I truly believe boudoir is all about celebrating who you are as a woman in this moment of your life. It is about embracing the present. And it's about loving yourself. I work with women of all ages and at all kinds of transitions in their lives. I work a lot with married women celebrating a big anniversary, single women celebrating a new move, new promotion or career, or a big birthday. I work with moms of young children who need more than anything to feel glamorous and sexy again (because as I've heard it can be very hard to feel sexy when you are cleaning spit up out of your hair). And of course, I also tend to work a lot with brides.It makes sense that I would work a lot with brides, because well, I am also a wedding photographer and already have a lot of clientele in that area! And it's fabulous! I know for a fact that most of my brides spend about a year killing themselves to get "fit" for the wedding day. And they also do a lot of other beauty maintenance rituals too. I mean let's face it, brides work hard to look dang good on their big day! And sure they will have fabulous wedding photos to show for it (especially if they work with me as their wedding photog, duh!!!) but when you stop to think about it, there's so much more that should be documented during this special time in a woman's life beyond wedding photos! Show off that rockin' bod-- I mean show it off uncovered! In about 40 years, you will be glad you did! You can tell your grandkids what a little vixen you used to be! And also don't forget the other fabulous benefit of a bridal boudoir shoot-- a very sexy wedding gift to your partner! When you hand off that album of saucy photos, you can be sure you will get your honeymoon started off right! Ooooh yeah.So anyways, I am very excited to share with you one such bridal boudoir session, taken at my Santa Barbara Boudoir Marathon in March. I loved the bride's veil by Petal and Thorn! And the fabulous make up was by LunaBella! Enjoy
Just gorgeous!!!
FIERCE! Work it girl!
Those eyes! What a stunner! Your soon-to-be-hubby is a lucky man!
It is no secret at all that I LOVE HBO. Pretty much the only TV I watch is either on Travel Channel, Food Network/Cooking Channel, HGTV, NBC, HBO and Showtime. And of those channels HBO is king! I mean come on people, it's not TV, it's HBO!!!! So HBO has a new comedy out called Girls... and the show has garnered a little backlash... but I still find it hilarious. The best way to describe the show is... it's basically Sex And The City for early twenty-somethings rather than thirty-somethings. Think Carrie Bradshaw before her career clicked, she could afford the Manolos, and was going on bad dates but wasn't as savvy to even acknowledge they were bad yet. It's pretty funny and reminds me a lot of college and the couple years immediately after. There are moments of the show where I clearly see myself as a 22 year (embarrassing as that is to admit)... like when one character tells her parents "Do you know how lucky you are? I could be a drug addict!" (Hi. Yes. Totally guilty of saying that to my parents once or twice). But a lot of it isn't so much that I see myself in it but other girls I went to school with. It speaks to me and is full of good chuckles. The show is only a few episodes in, so it is hard to know if it will continue with the hilarity or have a long run. But for now it is funny and I am slightly kicking myself that I didn't come up with the whole thing myself! hehe!Have you checked out the show GIRLS? Thoughts?
HBO's Game of Thrones is definitely my favorite TV show on the airwaves right now. And it's probably in my top 10 of favorite TV shows ever. Do you watch it?? You should because it is AMAZING! The sheer production value and scale of it alone is worth a watch. It's seriously like watching a mini-movie every week! To be honest I am not really a fantasy genre person and was highly skeptical of the show before it premiered last year. But since I generally love everything HBO produces I decided to give it a shot! To my surprise I not only adore it... I NERD out on it! What got me hooked on the show was how grounded in reality it is. There is only a little CGI and the characters are very human. It's not just a simplistic good vs evil story. It's more complicated. The way humanity really is. But there is a big plot, tons of characters and locations... it's a lot to keep straight! So I really enjoy nerding out on HBO.com's interactive viewer's guide and reading all the family trees, back-story, and using the interactive maps to delve deeper in the world of the show. YEP, so basically what I'm telling you is the show has made me a complete, total, unapologetic nerd. The only thing I haven't done yet is read the books... because I don't want to spoil the show for myself! hehe!Any other Game of Thrones nerds out there? If so, who's your favorite character?
