Empowering, Fun and Sexy

You are the owner of your own story.  YOU have the power to say enough is enough.  YOU can stand up and say, I LOVE MYSELF!  Shout it from the rooftops.  Tell the world.  YOU CAN!

In our world, we are labeled as conceited, narccistic and selfish if we decide to stand up and praise ourselves.  I personally think that more praise is needed!  We stifle ourselves constantly by not recognizing the amazing and wonderful things about us.  We think it’s better to remain silent, and this is what I’m fighting against daily.  I will not let the women in my life reject the praise I give them.  They will acknowledge and accept it, they will thank me for it, and they will start to point out all the great things about themselves.  It’s time we take this back.  Stop apologizing for being good to yourself, for making yourself a priority, for recognizing the amazing woman you are!  It’s time to SHOUT IT OUT!  This is one of the reasons The Self Love Club is so important to me!

Boudoir Photos Pittsburgh

Ok, off my soapbox for now.  I included the above photo because I now make every client stand in front of it at the end of their session.  This perfectly describes how I view them.  They beauty of your soul is a wonderful sight!

I leave the rest of this post in the words of my client as she shares about her experience!

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1) Why did you decide to invest in a boudoir photo shoot?  As a wedding gift for my fiancée

boudoir studio session in pittsburgh PA in black lingerie

boudoir studio session in pittsburgh PA in black lingerie

2) How did you feel about yourself before your photo shoot?  Pretty good

3) How did you feel about yourself after your photo shoot?  Looking at those photos, fabulous!

boudoir photography in pittsburgh PA in purple lingerie

4) Describe your session in 3 words?  Empowering Fun Sexy

5) What was your favorite part of the boudoir photo shoot?  Towards the end not even caring what I was (or wasn’t) wearing

6) What would you say to other women who are considering a boudoir photo shoot?  Do it!!!!!

Boudoir Photos Pittsburgh

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Once in a Lifetime Experience

It’s time to share another beauty with you and this blog post is in her own words, so I’ll leave it to her!

1) Why did you decide to invest in a boudoir photo shoot?  The reason I invested into doing a boudoir shoot was a surprise for my fiance, which the day of the shoot he actually found out, however, while doing the shoot it became something that I needed as well. It had become an empowerment moment for me as a woman.

2) How did you feel about yourself before your photo shoot?  Well, this is kind of tough to answer because we never truly can say out loud how we feel about ourselves. Mostly all the flaws we feel or think we see is in our head and its so hard to type down because after you actually sit down and start thinking about what you may think is so imperfect, someone else actually thinks is perfect. So before the shoot, I just felt worn down and beat up. I have 3 beautiful kids, that get all my attention and I really don’t have a lot of time to give to myself or my fiance because everything begins and ends with my kids. My body isn’t perfect, and I have flaws that I need to work on, so I would constantly pick with myself every time I stand in front of a mirror and see all these imperfections.

3) How did you feel about yourself after your photo shoot?  Like WOW!!!! It was the best feeling ever! Words can’t even describe the boost and confidence I felt after walking out of your door that day! I felt like Superwoman and that I just walked out of modeling for Victoria Secret! LOL It was that boost of confidence every woman should experience, If I could tell everyone woman I walk past on the street to at least do a boudoir shoot once in their life and convince them to do it, then that is something because It was the best feeling ever.

4) Describe your session in 3 words?  Breathtaking, Self-love, EXCITING!

Pittsburgh Boudoir, black and white boudoir images in pittsburgh boudoir studio

5) What was your favorite part of the boudoir photo shoot?  There was not one thing that wasn’t my favorite, from walking in the door with the greeting that Maura makes you feel like you have been friends forever. Then getting your makeup and hair done, and starting the shoot it just makes you feel alive and like a woman again.

Pittsburgh Boudoir, black and white boudoir images in pittsburgh boudoir studio

6) What would you say to other women who are considering a boudoir photo shoot?  I would honestly say, DO IT! We lose touch with ourselves as Women because we tend to take on so much responsibility. And we forget how important we are and that we are gentle people, we need to be taken care and make sure that we take care of ourselves as well, because the only person that truly knows how to take care of you, is YOU :-). So if you ever considered doing a boudoir shoot, then stop second guessing, don’t worry about the cost, just do it, because you will not be disappointed, and this is a ONCE in a LIFETIME experience that you will not walk away disappointed.

