Nine pre-session self-love affirmations

Need a little self-love pick me up pre-session (or anytime)?

Try these nine self-love affirmations!

For when chronic illness makes it hard to love your body…

  1. My body is still worthy of respect and care even on days when my chronic illness of disability causes me pain

  2. I love and accept my body just the way it is today

  3. On days when I struggle to love my body, I can practice body neutrality and self-care

For when you need a self-love boost…

  1. I am a fucking legend who is worthy of love, respect, and kindness, especially from myself

  2. My body does not need to change in order to be worthy of love and affection

  3. I embrace my body as it changes over time - I am grateful to be able to see my body’s journey

For when emotions are negatively impacting your body image…

  1. I deserve the same patience and grace that I extend to others to be extended to me also

  2. My body is a source of strength, not insecurity or shame

  3. I am allowed to take up space physically and emotionally in my relationships and in the world at large

I know affirmations can feel silly (like I really get it), but they are powerful! Try saying these (yes, out loud) to yourself in the mirror, and/or try writing them down and reading them aloud or using the written affirmations as a part of a little self-love ritual to root yourself in your intentions. The most important thing is giving yourself grace, and treating yourself, and your body, with love, respect, and kindness.

—Sam

Whryne's fabulous dress-up themed boudoir + empowerment session

Whryne brought all the good vibes with their clothing choices!

Their style, flare, and absolutely brilliant smile are all unparalleled. They were such a gem about rescheduling following a surprise gallbladder removal surgery, but the wait was worth it! I’m so glad I got to photograph them finally! Enjoy these fun photos from their session. Whryne’s outfits are a great example of things you can wear to a boudoir + empowerment session that aren’t lingerie or that don’t involve being nude, if that’s not your thing!

—Sam

 
 

Things you can wear to an empowerment shoot that aren't lingerie

Nakedness doesn’t feel empowering for everyone

For some people, boudoir + empowerment sessions actually aren’t about “sexiness” at all. They’re about feeling powerful, and that can look a lot of different ways for a lot of different people, and doesn’t always have to include getting naked or wearing lingerie!

Below are some inspiration pics of non-lingerie clothing options you can consider for your boudoir + empowerment session!

—Sam

 
 

Sara's golden hour governor's island boudoir + empowerment session

Golden hour outdoor boudoir session? Yes please!

Sara really wanted to do an outdoor shoot, and I was thrilled when we decided on Governor’s Island on Madison’s Northeast side! Governor’s Island is freaking beautiful (all year round, but in the fall particularly) and we had a blast walking around getting photos and laughing out butts off. It was chilly, but worth it!

—Sam

 
 

Sarah's romantic boudoir + empowerment session

Sarah wanted to do something a little special for her birthday boudoir session

She wanted a mix of flirty and romantic, so we played around and had fun in the studio for the occasion! I love how these turned out, and am so glad we got to do a belated birthday session for her!

—Sam

 
 

Sebastian's leather-themed boudoir + empowerment session

I got a puppy play crash course from the amazing Sebastian during his session

When Sebastian and I talked about what a gender affirming session would look like for him as a trans man, he said that one of the things that helps him feel most centered in his gender is leather, and puppy play. I had heard of puppy play, but didn’t know much about it, so Sebastian was kind enough to explain it to me, and even gave me a little crash course on the overlap between the leather community and pup community. He also wanted to work some fun top energy into his session, which we absolutely did!

Sebastian’s session was a blast and I am so honored to have been able to photograph him!

—Sam

 
 

Marie's candy and yoga inspired boudoir + empowerment session

It’s not often that someone brings a tote bin full of candy to a session…

Marie (@the_spiritual_candy on instagram) arrived for her session with $100 worth of candy in a large tote bin, and a clear vision for how she wanted her session to go. I normally have a bit of a moody vibe to a lot of my portraits (my inner goth kid coming out to play), but when Marie told me that her vision for her session was bright, colorful, and filled with whimsical candy and yoga-based play, I knew I finally had a use for that bright yellow backdrop at the studio! Marie did her yoga flow in a sea of candy, and we got photos of it, and they were awesome! We also did a little floral-based stuff at the very end, before all the candy cleanup commenced. I love these photos and I hope you all do too!

—Sam

 
 

Red's badass neon boudoir + empowerment session

Red and I were originally planning a very different kind of session

But when they saw some neon-themed images on my instagram page, they were smitten, and we decided to go the route of a faux shower neon light setup (what, you don’t have neon lights in your shower at home?) and it was awesome! I’m so excited Red was up for playing around with neon, getting sprayed down with a water bottle, and being a vulnerable and all around amazing human for our session! Enjoy these fun photos!

—Sam

 
 

How to know if you're ready to book a session

When you know, you know, but what if you don’t?

For some folks, booking their first boudoir + empowerment session feels like a full-body “fuck yes!”, and that is truly awesome, but this blog post isn’t for those folks. This blog post is for the folks who are on the fence. Who want to book but aren’t sure if they should spend the money on themselves or if they’ll even like the photos because the photos are of them. That is who this blog post is for. So, how do you know if booking a session with me is right for you?

If you’ve already been working on your body image

Boudoir + empowerment photos can be a powerful tool on your body image journey, and for some folks, a session like this can be the catalyst to having a better body image and kinder thoughts about their body. Other folks may need to get to body neutrality before they’re ready to view themselves as worthy of being documented. I can show you how beautiful and worthy you are, but I can’t make you believe it if you’re not ready. If you’re truly not sure where you fall on this spectrum, let’s chat!

If you’re ready to do this for yourself, not solely for a partner’s benefit

Do we all love when our partners think we’re hot? I think most of us do. BUT, these photos and this experience aren’t about your partner (unless you’re doing a partner session of course), they’re about you. YOU are worthy of being photographed even if your partner never sees these photos, or even if you’re single. You deserve to do a thing that is solely for you and no one else. If other people benefit? Awesome, but they’re not the main focus here. If you’re not in a place where you can do something solely for yourself whether or not it directly benefits someone else, you may need to work up to a session, and that’s okay.

If you’re ready to believe that you are worthy of love and respect (from yourself)

You don’t have to already have achieved perfect self-love (does that exist?) to book a session, but you do have to be ready to take the next step in your self-love journey. You do have to be ready to see yourself as worthy of love and respect and being documented, even if you don’t quite feel that way yet. You have to want to see yourself that way while understanding that seeing yourself that way isn’t contingent upon changing your body first. It’s okay if you’re not there yet, you just have to be ready to have the conversation with yourself.

If you’re still on the fence about whether a boudoir + empowerment session is right for you, let’s talk! I promise my goal isn’t to talk you into a session if you’re not ready. My goal is to answer any questions you have about what to expect, and to help provide you with some food for thought on what a session can provide you, and then you decide when the right time is for you. :)

—Sam