Sometimes we forget it, but the truth is sexiness is in the little moments. It's in simplicity. Like running your fingers through your loose, messy hair. Or putting on your man's dress shirt and taking in his smell. Or biting into something profoundly delicious. Or how soft your skin is. Yep, little quiet sexy moments are everywhere. And I adore them. While a boudoir shoot certainly has some fantasy aspects to it, and I love getting my clients to dress up and play supermodel, I never forget to capture the simpler side to their sexy too. I always like to do at least one look that's just natural. That's just about who you are. Maybe in a tank top and panties, maybe in your man's shirt or just between the sheets. I like those raw moments because that is when I can capture the core of who someone is and what makes them a total knock out!Check out these simply sexy photos and you'll see what I mean!
The light was just amazing!!
Smokin' hot.
Nothing sexier than a girl between the sheets...
HOT!
Enjoying yourself and laughing is seriously sexy.
THAT FACE. Oh my word, hearts are stopping across the interwebs for that face!
RIDICULOUS! Nothing hotter.
This year has been.... strange. Good. Exciting. But strange. Everything has happened so much differently than expected. I've grown and changed and experienced more than I thought I would. I've put a lot of my energy into settling and nesting in Santa Barbara. More so than I anticipated. I guess I've needed it that way. But my regret is that I've let my blogging become sporadic and erratic. I go through spurts of blogging well and then other periods of deafening blog silence. Pretty sad considering my husband recently did a killer power point on what it takes to be a good blogger...I feel like I've failed on all accounts!But that's life. We are human. We can't be perfect all the time. Sometimes life pulls us in other directions. But as I've said before: I'm now back to blogging regularly. Hopefully I mean it this time!Yep, the first quarter of 2012 has gone by in a blur. So much has happened. And in someways I feel so little has happened. But through it all I've had my trusty instagram app with me. So this is my InstaLife from mid February-mid April. I guess we can conclude from these photos that I am a crazy cat lady, a food-junkie, and a sometimes stylish person. ;)
In order for us all to live our lives in the best, fullest way possible we must be brave. As I grow older I've come to realize bravery isn't a single act that's committed once in someone's life... it's a lifestyle. It's a mentality. It's a muscle we exercise over and over again. I adore boudoir photography so much because it definitely helps exercise the bravery muscle in both me and my clients. Some of the gals I work with openly share their fears about doing a session. And I get it... being photographed baring it all (both literally and figuratively) is not something that is normal or easy to do. The fear should be there. And the fear should be something we conquer together! And we do! For so many of my clients, a boudoir session is one big act of bravery that opens the door to many more acts of bravery in their life. Yes, conquering the session gives them a new sense of confidence, empowerment and motivation. And they take that newfound courage and confidence into new areas of life! That always excites me and is why I love what I do!But every so often, I meet a client who is already one super-duper brave confident babe. A client who probably shows me more about courage than I could ever hope to show her. This gal, let's call her Miss X, is one such lady. Miss X rides her horses every weekend and is athletic. She is an open book and tells it like it is. She is a cancer survivor and works with an amazing charity to help other young adults facing cancer get through it. Oh and she has a full time job. Wow. If ever there was a woman who deserves to be captured just how she is, as her beautiful brave self, it is this gal. I was definitely super honored that she chose me to be the one to capture her sexiness, her light, her vulnerability, her all around bad-assery. She told me from the get go that she always wanted to do this type of shoot and she was doing it just for herself! LOVE. I know as brave as Miss X already was, that it still took some guts to do this shoot! And I hope it just strengthened her "bravery muscle" even more! I am so pleased with the results and honored to share all the sexy sides of this bad ass lady!
Brown eyed beauty.
Fierce shoes. Fierce vixen.
LOVED that she brought some of her horse-riding gear to the shoot! So frickin' fun!
These two images pretty much sum her up. Low key girl in her riding boots. Who can glam it up and steal the show at a moment's notice! LOVE that dual part of her personality!
GORGEOUS!
