Boudoir stories: Amber, Carolyn and Johanna share
Why boudoir is important
To find out why boudoir is important to some women, we asked three recent clients for the female perspective. Carolyn, Amber and Johanna (pictured below) will share their stories in a moment.
But before we give them the mike, let’s point out that the opening question asks why boudoir is important. Not a boudoir session, boudoir shoot or boudoir photos. That’s because the session is just an activity and the photos are just the artifacts.
To focus on either misses the fact that the experience on the whole is what’s so momentarily engulfing and ultimately life-changing. And, consequently, important.
The impact starts with a decision
You see, the instant you push aside negative thoughts and negative emotions to seriously entertain having intimate photographs made of yourself, you’re assailed with inputs — old thoughts and emotions foisted upon you by others.
You re-hear everything you’ve ever been taught or told (for better or worse) about who you are, how you look, how you should conduct yourself, and what you’re worth on the open market of society.
And all that continues playing in the back of your mind as you wade deliberately into the torrid boudoir pool. And, whether it’s your intention or not, into the unexplored depths of your self-acceptance.
Boudoir is important as a journey
So. What’s important isn’t just the planning about what to wear and how to prepare. It isn’t the imaginative fantasies you’ll have about poses, looks and scenes fed by boudoir photos from Pinterest boards.
It isn’t even the indulgent hair and makeup attention you’ll get in your makeover before you transition to our boudoir studio for your photo session.
And, contrary to what you might expect, it isn’t your nervous channeling of unpracticed sensuality and romance when you take off your clothes and try to lounge convincingly for the camera. Half-naked. In front of a camera held by your boudoir photographer, a stranger, no less. Totally outside your comfort zone.
Even though all that will feel good — even feel amazing, surprisingly — not even that is what’s important.
What about the photos? No, the insanely beautiful pictures you’ll eventually want in a photo album don’t even begin to encapsulate what makes boudoir so important.
Bottom line
All of this combined is what makes a boudoir photo shoot so important. It’s everything from the rush of emotions when you commit to a session to the self-reevaluation you begin when take your photos home. To being surprised at how confident and sexy you felt.
It’s every bit of the boudoir experience multiplied by the lifelong impact of finally understanding what makes you beautiful.
As you’ll read in the following stories, the effects of an Atlanta boudoir photography session with One Soul can touch your life in crazy positive ways.
While those impacts aren’t always black and white, your romantic relationships are an obvious benefactor. When you feel better about yourself and feeling sexy, you’re not only more responsive to others’ overtures, you’re inexplicably more attractive.
We often think of stress as an externally originating negative in our lives. But we can bring on our own stress, too, just by being unhappy with our appearance. So your mental health gets some stress-relief when you’re feeling comfortable in your skin. When that happens, we say you feel empowered.
Jody Borgemenke
August 7, 2021 5:19 pmReading the description of how many emotions run through you when making a decision to do boudoir brought it all back. Now looking back on my session I’m so glad I was able to push through the noise and just do it. I have been wanting to do this for over a year but when I mentioned it to my husband he thought I was crazy. I knew we didn’t have the money for me to waste on a silly photo shoot nobody would ever see so I put it out of my mind and hired a not so professional photographer to take pictures of me for my 50th birthday, a ‘this is 50’ shoot. They were ok and I had fun but kept thinking about boudoir. I saw the spring give away and applied. While I didn’t win I have enjoyed the group so much and grow every day reading positive posts. I don’t have many friends because I give all of myself so it’s very draining to cultivate those relationships, especially in lockdown. I finally decided that I was going to grab the chance at one of the special sessions Jill posted when I saw a couple days later that they had not all been filled. I was nervous, I knew my husband was going to think I’m nuts and I still don’t have the money but I decided to do it anyway.
I still hear the voices from my past saying that I’m fat, nobody will love me, I’m not good enough. I still feel more comfortable being called egg or royal acreage than I do being called beautiful because those are familiar. I walked in the door for my session and all the voices faded, replaced by Jill’s bubbly personality and joy her job brings her. I knew that if she could be this excited about the things I brought and spending the afternoon with me then I can too! Granted I was paying her (this is how my brain processes positive attention) but I could tell she’s the most genuine person and was truly happy for me, not for her business. David kept the momentum going with his banter and brought out the joy in me. I just let it flow and trusted them to do what they do best. I can’t wait to see what they see in me. To prove that I am worth it. I’m trying to be patient, but this is not one of my virtues.
Thank you for the opportunity to get past the old way of thinking and move forward with a new perspective!