“I’m Not Confident Enough for Boudoir.” Perfect. Come Anyway.

Let me guess.

You’ve looked at boudoir photos and thought:

“I would LOVE to do that... but I could never do that.”

Maybe followed immediately by:

“I need to lose 10 pounds first.”

“I’m so awkward in pictures.”

“I have no idea how to look sexy.”

“My face does weird things when someone points a camera at me.”

“I wouldn’t know what to do with my hands.”

Welcome. You are my people.

Because if you walked into my San Diego boudoir studio, threw your robe dramatically onto the floor, hit a perfect pose and said, “Kim, where would you like me?” I would actually be a little disappointed.

What am I supposed to do all day?

You Do Not Need Confidence to Book a Boudoir Shoot

This might be the biggest misconception about boudoir photography.

Women see my photographs and assume the women IN the photographs arrived looking and feeling exactly like that.

Nope.

They were nervous.

They worried about their stomach.

They worried about their butt.

They worried about being too old, too curvy, not curvy enough, too awkward, too whatever-the-thing-is-that-we’ve-decided-to-torture-ourselves-about-this-week.

Some of them have literally stood in front of me and said:

“I am going to be your hardest client ever.”

Challenge accepted.

And then a little while later, I’m showing them the back of my camera and they’re saying:

“WAIT. THAT’S ME?!”

Yes, ma’am.

That is you.

“But I Have No Idea How to Pose.”

Excellent.

Please don’t.

That’s my job.

You do not need to arrive knowing how to arch your back, where to put your chin, what to do with your hands or how to somehow point your toes, breathe, smile and look seductive simultaneously.

Honestly, that sounds exhausting.

I will pose you from your eyelashes to your toes.

I’ll show you what to do.

I’ll demonstrate it.

I’ll adjust you.

I’ll tell you where to look.

And occasionally I will probably be crawling around on the floor trying to get the perfect angle while wondering why I didn't choose a profession that involved more chairs.

This is a team effort.

You Also Don't Have to “Act Sexy”

This one is important.

You don't need to walk into your session and suddenly transform into some mysterious seductress named Bianca who drinks martinis and has never once worn Costco sweatpants.

You get to be you.

We will laugh.

Probably a lot.

We’ll talk.

I’ll help you with every single pose.

There may be music.

There may be ridiculous conversations.

There will almost certainly be moments where you're half naked and we're discussing something completely inappropriate.

And somewhere along the way, something really cool happens.

You stop thinking about how you look.

You start having fun.

And THAT is when I start getting the photographs you came here for.

“Okay, But I Really Do Want to Lose 10 Pounds First.”

I hear this all the time.

And listen—I understand.

Most women have something they would change about their bodies.

But here's my question:

How many photographs of yourself are you going to postpone until you finally decide your body is acceptable?

Because your body is going to change.

That's what bodies do.

Twenty-year-old you was different from thirty-year-old you.

Forty-year-old you will be different from fifty-year-old you.

And one day, you may look back at the body you're criticizing right now and think:

WHY DIDN'T I APPRECIATE HER?!

You don't have to be at your “goal weight.”

You don't have to be twenty-five.

You don't need perfect skin.

And you definitely don't need abs.

Thank God, because I personally haven't seen mine in years.

The Women on My Website Are Regular Women

They're moms.

They're wives.

They're single.

They're divorced.

They're dating.

They're celebrating birthdays.

They're celebrating getting through something hard.

Some book a boudoir shoot as a gift for someone else.

And plenty book one because they decided:

You know what? I want this for ME.

They aren't professional models.

And they don't magically have some confidence gene you missed out on.

They simply decided to be nervous...

…and do it anyway.

What If I'm Awkward?

You probably will be.

So will I.

We'll get along beautifully.

Seriously, there is no expectation that you walk into my studio completely comfortable taking your clothes off in front of a woman holding a giant camera.

That would actually be kind of weird.

Nerves are normal.

My job isn't just taking pretty pictures.

My job is making sure you feel comfortable enough that we can CREATE them.

That's why I want your boudoir experience to feel less like a photoshoot and more like spending the day with a girlfriend who happens to have excellent lighting and strong opinions about where your chin should be.