Thank you so much for letting me capture all that you are! You inspire me girl, and I am honored to know you! :)
As you may remember last month I photographed six incredibly hot women for a Santa Barbara Boudoir Party! Boudoir is a huge passion of mine, and I am really really hoping to be shooting much more of it... all over SoCal, but especially in my new home of Santa Barbara CA! Between six ladies, I had hundreds of photos to fully retouch so I apologize for the delay in blogging these! But I am so excited to begin sharing snippets from the shoots! Hooray! :)Seduction. Mystery. Two things that go hand in hand. As women, we know that sometimes the best way to seduce a man is to have secrets. You don't want to reveal too much too soon. You want to create mystery. Leave him wanting more. That's all part of the art. So I LOVE the idea of using a sexy, dramatic mask as a prop in a boudoir session. An ornate mask. A stunning figure. A confident woman. Yet you can't quite see all of her, but you can see just enough to know she's got it going on. That, right there, is juicy. And after all, isn't seduction a masquerade in a way?Here is a collection of images from one of the sessions that plays with this concept. I absolutely ADORE how they turned out! I am so lucky to have such creative clients that bring killer props to our shoots! This stunning boudoir mask is from the ever fabulous Kristin of Petal and Thorn. I loved photographing this mask so much I may have to buy one for my prop collection! Hair and make up was by LunaBella, my favorite hair/make up team in Santa Barbara!Enjoy these first photos and please stay tuned for more!
I make no secrets about it... I am a SUSHI FREAK! If I was rich I would probably eat sushi once a day. I really love it that much. Usually when I tell people I love sushi, they think I mean a California Roll or Shrimp Tempura Roll. Honey, please. I barely even mess around with that standard and safe stuff. I like to be daring in my sushi adventures and eat things some people may find kinda odd, such as uni (aka sea urchin), sweet shrimp with the fried shrimp head (yes I eat the whole head and its amazing), orange clam, or little baby squid as pictured above! It's DELISH! My favorite place to try new and wild sushi is Hirozen Gourmet in LA. They always have a unique selection of seafood treats and they have opened my palette to so many new tastes! They even have things I never knew existed such as "white salmon" -- yep salmon whose meat is white not pink. And it's tasty!So yep, I'm pretty much the Andrew Zimmern of sushi eating. ;) What about you? Any "weird" food things you're super into?? I promise I won't judge!
Artichokes have always been one of my fave treats ever! I seriously think eating a whole artichoke, petal by petal, is one of life's greatest pleasures! So I couldn't be more thrilled that it is artichoke season! YUM and HOORAY!I have a pretty easy, fool proof artichoke recipe I'd love to share! I made it just the other night! It's heaven!Ingredients
- 4 whole artichokes, cleaned and trimmed
- 2 lemon
- 4 cloves of garlic
- dried thyme
- mayo
Instructions:Bring a large pot of water to boil! Once boiling add 2 garlic cloves, a teaspoon of dried thyme, a handful of kosher salt, and half a lemon to the water along with your artichokes. Let boil for 45 minutesMeanwhile, take the other half of your lemon and zest and juice it into a bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of mayo. In a small saute pan, sweat 2 finely chopped garlic cloves with some EVOO, and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme. When the garlic is translucent, add it to the mayo/lemon mixture. Stir to combine and refrigerate.After the 45 minutes, check your artichokes. The center should be fork tender. Take them out and drain. Drizzle with more EVOO and some fresh lemon juice. Serve with the garlic-lemon-mayo dipping sauce and enjoy!Hope you love that recipe as much as I do!
I absolutely adore this Vieta Pink Zamora Sunset Bag! The color and patterns make my little heart go pitter patter! That great thing is because it has so many colors in it, the bag actually would match tons of outfits and bring a lot of boho chic to the party! La La Love!What's your favorite bag of the moment?
If you know me, you know I love food. Well, let me clarify... I love GOOD food. And I am rather snobbish about what is and isn't "good food." Well, my friends, Olio Pizzeria here in Santa Barbara is good food. Like, really really really good! Olio Pizzeria is the more casual side of Olio + Limone and very much reminds me of LA's Mozza/Pizzeria Mozza. The food at Olio Pizzeria is LEGIT Italian with many cheeses and cured meats imported from Italy! They have a woodfire oven that fires up the pizzas and makes them extra crisp on the bottom and chewy in the crust! LOVE! AJ and I went there with my in-laws and feasted like kings. Here is the run down of what we had:
Apps
- Trio of Olives - OMG YUM! The olives varied from mild to spicy marinated. They had their pits which meant they had tons of flavor! I loved nibbling on these and they are a great way to whet your appetite!
- Fried Artichoke Hearts - Need I say more? They came out fresh from the fryer and perfectly golden and crunchy! Oh and they were very very hot! I had fried artichokes in Rome and these were just as good! I adored the aioli that came with! I popped these in my mouth like popcorn. They were seriously that good! Sweet, crunchy, rich. Yum
- Shrimp in a Spicy Garlic Sauce - By far my favorite appetizer! The shrimp were huge and succulent! The spicy tomato sauce they were cooked in added just the right amount of garlic and acidity to the dish! It was well balanced and oh so delish!
