a special Christmas gift to my husband. I felt nervous about it at first because I was afraid how big my body would look or if my nerves started spasming in my face how funny I would look. But after seeing the pictures I smiled and looked at myself differently seeing my beauty that Katie captured made me feel good. I would highly recommend Katie, she is so sweet and makes you feel comfortable and gorgeous and takes amazing pictures!
Breasts. It seems in our society, that's what defines a woman. They've been used to sell everything from lingerie to burgers. They command attention and seem to determine rank amongst your peers. I've never had them, I should know. I spent the majority of my life being self conscious about being less than "endowed". I've heard "but you have this or that" but it still didn't change how I felt about my body. It wasn't until I was in my 30s that I realized it didn't matter. I didn't have to let boobs (or lack thereof) define me. I started to accept myself and love myself.
Then everything changed. It started with a lump in my right breast. Luckily, benign. Not so for my sister. Hundreds of miles apart, I was getting good news while she was getting the worst news- she had stage 4 breast cancer, triple negative. No treatment, no chance of recovery. The aggressive nature and inability to treat with conventional methods made her battle short lived. She passed a week before her birthday. My life was forever changed.
How did this happen? Why? She was so young. No one had answers, just more questions. What's your family history? You need genetic testing. You have a genetic mutation, what are you going to do? It was dizzying. I couldn't even handle the information. It looks months (and a lot of self examination) to decide on a prophylactic mastectomy. Then I literally had no boobs. And I couldn't do simple tasks like showering or dressing myself or brushing my hair. Talk about a hit to my self esteem. But I knew I did what I needed to do, and the support I had was invaluable.
I had always admired Katie's work and had always wanted to work with her. I finally booked a shoot, mid-reconstruction. In this body that doesn't even feel like my own? With these awful tissue expanders where breasts once were? After I've laid around for months in recovery, eating Chinese takeout and not even considering a workout? Was I crazy??? Nope. I cried when I saw my pictures. I felt so beautiful and so proud of myself.
All the nervousness I had before the shoot was uncalled for. Katie made me feel amazing (and her artist made me look amazing!) My scars are beautiful. They will forever remind me that I got to live. What better gift can you ask for? I still have another surgery to go, and I may never feel whole, but I'll learn to love myself again. Beauty comes from the inside, not from having a perfect body. Thank you Katie, for helping me and so many other women see that
Growing up I never really hated my body. I was happy and athletic. It wasn't until I turned 23 and became diagnosed with a chronic disease that I started to hate my body. When I first became sick I was miserable I was below 100 lbs, I couldn't even look at myself while naked let alone let my husband see me!
My flare passed and I started to gain weight back but still never made it back to my healthy weight. I still didn't feel comfortable in my skin, for years I was this way. Then yet again my body fell under an awful flare, I had to have surgery and have an ostomy bag attached to my body to help me heal. Talk about an all time self-confidence low!! It took my months to even think about changing shirts in front of my husband. Intimacy was out the window for me!!
Then Katie and I had a long and beautiful talk about how I could prove myself wrong with boudoir photos. So I made the decision to go see her. Katie was the first to really see my bag outside of family and Doctors, and boy was I nervous!! Gosh I think I shook the whole time she helped me with outfits and the first set of shots she took. Then with Katie's amazing guidance and her ability to literally see the beauty in every woman, I became more confident throughout our first shoot.
When the glambassador positions came up and I just had to apply! By this time I no longer had my ostomy bag and had gained my weight back, I was finally nearing my healthy weight. Honestly, I was still struggling because of my scars from surgery and also being rounder than I have been in years!! But yet again Katie and her team showed me how beautiful I can be throughout any stage of my body and disease.
My husband and I are so in love with the way these boudoir sessions have changed my confidence! I have never felt more sexy or beautiful in my entire life!! I couldn't Thank Katie, her glam team, and the boudoir community enough, for the beauty and love they create and radiate!!
I have always wanted to do a Boudoir session but lacked the confidence to book an appointment. I kept saying to myself, "lose 20 pounds, or wait until you get a tan!!" I wanted to look like what Hollywood shows us how we should look. A certain standard.
