Client Interview: A girly girl that loves glamour.

1. How old are you?

I am ALMOST 24 years old. Yikes! That is the first time I have come to terms with that! 

2. What do you do for a living?

I currently work as a Medicare/Medicaid Insurance Specialist in the Central Billing Office for my local hospital. 

3. What/who made you decide to book a boudoir session?

For Christmas, my best friend decided that she wanted to do a session to surprise her husband as a Christmas gift. She searched for the right photographer that she felt would do a good job and she ended up choosing OWN Boudoir. After taking one look at a few of her pictures… I knew I had to book a session. She told me that doing those pictures had made her feel more beautiful than she ever had, and I wanted that.  I wanted high self-esteem for the first time in my life. I wanted to be comfortable with my OWN body and to stop wishing I could look another way. 

4. Did you have any obstacles or fears about boudoir?

Of course! What young woman (any woman, for that matter) doesn't have fears or even insecurities about shooting photos like these? My insecurities were obviously with my body. I have never really been over weight, but I have always been on the thin border of normal and chunky, or at least that is what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I didn’t go on a crazy strict diet and lose a bunch of weight. I decided that I wanted photos of what my body really looks like without changing it to what I wanted it to look like. Like it or not, these pictures were going to show me what I wanted to see!

5. Why did you choose OWN?

The reason I chose OWN for my Boudoir shoot was mainly because after seeing my best friend’s boudoir pictures. I thought to myself, I HAVE to finally get the guts to do this! I want photos like these to be proud of, and I want to look at myself the way my husband and others see me! I logged on to the OWN website to get more information and all of the pictures on the website were so classy and prestigious. I contacted OWN immediately to schedule a photo shoot, before I chickened out and changed my mind. 

6. How was the actual session different from what you expected (if at all)?

Well... obviously, in the back of my mind I couldn't get past how awkward I thought the session would be! I mean… how could it not be with a complete stranger photographing you only the way your husband sees you?! I was nervous from the time I booked my session, to the time I stepped off of the elevator to Sarah’s loft. When the elevator doors opened, I saw Sarah standing there with such a warm and welcoming smile, just like that, I wasn’t nervous. I mean, at this point I had no choice but to suck it up and do this. I didn’t walk into my session thinking that I would do completely nude shots. I figured I would do some topless but with coverage, but that wasn’t the case. I previously wrote in my pre-photo shoot questionnaire that I would be willing to try whatever… and that is just what we did. Without hesitation, I did the photos that I didn’t dream I would ever do.. and I was completely comfortable the entire time.  

7. What was your favorite part of the entire experience? (priming, the shoot, seeing images, giving the images..etc)

I am a girly girl who loves glamour, so obviously I was super excited to get my make-up done and have a reason to put on lashes and extensions! The priming was awesome, it was better than I had imagined. The whole shoot was so awesome that it would be hard for me to choose my favorite part. The shoot was fun because I was completely out of my comfort zone, so that was an exciting challenge. While we were shooting, Sarah would show me some of the shots on her camera and I knew right then that these photos were going to be something I would want to show off to the world! Sarah is great with turn-around time, which would normally kill me with anticipation. I got all of my pictures back in ONE WEEK! This is unheard of if you know anything about good photography. When it was time to meet with Sarah to see my images, she was very prompt and called me at exactly the time we had arranged. MY MOUTH DROPPED. I have never seen myself this SEXY or BEAUTIFUL. It is hard to explain, but after having this shoot and seeing the images of what I did not think I could ever look like, my self-esteem sky rocketed. 

8. How has the response been to your images?

Me: HOT DAMN! Is this really me?! I could look at these photos for hours. I am currently in love… with myself.

My husband: There were really no words used.. if you know what I mean. ;)

Close family & friends thought they were amazing images and told me how brave I was to do them. 

9. Any advice for women interested in such a session?

DO IT & DO IT NOW! If you are anything like me, you will think you will never be 100% ready for a photo shoot like this. I had so many insecurities and “what if’s?” about this photo shoot but I am so proud of myself for sucking it up and getting it done and I couldn’t be happier about choosing OWN Boudoir to make this happen!

10. Did anything change about the way you see your own beauty as a result of this session?

It absolutely did. You can go through your whole life with people telling you that you are attractive or beautiful, but until you actually see it for yourself, you will never believe it. My level of self-esteem and confidence in how beautiful I am have raised far beyond my expectations.  I am so thankful that my best friend referred me to OWN Boudoir and that I was brave enough to let Sarah capture these amazing images. I would do it again and again. I will never get tired of looking at these images!