Pizzas
- Mare Chiaro - This is the pizza I ate! It was covered in shrimp, clams and calamari! It was SO GOOD! The seafood was very delicate but not overpowered by the marinara sauce or mild mozzarella cheese! The dough was crisp but chewy, just how I like it! I added some of their chili oil to the pizza which made the whole thing pop! It was like eating a Fra Diavolo pasta...but as a pizza instead!
- Parma- AJ got the Parma which is covered with arugula, mozzarella and prosciutto. I don't eat meat so I tasted a bite from a piece with no prosciutto on it! I really liked the taste of arugula on pizza! Very refreshing! Who knew? AJ loved this pizza!
Desserts
- Apple Tarte Tatin - Tarte Tatin (besides bananas foster) is my fave dessert of all time! This one is just as good as I expect from a Tarte Tatin! Caramely apple goodness!
- Butterscotch Pudding - This was heavenly but oh so rich! It was like eating caramel and butter and fat with a spoon! Nothing wrong with that! But glad it was shared with three other people or I probably would've died right there!
- Chocolate Hazelnut Pannacotta - This tasted to me more like a pudding than a true pannacotta. No matter, though, it was divine! It tasted like nutella but as a pudding! Can't go wrong with that!
As you can tell I LOVED Olio and can't wait to go back! Who's with me?
One weekend. In Santa Barbara. With six sexy women.Yep, I had a fabulous weekend! How about you?Here is a little tiny tease of what went down at my boudoir party.....stay tuned for more!
I've shared with you how I DIY'd chevron curtains and made a Linear Chandelier! And now I have one more home improvement project to share, which is really cool! It's a step by step how to for a DIY closet door update! If you have any chintzy mirrored closet doors in your place you will love this easy chic project!I wasn't a fan of the mirrored closet doors that came with all the bedrooms in our place. They have no charm and they have a horrible brass trim which to me looks so very 90's. But I assumed (incorrectly) a fix or new door would be expensive. The ladies of Madison Modern Home suggested I cover the mirrored doors in my office with grasscloth and repaint the trim for a fresh look! I was smitten with the idea and kinda amazed it was doable! They sent me this link on how to do it-- http://blog.californialivinhome.com/2012/02/our-little-remodel-mirrored-closet.html --which was very inspirational, though we did end up doing things a bit differently.Here's a hint of how the doors looked before:
Materials
- Grasscloth Wallpaper (we used THIS)
- wall paper primer
- heavy duty wall paper paste
- wallpaper squeegee
- Xacto knife
- spray paint for metal
First ... We took the mirrored doors off the track and took them outside. We taped off/covered the mirror area and just spray painted the brass trim a white color. We also spray painted the top of the track for the doors in my office!Second... We went down to our local Wallpaper store, Goleta Valley Paint, and they didn't have any vinyl on vinyl paste like my instructions suggested. Instead they suggested using a wallpaper primer to paint over the mirror to make it more textured/rough so the paste has something to grip. They also suggested a heavy duty wall paper paste. So that's what we ended up using!Third... We painted the primer on the mirrors just as if it were paint. It went on easy and dried quickly!!!Fourth... Once the primer dried, it was time to apply the wallpaper! Cut the wallpaper to be a few inches longer than the length of your door. This is the piece you will work with! We used a paint roller to roll the heavy duty wall paper paste onto the BACK of the grasscloth as well as onto the mirror directly. We then laid down the paper and pressed (with the squeegee) from the center to the edges to make sure it was smooth and flat. On grasscloth always go side to side, never top to bottom!!!Fifth... The Wallpaper was about 4 inches wider than our door, which means the excess paper had to be trimmed! We went around the edges with a ruler and an Xacto knife to trim straight edges! The great thing about the texture of the grasscloth is it hides mess ups and imperfections quite well!Once you're done, give it a few minutes to dry (I found that it dried VERY quickly) and then hang them back up! Here's my finished project!