I have never fit into that Hollywood standard. I have always had an issue with what I see in the mirror, with no clothes on or in sexy lingerie. I avoid mirrors like it's the plague. I have let hurtful comments from men replay in my head over and over until I have literally believed them. The strange thing is, I have never heard women tear me down but rather the men have and for most of my life.
One day, a friend of mine invited me to Katie's Boudoir private group page and Katie offered up an application if you will to become one of her Glambassadors. I kept looking at it and reading it. Wanting to apply and then backed off and went to apply again and thought to myself, "why not, what have a got to lose?" I never thought I would have been been chosen. But that day has played a significant change in me. A new me. No more rude, derogatory comments will bother me, no more abusive words will tear me down. NO MORE!!!! So I accepted the position as Glambassador and chose to walk down the path to a new me and to help create a new path for all women and of all sizes. I hope to be a part of this movement and stop the problem we have as women. We should be uplifting our sisters, friends, co-workers and such. Instead of tearing down these beautiful creatures we are all meant to be. Doing this Boudoir session will empower you as a woman...I promise!!!
My biggest fear before my photo shoot was: will the cellulite show up, will my big legs and arms look bigger in the pictures, will my lower pooch be a prominent element in the pictures from having surgeries and kids. Basically, will all the flaws that I see look gross in the pictures??? The answer is NO. Katie is such a professional and has a keen eye and how to use the lighting and angle of the camera to show off your assets!!! My confidence in myself was about a 4 out of 10. After the photo shoot, my confidence level was a 20. I was on a high all night long. Then, Katie sent me about 4 images and I was all on fire!!! I couldn't believe that was ME in those photos. ME!!!!! I couldn't stop looking at them and days later, I am in complete AWE!!!! It literally made me proud and tears flowed down my cheeks. All these years I have been seeing myself all wrong.
I was absolutely nervous before the shoot. I'm such a planner and I really didn't know what to expect. But once I arrived and met the glam team, my nerves disappeared quickly!!! Her team is completely amazing and the transformation is outstanding!! After I looked in the mirror and saw my makeup and my hair; it lit a fire in me. I was going to perform, with Katie's guidance and make her proud as a Glambassador and to make myself proud!!!
I would highly recommend Katie and her team. If you have been holding back for any reason, let it all go and do this for yourself. Empower yourself!! It's in you and Katie will guide you the whole way!!!
My idea of how I see beauty standards is that while women need to have a certain slim look, if you aren't skinny and toned, you are fat. If you are plus sized, you are fat. But then people want to say that you should love yourself no matter your size or shape. While the latter is true, there is so much more to that.
While we should be happy and confident with our bodies, we also need to remember that it's not just a physical issue, it's a mental one too. A lot of women like me have low self esteem for different reasons or from certain things that have happened to us. For me, while I do need to get healthier and lose weight per my doctor, it's mostly about my mentality of the whole idea because of physical and emotional scars, of extra stomach fat, of not feeling pretty or skinny or sexy no matter what I wear, because of how I see myself versus other women.
In one of my past relationships, I was cheated on multiple times and I was never complimented. Ever. He was abusive in all forms and I felt like I was nothing. I was told I was worthless and useless. I never thought I was pretty enough or skinny enough even though I was a lot skinnier then than I am now. I felt like I was the ugliest female that walked the earth. How could someone ever love me like this? I was so broken. So lost. In need of love and affection. In need of affirming that I am beautiful or sexy or at least worth something.
Whether she realizes it or not, Katie is helping me through this difficult journey of self love, confidence in my own body, changing how I view myself in the bedroom, and knowing my self worth. While I am in a better relationship now, I still have a lot of healing to do and learning how to have confidence. Katie is so encouraging throughout these sessions that you can't help but to feel her excitement and confidence in this whole idea. She radiates happiness and passion that automatically flows right into you. She makes you feel so attractive and sexy. Because of that, you automatically feel confident and ready to strike those poses and embrace your womanhood! Oh the difference even just a little encouragement can make.
