I’m taking it to a personal level today, babes. Photographers pick a genre to focus their work on for a million-and-one reasons (or choose to do them all - to those, #respect).
I wasn’t much different in the beginning - I offered all types of genres: families, newborn, cake smashes, holiday mini sessions, engagement sessions, weddings!
But in an instant—everything changed.
I was over my head in holiday greeting card photo season (that may not be the official name of it, but that's what I called September - Thanksgiving *shrug*), when it dawned on me. I had done a few boudoir sessions for friends over the course of the year and after each family gallery I delivered, I realized more and more that I was just a "transaction" - the equivalent of buying socks for everyone at Christmas.
I longed for my interactions with my clients to last longer than the 1-hr portrait session and I wished for more than an acquaintance-like "meeting" of sorts. I would recall each boudoir session I did and how I had built a relationship with each of those women - how, more often than not, they cried tears of happiness or exclaimed "WAIT!!! That's ME?!!" during each of their portrait reveals. How I had insecurities about my body and would hide the little parts I didn’t like, and then how I felt when I saw myself in my own portraits and finally FELT how everyone always said I looked.
This wasn’t an option, it was a calling. A relentless feeling down to the very last drop of my conscious that I had to share my passion for empowering women and showcasing their beauty (in the VERY MOMENT THEY WERE IN, and not after they felt they reached optimal beauty by being the “right size”, the “right hair”, the “right weight”, etc.) with the world. I had no idea, in that moment, that my life would change forever because I was now changing the lives of others... “My Why” was developed after attending a workshop/retreat with other boudoir photographers and discussing just what it WAS about boudoir that excited me and hearing that I was not alone. We each spoke about how incredible it is to help women feel empowered, to help them see beyond the flaws they think they have, and to give them each a different perspective of how they look and feel.
In 2017, I made a full transition to boudoir portraiture and I let go of all other photography genres. I love being able to refer family sessions, weddings, etc., to my colleagues who have a passion for that type of work. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing it has been to get to know the dozens of clients I’ve worked with over the past two years - the lives I’ve touched, the mindsets I’ve helped change, the heirloom-quality portraits I’ve handed to my clients to remind them of how amazing they already are (and will someday be able to show their daughters that anyBODY can boudoir and everyBODY is beautiful in spite of what we might try to convince ourselves to the contrary.)
And here I am today - speaking to hundreds of women on the phone, connecting during their boudoir sessions, and meeting their friends and family through referrals for a boudoir experience. I can’t thank my clients enough for helping me pinpoint what it is that I’m supposed to be doing and making a career out of photography - I would have never dreamed that we could change each other’s lives to the extent that we have and will continue to.
XO
Lani