Ta-da! The project cost me about $125 for the two doors! I plan on doing this to all the other closet doors in our condo! It's such an easy, cheap fix and adds so much WOW factor!Hope you found this post helpful and inspiring! xo, Ash
Thanks everyone for your sweet comments, facebook messages and emails about our new place! I've heard from a lot of people that they want to know how I made the Chevron Curtains and I am happy to share! Below is my How To post on my Chevron DIY!I really can't take much credit for this project, as it was inspired by a photo I found on Pinterest. I then googled "DIY Chevron Curtains" and found a bunch of helpful links which inspired and instructed me on the entire project. The links are as follows:http://craftiliciousness.blogspot.com/2011/06/panels-part-ii.htmlhttp://thehuntedinterior.blogspot.com/2011/12/hot-trend-of-2011-chevron.htmlhttp://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/how-to/how-to-make-perfect-chevron-stripes-every-time-139609http://kfddesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/chevron-curtain-diy.html (this link was the one I found the MOST helpful)http://www.greenyourdecor.com/8209/chevron-curtain-tutorial/Materials Needed
- Curtains in Cotton or Linen
- Latex Wall Paint
- Small Paint roller and tray
- Blue Painter's Tape
For me, step one was picking out the curtains. I agonized at Ikea for seriously 30 minutes! There are a lot of similar options at Ikea that will all work well for the project with different price points. I couldn't really understand what the difference truly was or which one would look better. I ended up choosing the Merete Pair of Curtains in Bleached White and they worked PERFECTLY! I am really glad I chose them! They are so affordable too, at $25 for a pair. I needed 6 panels for my room, so I bought 3 packs. $75 for 6 curtain panels is not bad at all considering that the West Elm panels I bought for my office were nearly $75 PER PANEL! I also love that the Ikea curtains are extra long, because I wanted to hang them at ceiling height to make the room look taller and the windows look even bigger. My mother in law was able to hem the panels, before we painted, so they were the exact right length!
Step two is buying the paint! My mother in law and I went back and forth on what would be the best way to paint these. She was thinking a fabric paint would be best because she worried regular wall paint would make the curtains look crunchy. BUT all the DIY instructions I read had suggested wall paint. So that's what I decided we should do. I am happy to report that the curtains really aren't crunchy or too stiff, even with wall paint on them! We bought the black latex wall paint at a home improvement store on sale, $25 for a gallon. With 6 panels, we nearly used the full gallon!Step three is the hard part. DOING THE MATH! Yep it turns out chevrons are very mathematical and to make each panel the same you are going to need to figure out some measurements. Unfortunately so much of the measurements are dependent upon the width and length of your panels, and your personal taste... so any measurements we found online didn't work! The basics that I remember of what we decided on was that each Chevron would be 14" wide and that from the high point to the low point of the chevron was 18". The measuring and taping was a real pain in the butt. There is pretty much no way to sugar coat it. That is the point in the project where you may want to quit, or kill yourself or go pay one million dollars for a designer curtain in a fancy store! But don't give up! You will get through it... or rope someone else in to help you. Like I did. Thanks to Sharon, my mother in law, for crawling on the floor taping and measuring! I would have gone insane without her!
Step four is the fun part! Painting! Once we had the chevrons all taped off we got to work on painting! One tip is to press hard on all your tape lines to make sure you will get a clean and even edge. Secondly, I did two coats of paint because I thought it looked better more even. Make sure to pull the tape off the panels when they are still a wee bit damp! And then hang them up!And then you're done! Woohoo!!
Here are some additional tips/thoughts on the project:
- Enlist help! This project is fairly easy, but it is a whole lot easier and quicker if you have help! Try to do this with some one and you will enjoy it so much more!
- Unless you are only doing 2 panels, don't expect to be done in one day. With 6 panels to do, the project took us about 4 or 5 days from taping to painting!
- Expect to play around with the measurements and placement of your first chevron on your first panel. It took us 3 tries to get it how we liked it. But once we figured it out we were able to apply the same measurements to each panel!