If you are nervous about trying a boudoir photoshoot, you needn't be. Katie is so easy to talk to and she is the sweetest. Just talk to her first and she will help calm you down while her artist does your hair and makeup. After you look at yourself in the mirror when the artist is done, you will automatically feel elated and stunned. Your confidence goes up and it helps you become excited for your shoot! When you get into your lingerie ... or not ;) ... you will feel like you are a Hollywood starlet! Katie walks you through everything and suggests different poses for you to be able to do. The more she takes pictures, the easier it is to be calm and enjoy the experience of embracing your womanhood. You can flaunt your curves and sexiness while also being able to look elegant and classy. When she shows you your pictures after she has edited them, it will blow you away! And I will just put this out there .. there may be tears at this point. No matter how you view yourself, these photos will remind you that you ARE beautiful. You ARE sexy. You ARE worth it. But most importantly, that you are a woman through and through. The journey to confidence and self love may still be longer than you expect, but this is such a great start to changing the way you see yourself. You will not be disappointed! ♡ I promise you that.
The whole reason I do what I do is for women like this one. Sure, it can make a great gift for a significant other or a spouse, but do it for you. Do it for the empowerment, the confidence, the self worth. Because you deserve every single bit of it.
I have to admit, when I got the wild idea to actually let myself do a boudoir shoot, I kind of thought I may have gone crazy. I'm not a very confident person and I have not particularly been crazy about my body. I walked in to my session really scared and nervous. I didn't feel like an average girl had any business showing off or being proud of her body, proud enough to embrace it or show it off. Boudoir photography has been labeled as trashy, skanky and attention seeking. Females who do this must just be out for attention for the wrong reasons. But why not this? Why can't a woman try something new? Something to give much needed confidence? Why not embrace our body that God gave us?
I am a 30 year old mother of two, and yes I did this just for myself, just for me. I did this to empower myself and to allow myself to love me as I am. I am not a typically confident person, let alone a person who is okay with their body. I was absolutely physically and emotionally comfortable with Katie. From the moment I walked in, she complimented and encouraged me every step of the way and never stopped making me laugh. Having my hair and makeup done made me feel so beautiful! I felt safe, I felt confident and I felt okay with loving my body as it is. I walked out feeling like it was finally okay to love myself and my body - just the way God made me.
I was STUNNED when I saw my images for the first time. I could not even believe that I was the girl in the photos. I looked too confident, too relaxed. The session really helped boost my self confidence and self image. To be made to feel and look beautiful gives you a gift of confidence. Society can roll its eyes and shame this type of thing but maybe we should build ladies up to love themselves more...just like Katie has done for me.
Mrs. A. came to me in a unique way. Usually women seek me out to give gifts to their husbands or boyfriends or just to have it for themselves, but not Mrs. A! Her husband contacted me and wanted to secretly purchase a session to gift to his lovely wife. He knew she was interested in a session but wouldn't book one herself and wanted to give her the push that she needed to go ahead and take the plunge. The sweetest right!? Hear a little about her time below.
I have thought about doing a boudoir shoot for a long time but never been confident enough to make the plunge. After my husband surprised me with a session for my birthday/Valentine's Day, I knew I needed to go through with it. I was able to conquer my fear of self-image and bear more skin in pictures than ever before. I never felt judged or anything less than sexy during my shoot. I felt like I was able to show skin without being judged for my size. I'm extremely self conscious about my weight but didn't feel anything but beautiful during the shoot. I felt like I was confident enough to bear more skin than ever before! I was doing the best I could at being sexy which is not my norm!
I think Katie did an amazing job with lighting and editing them to make them look great. If others were to see my photos, they wouldn't believe that I'm self conscious! I would like to do more in the future! Thank you for what you do. Empowering women and couples to capture their passions is awesome.
I'll never get over the amazing stories of the women who walk into my studio. The things they've endured and the experiences they've had all shape who they are today and it's an honor to be able to encourage their badassery or hand them a little piece of confidence that they didn't even know they could have. This girl is just one of many awesome babes that I get to work with.