Pittsburgh Boudoir, black and white boudoir images in pittsburgh boudoir studio

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The A-ha Moment Bullsh*t

You’re waiting for it.  You may be expecting it.  You want that moment.  That A HA moment where everything magically makes sense.  You have a moment of clarity, and POOF – your life is magically transformed.  I hate to burst your bubble but ….

A-ha moments are bullshit.

There I said it.

We sit back and wait.  Thinking that some day it will just hit us.  That all of the sudden we’ll stop being so hard on ourselves.  That we’ll magically love ourselves after years of intense hate.  That we’ll instantly accept who we are instead of trying to change.  That overnight we stop fighting with ourselves and just embrace the beautiful soul we have inside.

It doesn’t happen overnight.  You don’t have an A-HA moment when the change happens.  After all the years of putting yourself down and feeling inferior, you have I’M DONE moments.

I’m done being so negative….

I’m done feeling like I’m not enough….

I’m done hating my body…..

I’m done hiding myself….

I’m done letting my inner mean girl run the show…

I’m done self sacrificing myself to the point where I’m last in the priorities….

I’m done putting myself down…..

I’m done living up to an unrealistic expectation……

I’m done.  I’m done.  I’m done. I’M DONNNEEEEE!!!!!

We eventually get to a point that we are DONE with putting ourselves last.  Done being so negative towards ourselves.  Done living a life where you think you constantly have to change to be loved and accepted.  Done hiding behind a bunch of masks to protect yourself from being seen for who you really are.

Most importantly, we’re done loving everyone else without condition but we can’t do the same for ourselves.  We so freely give love to other people that we need to start turning that love inward to ourselves.  When you can love yourself without conditions, you become free from the chains that have been holding you back.  You don’t need to change who you are or what you look like to love yourself.  You just need to acknowledge, accept, embrace and love yourself, unapologetically.

Sounds easy right.  It’s not.  You don’t wave a wand and AHA, everything is set straight in your heart and mind.  You can’t expect to change immediately when you’ve been so hard on yourself for (dare I say) DECADES!

The point comes, though, when you decide to make yourself a priority, it hits you that you are just as important as everyone else. Its time to stop putting yourself last.  It’s time for you to work on yourself.  It’s time for you to love who you are, what you look like, the soul you have!!  But, it takes constant work, practice, encouragement and inspiration.  And, it helps when you are with people who are on the same journey as you.

And, this why I’ve decided to start a SELF LOVE CLUB.  A club where we are going to constantly work on this self love journey because it needs to be nourished DAILIY.  Not sometimes, not every week…every damn day.  It’s hard work.  But, work that is worth the effort, as this journey isn’t just for you – it’s for all the women and young girls around you.

We have to FIGHT to love ourselves, because we live in a society that preys on the fact that we are unhappy with who we are.  My goal is to replace the negative we’ve been feeding ourselves with the positive.  Our inner voice will be loud, happy, joyful, soulful, encouraging and loving!

WE ARE GOING TO STAND UP AND SHOUT THAT WE LOVE OURSELVES!!

And there’s nothing wrong with that!

More is coming real soon….sign up for my newsletter to be the first to hear about it.

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Fulfilling A Dream

I hear from many clients that they could only dream of a boudoir session.  Today on the blog, I share a client whose dream it was to have these images taken – to see herself as a work of art!  I’ll let her share the rest….

1) Why did you decide to invest in a boudoir photo shoot?  My photo shoot was a gift given to me to fulfill a lifelong dream.

boudoir photography in pittsburgh anonymous body photo that doesn't reveal identity

2) How did you feel about yourself before your photo shoot?  I felt fairly self confident and beautiful, but had some hang-ups that made me wonder how well I’d look in professional photos. Concerns about facial expressions, hand positions, etc. Things I’ve disliked about my candid photos, that I hoped would look better having a professional position me.

Boudoir photos in pittsburgh with client in custom black lingerie

boudoir photos pittsburgh

3) How did you feel about yourself after your photo shoot?  A lot more confidence, happiness, and gratitude that the beauty I feel inside can be translated to photo keepsakes with the guidance and artistic direction of a professional.