Hope this post has been helpful and inspirational!!!! Xoxoxoxo
I am SO excited to finally share pics of my new home! The decorating process as been a long one! And one I could NOT have done without the help of my talented friend Rachel, and her mother Robin, the fabulous designers of Madison Modern Home ...and also the help of my in-laws!I hired Rachel and her mom to design and style my living room/dining room and home office. I knew I wanted to be really involved in the process and DIY a bunch of stuff, but at the same time I needed guidance and some help reigning in my ideas! Rachel did just that! She looked at my pinterest and evaluated my space and helped pull together a moodboard for me, complete with paint colors and items to buy/diy! Then the hard labor came in... me + my in-laws took on a bunch of projects from painting the walls and cabinets, to switching out light fixtures, DIYing a linear chandelier, repainting some furniture, sewing new slipcovers for our tired dining chairs (that was all my mother-in-law), DIYing new closet doors, and DIYing Chevron curtains (more on that later)! The shopping was clearly the easy part! ;) But honestly, it felt so good to put in the work to our home. It really makes it your own when you put your sweat in it! ;)With our projects and shopping complete, it was time for Rachel and Robin to come back to our place and style/decorate everything! This is the part that amazes me! It's all about the little details and the arranging of pieces. I am working on getting better at styling but honestly it can be frustrating for me. I am a person who seems to create clutter wherever I go in my home, so to really step back, streamline and rearrange is a challenge! I was VERY thankful to be able to leave the finishing touches to the experts!The other great thing is that Rachel was able to take a lot of the antique and vintage pieces that I inherited from my grandparents and put them throughout our home. It is because of my grandparents that we had the down payment for the home, for which I will always be so thankful. It feels very special to have their cherished antiques and decorative items in our own home. I know my grandma would love it!Having a home I could be proud of has been a LONG time coming. It is literally a dream come true. I have always envied other photographers who met clients in their homes, and were able to show their clients beautiful walls of canvas and print displays. I wished, hoped, and prayed that one day I could have a space that not only I'd be proud to show clients, but that my clients would find comfy, helpful and educational! I am excited to begin taking meetings in my home, and thankful I have a comfy, cozy, stylish atmosphere to really show my potential clients who I am and what I have to offer them. Having a office with a gallery wall allows me to show clients the different print options, and exactly why having your pictures live beyond the digital realm is so important! So... that was a long fancy way of explaining that from now forth all client meetings will take place in my home/home studio in Santa Barbara, CA!And now without further ado..PICTURES!
I LOVE the plate wall, which mixes plates my grandparents had collected from around the world with a few vintage pieces that Rachel brought! :) Oh, and that is also my grandparents antique banjo barometer!
There are no words to describe how in love I am with my DIY crystal chandelier and DIY chevron curtains!
On the left - our adorable sitting area with painted side table! And on the right - a detail of our bookshelves, which are from Ikea. Rachel added a faux bois wallpaper backing to give them a little more personality and add a masculine touch to the room!
I am obsessed with our chair (the Cute as a Button Erin from World Market) and the chevron pillow made by Little House Frau. Rachel added an organic touch with this real bird's nest and decorative eggs inside this glass dome!
LOVE this vignette on the coffee table (which is from World Market by the way).
The living room!
Without a doubt my favorite area of the room is my silhouette wall! My grandma had silhouettes of herself, my dad and me as a kid. I love the family tradition. I added to it by ordering some from Esty, and had one made of me, AJ and our 2 cats! It's a little family tree. Hopefully we can add to this wall some day! I also adore the lamp which is from Urban Home...and the decanter, which is vintage Baccarat, inherited from my grandparents.
The antique desk and chair were also from my grandparents...antique finds which they brought home from a trip to England! The table and chair are so meaningful to me because I remember it being in their home and the stories they'd tell me about bringing it back from London. My mother-in-law recovered the cushion though since the old fabric was worn out. Voila, so antique and so modern all at once!
Cute vignettes...
The living room couch and pillows on the couch are courtesy of my favorite store EVER... West Elm! The throws are from Ikea.
And now for my home studio!!!!! I adore the gallery wall of my work... a nice mix of matted + framed prints and canvas gallery wraps! The desk is from Target, the chair is Ikea and the lamp is an antique (again, from my grandparents)!
I LOVE this little window bench... but my cats love it even more! The curtains are West Elm!
We DIY'd those closet doors (more on that in another post) and the other wall houses all my work stuff! The best thing is that there is enough room in here to set up a back drop for shoots if need be! It truly is my mini home studio!
I totally underestimated how inspiring it is to work surrounded by my favorite photos and magazine features! It pushes me to take it to the next level!
