I keep true to my promises. I wanted to document my experience being photographed boudoir style to prove that a great photographer, proper lighting and posing and professional hair and makeup are essential for making you look and feel your best during a glamour/boudoir shoot. I am not an easy person to photograph. My assistant Jaime Ramaglia took these photos of me to help me practice posing and to document what I hope are photographs that will show you how slight changes can make you look your best while being photographed in an intimate setting. She is not a boudoir specialist—yet, but was willing to do this for me to help document this project. A challenge for sure and she certainly rose to it. I need to be shot in a certain light at certain angles. I feel like Barbra Streisand when I say that, but it’s true. And when you hire me to do that for you, I will most definitely know how to photograph you in the best light possible. That’s my job, that’s what makes me an expert in my field, and that’s what I do best. I study photographs, practice posing and train to be sure that I can do what I say I can. But I can tell you how great I can make you look and promise you the moon and stars, but until you do it yourself, you will not understand what makes a photographer great at what they do. I will warn you now, these will not be the most flattering photographs of me. I did this purposely to show you all that you are beautiful just as you are, the weight you are, the age you are, all of your imperfections and flaws. You will see that shifting an arm or moving the camera angle slightly can make you look thinner and more flattering.
I don’t like being photographed. I prefer doing the picture taking. But, it is essential. I would have no memories if I chose to avoid the camera all of the time. I need photographs of me with my daughter and with my boyfriend and yes, of me professionally. I need to be videotaped and documented as that’s how I grow my business. I am more insecure than the average woman, but when photographed I have to dig deep into my soul and let my confident self shine. These kinds of photographs require confidence. When a woman feels and looks beautiful, the inner beauty just shines in a way I cannot even describe in words…but it’s part of the transformation. It’s magical to watch. Typically a woman shows up in sweats and no makeup nervous as hell. She typically warns me of her fat thighs, double chin and large nose. And then she’s off to get her hair and makeup done and something wonderful happens. She relaxes, and smiles, and sees herself like she has never seen herself before. She slips on something sexy and gorgeous and she is transformed into a goddess; it was always there, but it was never released. Once I start photographing, she typically relaxes after a few minutes when she realizes that I am not making her butt look big or her thighs larger. And finally she can embrace her beauty, and have fun. And the photos show a confident , sexy woman. Doing this for women is so gratifying to me. When I have a bad day I look at mine and I realize that I am capable of looking just as beautiful as a celebrity (albeit after 90 minutes of hair and makeup) But I love knowing what my potential is. I love doing this for women of all shapes and sizes and that’s why I’m willing to show you my outtakes, if you will. Hopefully after seeing this you will understand that I know where your nerves come from, I know how insecure you feel, and I know how gorgeous and sexy you will feel after. It’s the best feeling and I am honored to help you.
All photos were taken by Jaime Ramaglia and my hair and makeup were done by Maria Miliotis of Faceworks International.
Ok you can easily see here how shifting my body and changing the lighting made the final product so much better. The first one I was turned too much to the side and looked about as big as a boat. So we faced forward more in the second one, but the light was still not right and my arms didn’t give a good enough definition of my curves and it still didn’t show me in the most flattering light. Just the angle of the hand on my hip and the right light, we got a lovely shot for the third one. Let’s just say it took about 35 images to get the one winner.
Ok so we tried to hide all of my not so great parts with a sheet. As you can see in the first two, shooting vertical did nothing for me but make me look like the Stay Puft marshmallow man. I looked wide and too much like I was trying to hide something and that’s not sexy at all. The angles of my arms were not flattering as i was actually trying to hold up the sheet so I couldn’t get a flattering arm angle. In the second one we realized we needed more skin and less sheet, but it still didn’t work. So we changed things up. Lying down kept me more comfortable and the pose looked more natural; like I just happen to be in the bed all wrapped up like a Greek Goddess. FYI, none of these photos are even photoshopped. Just the final product is color corrected but I have not removed anything unflattering. I’m keeping it as real as possible. I would touch up my arms a bit if I was handing this to a paying client, but I want you to all see the real product with just a change in light and pose.
Now onto what we DO like. These photos are done well because the angle is flattering as is the black and white processing. My photographer angled the camera to hide the not so great parts of my body but kept in the parts I do like. Again, I really haven’t photo shopped this so there are little things I would touch up on my arms and legs to make it more perfect, but I wanted to show what basic angles, lighting and minor processing can do here before getting too crazy post processing.
I think this is such a pretty moment. It’s almost perfect, but I had to include it anyway. I wish my arm was adjusted to see more of my waist, but the tight cropping on the right side leaned me out so it made up for the fact my arm isn’t exactly as I would like it to be. Plus, and more importantly, I think the moment and expression are so pretty that how could you not include it.
This angle is universally flattering as it flattens the stomach and elongates the neck. The expression is pretty good as are my hands, nice and feminine.
Again, on the stomach is universally flattering so looking for a great expression and nice light. I love how dramatic this feels.
I had to add one with a smile, We think of boudoir as sultry and not a place for a smile, but this is such a natural smile of mine and a great moment, I’m hardly noticing how I’d love to photo shop my arms just a tad.
I hope this little glimpse into how a boudoir shoot really happens gives you the confidence that I can work with REAL women, and not just 20 somethings with perfect figures. As you can see from this photo, hair and makeup are just the beginning of that transformation. After getting glammed up, that’s when I felt beautiful and confident and I was able to be photographed like this comfortably. I look forward to bringing out YOUR Inner Diva!