I started taking photographs when I was 14 y.o. (over 15 years ago!) when I first put my hands on my mom’s old digital camera! I remember the first pictures I took on that thing... they were awful, had a horrible flash, and, of course, at that time I didn’t know how to edit photos so there was no improving those first ugly shots hah.
Since then, I have continued with my own gear, taking courses, apprenticing under a local photographer for a year, studying other photographer’s techniques- this, paired with my marketing experience and work in the website development field, I decided I wanted to bring a 'modern' spin to the modern woman’s photography experience by providing a mobile app gallery for each of my clients!
But I’m getting too excited, let’s back up a bit-
When I moved to this new state, Colorado, with the misguided assumption that I was (as Long Duck Dong put it) “hot stuff”, I moved all my belongings here and started applying for jobs. I was unemployed for about 2 months, so I did something to supplement my income, that I hope my mother will go to her death bed never hearing… I became a “Webcam-Model”. It was only a short period of my life, but I started wearing lingerie and dancing to requested songs, over a webcam, for money. I’m sure all the parents reading this are thinking, “...dear god, please don’t let this happen to my daughter” lol (Because, I was basically a stripper over the internet). But, this was the first time I felt like a beautiful woman, and not some pubescent, chubby, ugly, little red headed stepchild (this is not just a figure of speech here, this is a literal description of me)
Growing up in a very conservative Christian household, everything had to be very proper at all times… I wasn’t even allowed to wear shorts! And I’m not talking about these teeny tiny shorts you see today that show your butt cheeks, I wasn’t allowed to wear anything higher than capris! Since I can remember, I have always had body image issues and poor self esteem…
I was not the ‘pretty’ friend in my circle of friends (I grew up as a rather 'fuggly' tomboy type) but it always seemed like I wasn’t pretty enough, my boobs were too small, my nose was too big, I wasn’t ‘skinny’ enough… *sigh* between hearing crack jokes by my aunt about how I needed to lose weight and looking at myself in the mirror… my self esteem would just drop. Though I tried not to let others’ words hurt me, nothing ever felt good enough. I didn’t feel good enough. I felt like I craved feeling more than average… beautiful… special.
Me, when I was about 14
I was tired of feeling this way and wanted to do something… this was around the time that I got a hold of my mom’s old hand-me-down digital camera. Late at night, after my parents would go to sleep, I would put on makeup and start taking pics of myself in the bathroom. Nothing pornographic or anything, most weren’t even sexy, but I took pics that made ME feel ‘pretty’, regardless of what others thought. Throughout the next fifteen years, I continued to take glamorous and creative photos on the side …My love for taking photos only increased until, eventually, I was being asked by friends to take their pics and even had a few paid little photography gigs - all with my mom’s old camera! (And not even a nice one lol)
… fast forward to when I became a webcam model… I wasn’t just going live on a webcam stream, I was taking sexy pictures of myself to “promote” my stream. I loved taking them (that was the only part of the webcam thing that I actually liked, really), there is something very empowering about walking around in lingerie and heels.
I’ve continued to periodically take sexy photos of myself throughout the years since, because it is a wonderful booster to your self esteem. With boudoir, I feel like I am taking back my sexuality, but more than that, I love helping other women see themselves as more than their current struggles; I want to help you all see that the skewed mental picture you have of yourself does NOT define you! I want you to see how beautiful you are, inside and out.
I decided to start a boudoir photography studio to help women that are feeling kind of… blah… about themselves (like I did, and still sometimes do) gain a different perspective; through the view of my camera, I want to help you fall in love with your own beautiful body. Helping everyday women, like you, that are only focused on their flaws rather than their beauty and other incredible attributes is why I do what I do! I LOVE shooting boudoir and helping women feel confident in their bodies. Boudoir has taught me that my self worth is NOT dependent on how another person sees me; I am worthwhile because I see myself this way. I honestly believe that every woman is gorgeous just the way they are…
… and I can’t wait to show you <3