Voila! My home! We still need to decorate the master bedroom, the guest bath and the third bedroom, but this is quite the start! I can't wait for you to come see it! :)Credits:Design - Madison Modern Home http://madisonmodernhome.com/Furniture and Accessories - Ikea, West Elm, World Market, Urban Home, Target, Pampa, Little House FrauSilhouettes - Aeryck De SadePaint Colors: Dunn Edwards: "Foil" (gray for living room), "Citron" (accent wall in living room), "Prime Pink" (home studio)Everything Else - DIY'd by me or Antique/Vintage
Tangerine is THE color for 2012. And I have to say I adore it. It's so me. I've always leaned toward the red, pinky, orangey bright hues. And tangerine is so hot and joyful how could you not love it? This Kate Spade necklace is TO DIE FOR. It is a statement piece and a great way to add a pop of tangerine to any outfit. In fact...I would LOVE to see this necklace paired with the ultimate outfit. A wedding gown. Yep, brides, think of how stunning you'd be in your white strapless or V-necked gown with this collar on...maybe even paint your nails to match and pair with these tangerine Kate Spade shoes?? KILLER. Seriously, one of y'all has to take me up on this styling advice because it's HOT. ;)
I am IN LOVE, I mean INNNN LOVEEEEEEEEE with this Tory Burch bag!!! I adore it so much because it can be worn 3 ways! One way, as shown, crossbody. Another way it can be worn it with the fold straight up, more like a slouchy casual day bag. And finally it can be worn folded as shown but without the crossbody strap...so you'd hold it like a clutch!! Is that fabulous or is that fabulous?? I love this bag so much and if I achieve my 2012 business goals this year, it will be my reward!!!! I really hope I can make it work this year because... I need this bag! Man, I love Tory Burch. That classy, stylin' lady thinks of everything! <3
I absolutely adore boudoir photography. I am so so passionate about this art form because I have seen the real ways it changes lives. Every single lovely woman I have photographed comes into the session nervous and not fully confident in her sexiness. She knows she's got a fire in there...but she's too afraid to let it burn. We as women have so much we face, so many images and ideals we're bombarded with. It's easy to be afraid that we're not enough. It's easy to be scared to just let go. But what blows my mind is that every single client is able to just let go in front of my camera... and this little sassy vixen comes out. And by the end of the session a new confident woman stands before me! It's inspiring to see such transformations.So I always wonder why there are so many women still on the fence about boudoir photography?Maybe it is because there are so many myths about the art form floating around... I'd like to debunk 5 boudoir myths right here, right now.
Boudoir Photography is for brides only.
It is true that boudoir photography is a common thing for brides to do right before the big day, and that the photos make a great wedding night gift. And, yes, because I work also as a wedding photographer many of my boudoir clients are also brides. But the real truth is that boudoir is not simply for brides! It's for women of all ages! I have had many clients who are already married or in committed long term relationships and give these pics for anniversary, birthday or holiday gifts. I also get a lot of moms and older women who want to do a shoot! It's never too late to do boudoir!
Ok...well then Boudoir Photography is for women with a significant other. If you're single there is no point.
ABSOLUTELY NOT. More than anything, I believe that boudoir photography is a gift to yourself. It is also an investment you make in yourself, much like a spa day or any other pampering experience. It is a way of pushing your limits, going out of your comfort zone so that you can grow and discover parts of yourself you never knew you had in you. It's celebrating who you are in this exact moment of your life and owning it. I have a lot of women who do these sessions because they are at a crossroads in life or have just gone through a major transition. And the session is all about embracing all that you are and CELEBRATING it. Loving yourself. Seeing yourself in a new way. If you want to feel sexy, loved, empowered, confident then boudoir is for you.
Boudoir Photography is only for women who are skinny, fit and completely comfortable in their bodies and in front of the camera. Basically, women who do these sessions look like models.
NOPE. Most women who book a session are just regular women. They are BEAUTIFUL. But they are not perfect women with perfect model-like bodies. The truth is, even models don't look like models since so many of the images we see are so highly retouched. But that's not the point. The point is every woman who comes to me says the same thing "I am not photogenic. You're gonna have your hands full with me because I'm not as pretty as the other women you work with." But what they don't understand is that's how everyone feels. It is my job to pose you in a way that flatters you. To light you in a way that flatters you. To bring out your personality and emotions. To shoot you from flattering angles using the right lenses. That's my job! Your job is to show up, be present, and push yourself even if you're a little nervous. I work with women of ALL shapes and sizes. It's not your shape or size I am interested in. I am interested in making you look and feel like the most confident, beautiful woman on Earth. So don't worry if you don't think you have the right body type for the shoot. Worry doesn't get you anywhere. But going out of your comfort zone always leads to something beautiful.
Boudoir Photography is cheesy and/or tacky.