Walking into this session, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was excited. I was nervous. I was super body conscious; more so than I have ever been. I am not a small girl. I never have been. I had seen all these amazing boudoir shots of these beautiful, thin girls and never in a million years expected my photos to turn out that perfect.
I’ve had body issues my entire life. Even when my depression hit in high school and I became super thin, I still saw myself as this “fat girl.” I self harmed because of my body image. I never thought I’d be good enough, and that’s something that I still struggle with so much so today, even though I have accepted myself for who I am. Even though I do see myself as a beautifully flawed person.
I looked at myself in the mirror after having my hair and makeup done and don’t even recognize myself. I was gorgeous! I had never seen myself like this. I instantly felt a million times more confident and beautiful. I told myself, “I SO got this!”
The photo shoot in itself was so fun and comfortable. Katie was cracking jokes and telling me how amazing I looked, and how awesome I was doing. The pictures turned out so much better than I thought! I looked just as beautiful as those gorgeous thinner girls, and I just couldn’t believe it. I wanted to show those photos to the world; something I never thought I’d be comfortable doing.
If you’ve been wondering about a photo shoot with Katie- don’t hesitate. She is absolutely amazing. She made this rundown mom look hot! She’s 110% got you. She can and WILL make you look hot too!
I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do something like this. These two have been such troopers throughout the years, trying new things out with me and never thinking I'm crazy, even when I am. At least they hide it from me if they do. I'm so happy to show you their beautiful faces once again.
I've been seeing many more couples boudoir being done and I think it's just so amazing to showcase not only the beauty of women that I strive for in my regular boudoir sessions, but also the love and passion that you can evoke in a couples boudoir session. It's such a different experience and I hope to continue to shoot many more couples boudoir sessions in the future. Are you up for it?
Guys, this was so scary. I know I preach that everyone is beautiful but when it's you in front of that camera, even someone like me gets nervous. My goal was to lose 10 pounds and THEN do a boudoir shoot. However, those 10 pounds just weren't coming off - you know....pizza and tacos...so I went ahead with the boudoir session anyway. This amazing celebration of my body as it ages will be with me forever, and the experience was one of a kind. Being outside in a field (right next to a major road) was exhilarating and unique by itself, but having one of my favorite photographers (Carling Zhou) come in from out of town just to be there with me, telling me the whole time how great I was looking was awesome. I might not look like a super model, I might have some parts of myself that I struggle with daily, but I walked away from this session on top of the world. It's so hard to learn to love yourself, but I'm working on it. :)
Because she can't stay away and we weren't super prepared the first time, we went back out to the magic field with lingerie and tried again! This field - and this amazing woman - are incredible. There wasn't a bad picture in the bunch of them. We brought two of my brand new pieces for the studio and both of them are as beautiful as I expected them to be. This black bodysuit might just be my new favorite piece. What do you think of it?
I'm always so honored when people from out of town find my website or hear a recommendation and love my work enough to travel to my studio. It's literally one of the best feelings ever. Faith came to me from out of town and her session has been one of my absolute favorites. She was confident and so beautiful that it hurts. After her session, she loved her images so much that she is coming back for round two! {Which BTW is another one of the best feelings ever - repeat clients who just can't get enough of the confidence and self-love that comes with Boudoir.} We can't wait to see you again, Faith!
One of my favorite things about boudoir photography is that everyone is so unique. From birthmarks and scars to the way they wear their hair and the outfits they choose, every session is full of so many interesting things that showcase the lives of those in them. Lauren came to me unexpectedly when I had a last minute cancellation and she couldn't have rocked it harder. With rose colored hair in a pixie cut, fierce winged eyeliner and so much confidence she couldn't contain it, she was a rockstar before we even started. She is who she is and that's what makes her amazing.
Let yourself go. Don't be discouraged. Be unafraid of who you are.
A combination of black lace and red satin, this bodysuit is sure to thrill! It shows just enough on the sides to ensure maximum sensuality but keeps enough hidden to lead the imagination on a wild ride. Featuring red as its dominant color, The Vickie is great for Christmas and Valentine's Day themed sessions but is versatile enough to be used year round.
The Vickie is a size medium body suit that doesn't stretch much.