4) Describe your session in 3 words?  Whirlwind, fun, unexpected

5) What was your favorite part of the boudoir photo shoot?  I loved the opportunity to showcase so many beautiful outfits that were all gifted to me. It’s one thing to wear outfits for inspiration in the bedroom (and quickly remove them), but to have someone else’s vision to capture those outfits fitting perfectly is really something special to me. It gives me much more appreciation for the work that went into those clothes, and how well they can accentuate beautiful bodies. It makes me feel that much more beautiful for someone else’s art to look good on my body (also art), and be captured by yet another artist. I think it really gave me a stronger appreciation for art, as a whole.

Boudoir Photos Pittsburgh, poses of client on bed in lingerie

Boudoir Photos Pittsburgh6) What would you say to other women who are considering a boudoir photo shoot?  Ignore all of your hesitations and just do it. Seriously, don’t even bother telling me about your hesitations! If you don’t do it on your own, I’m going to tie you up kicking and screaming and force you to do it. My aunt and uncle pretty much did that to me when I was 13 to take my first ride on a rollercoaster. I’m so glad they did. It opened up a whole new world for me. I still don’t often take risks, but some leaps you know deep down you just HAVE to take, and you’re so happy you did. This is one of those risks worth taking. There are absolutely ZERO chances of any losses or failures. You are guaranteed to reap only good benefits from this experience.

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Going Forward

There’s not much else I can add to this amazing woman’s story.  I will say that her bravery to face something that scared her is inspiring.  I can’t imagine being in her shoes – knowing that something big needs to change – and having the courage to step up and face it head on.  Most of us shy away from the hard things, hide under the covers and hope it all goes away.  It won’t.  The hard things come back – what are you going to do then?  Hide?  Run this time?  Or, face it and tackle the challenge?

Here’s what she had to say about her session!

1) Why did you decide to invest in a boudoir photo shoot?  Originally it was for my fiance, I was going to give it to him the day of the wedding before we were actually married. But then we broke up and i wanted to postpone. It was a bad breakup and is only just now getting settled. I ended up keeping the date and going forward with it because i wanted to do it for me. I wanted to have some sort of control over my life again

2) How did you feel about yourself before your photo shoot?  Insecure, like i couldn’t do anything right. Scared i was never going to be able to get my life together and be happy on my own. I had planned a whole wedding let alone a whole life. Granted it wasn’t going to be a good life but it was going to be with someone and i wasn’t going to be alone. I felt lost, like the person I had been for the last three years wasn’t me, so I didn’t know who I was.

2A) What was your biggest challenge when it comes to the image you have about yourself?  My weight. I was a much healthier weight back in 2011. I was working out and eating well and still wasn’t to m weight goal. I was shy 20 lbs and I plateaued. That was the year I met my first emotionally abusive boyfriend and I really started to let myself go. I stopped living for me and was living for him while he rejected me. This (somehow) only made me want his approval even more. After 2 years off and on I was finally able to break it off. About a year later I met my current ex, but I had completely let myself go and had gained 80 lbs. I had stretch marks where I never had before and I hated my body and myself for letting it get so bad.

3) How did you feel about yourself after your photo shoot?  Centered. You made me feel amazing, like i had done everything perfectly. I had done everything right and I felt satisfied with myself for the first time in a long time. You made me feel like i could do anything. I could model if I wanted to. I could conquer the world. You made me feel like I was the first person to ever do so perfectly in a photo shoot. Obviously that’s not true, but that is exactly how you made me feel. Instantly supported and best friends.

Pittsburgh Boudoir Photographer

4) Describe your session in 3 words?  Refreshing. Insightful. Inspiring.

Pittsburgh Boudoir Photographer

5) What was your favorite part of the boudoir photo shoot?  The immediate feedback from you. I would do something and I was immediately validated for doing it well. That was something I hadn’t gotten (or given to myself) for the past year.

6) What would you say to other women who are considering a boudoir photo shoot?  Just take the jump. Leap of faith. You need it more than you could ever know. You will get more out of it than you ever thought you could out of 4 hours. Maura, you need to bottle the feeling after and sell it like heroine.

Pittsburgh Boudoir Photographer

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