Back in the 80's, yes, boudoir photography was pretty cheesy and tacky. And maybe you've stumbled upon a few sites where the photography feels a little cheap, trashy or yes even dated/tacky. There's styles out there for all different tastes it's true. But what I am in LOVE with is modern boudoir. Tasteful, classic, glamorous. When I shoot a session, I'm being inspired by the client but also by fine art, cinema, and fashion photography. It's the art I look to for inspiration that leads to the fresh, clean, crisp, vibrant photos I am known for. I also get inspired so much by the props and outfits my clients wear. I love demure, vintage but I also LOVE bold, edgy, in your face. A little burlesque. A little vixen. To get a better idea of my style and what makes me scream "OOOH LOVE," you should follow me on Pinterest.
Boudoir Photography could be dangerous...being photographed in the buff with someone I don't know? Eek!
I totally understand the worry and fear that can accompany boudoir. Which is why it is so important to me to give my clients a safe, secure, female only environment for the session. First, I always get to know you before the session by having a phone consultation, chatting through email, and following each other on Pinterest and Facebook. Second, I always ask that you bring a girl friend with you to the session. I think it helps you to feel safe and secure. Third, I always work with an all female hair and make up team. Again, I just want the session to be a comfortable place. And I know for myself, I would just not be comfy in my skivvies with a man who's not my husband! So I wouldn't want to put my clients in any situation I myself wouldn't be comfy with. ;) I totally understand the concerns, but I do think if you can get to know your photographer before the shoot and also bring a trusted female friend with you, you will know you are in safe hands!
Well... there it is... five boudoir myths debunked... feeling better about the whole thing now? Good!I thought so!And now, I have a big announcement that I am SO excited about!
On March 16, 17, and 18 I will be holding a Boudoir Party in Santa Barbara!
I can't think of a more fun place to have the ultimate girls day, pampering experience then in my new hometown, and resort town, Santa Barbara CA! Come up for the day, spend the weekend, or perhaps if you're a local just try something new! I promise it will be the best flirty good time you've ever had.
Spaces are filling up fast as I announced this on my facebook page last week!
Please email me at info@ashleightaylorphotography.com for more details!
xo,
Ashleigh
FEELING INSPIRED? Contact Ashleigh | View More Of Her Online Portfolio | Follow Ashleigh on Twitter | Become a Fan on Facebook | Stalk on Pinterest
I ADORE this tufted chair from World Market! It is beyyyyyyond adorable! I love tufted furniture in general...but this one is extra cute because it has little colorful buttons on it! Each button is different...and each chair has different buttons! How cute is that? I loved this chair so much I bought it for my new home! And it looks oh so perfect! I almost want another one so we would have a pair...but I don't think there is room. Boo. Still it's truly cute as button right? If you want one, you can get one here!
To be quite honest, I never even heard of Christa Meola before last weekend. But because I really enjoy boudoir sessions and do a good amount of sexy b-shoots each year, I figured I should tune in when I got a notice from CreativeLive saying they had a special Boudoir Photography Workshop airing just in time for Valentine's Day. And Ohhhhh Mannnnnnn am I glad I did! Because it! was! amazing!
My first impression of Christa was that she was my kind of gal. Not too conservative. She has a vivacious, carefree attitude. She has colorful language (yep, the second she accidentally used a curse word I knew we could be homies)! But more importantly she's all about female empowerment. Hello, I'm hooked.
Then I checked out her work and I ADORE it. Very editorial. Very bold. Very saucy. Yes.
I ended up buying the download of the 3 day workshop because I had a few other things going on so I couldn't watch the whole thing live. But from what I've already seen...I was so impressed! She talked lighting, business, making boudoir the ultimate spa-like, pampering experience... which I SO agree with! And she also demo'd a LOT of shooting in all types of situations and body types. I loved watching her shoot and do her thang! And not to toot my own horn, but I was very pleased when she explained how she poses and directs her clients because that's exactly how I do it! And I never went to a boudoir workshop before or had seen anyone else shoot boudoir except during my own sesh with my boudoir photographer!I walked away from thee live online course with so much more knowledge about how to make my boudoir pictures better, but more so how to give my clients an even better boudoir experience......And I walked away INSPIRED.So just so you know, I am going to be starting a separate boudoir blog-site soon. And I'll be having a HOT marathon session here in Santa Barbara for a HOT PRICE... in March... Details to be posted soon, but contact me now if you are interested :)