Celebrating her Beauty with a Photoshoot

Celebrating 20 years of life

Celebrating her body and her confidence

   Twenty. 20.
   It's a number that's all of exciting, terrifying, and validating. Turning 20 releases you from your teens, springs you into pure adulthood, but also still leaves you young.
   This is Brooke on THE DAY she turned 20.
   I met Brooke a couple of years ago. She messaged me saying she loved to model and wanted to build her portfolio with me, so she booked a shoot and together we did a stunning night shoot and artistic / vintage indoor shoot.
   When she got a hold of me earlier last year saying she wanted to do ANOTHER shoot, I was SO excited! I LOVE working with out of the box people. Since the last shoot she moved to Grand Rapids, so we did all of our meetings over facebook messanger video chat.
   The thing I remember most from that conversation was her saying, "I'm so excited. I just really need a day like this, for me." It stuck out to me because the experience of her getting photographed was just as exciting to her as the portraits she was going to be getting back, which is pretty much my goal. To gift an experience, memoriesAND beautiful portraits that will outlive you.
  It was the morning of, waking up with no stress because hair and makeup was going to be totally taken care of for her, showing up here with her boyfriend and us just cranking the music, having a dance party, and photographing her and how amazing she looked while doing it. It was the custom set we built for her and then encircling her with greens, tule, and fog from dry ice to make her look like a mystical princess. It was ALL of that that made the day great.
   When she came back to the studio for her viewing she then told me about her deeper reason for doing this... that at age 20 she finally felt comfortable and extremely confident in her body and her skin, and she wanted to celebrate that for herself. I don't know if you've ever read MY blog / self portrait session on this EXACT subject, but THAT is what makes me tick, THAT is what makes me get up in the morning- when women STOP saying sorry, STOP being shy, and embrace who they are, are proud of who they are, and they live life and feel good for THEM, and no one else.
   For her viewing she brought her mom, which after you view the rest of her portraits below you can imagine how hard it was for her to see her baby girl all grown up, and she asked, who are you going to show these to? To which Brooke replied- MYSELF! I did this for myself, I just want to look at ME- LOOK AT ME! AH! To know that her and I could work together to give her that moment makes me know I'm where I should be.
   Ladies- You deserve to know what that feels like. Allow Brooke to inspire you and do something great for yourself, so you have images to look back on when you're 60 from when you turned 20 and can say- Damn. That's ME. LOOK AT ME! And I've only gotten better from that day forward. Start a Revolution for yourself! 

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And you MUST watch Brooke's short film we put together for her of the whole experience!

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View Our Full Beauty Gallery!

For more high fashion beauty check out Jen's Beautiful Session!

Like Brooke's session? Check out her other unique photo shoot here!

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The Easiest yet most Alluring Boudoir Session you'll ever do!

If you're under the impression that I am a little sexpot then we've clearly never met in person.
I enjoy combat boots, beer, and goofy behavior. I feel foreign in heels, I freak out when my dress is too short, and you can constantly see my underwear lines through my yoga pants because I just really hate thongs.

I am not your typical boudoir client.

But.

Boudoir intrigues me. The emotion keeps me coming back for more.
The way dark shadows and sultry highlights play on the skin. The way curves, muscles, bones, and the human body as a whole looks when properly photographed. The way motion and expression can evoke a feeling. THAT'S what I'm obsessed with.

A couple of years ago I asked women to give society the middle finger, where I wrote a blog and did a few self portraits that you can see here about beauty standards of today.

This is my updated version of that with a twist.

And if I can do this, then damn it, you can too.

But there's something you need to know about this shoot.

First off- half of these images you see here I'm in a big, ugly sweater and pj pants. Yes. Go back and look. You can see the high neck of the sweater in some of the shots.
The second half I'm just in a tank that was under my sweater, which you can also see in some of the shots.
And yes, I shot it all selfie style, sitting Indian style on my sunroom floor with a book shelf in the background.

So if your brain is stuck on lingerie, elaborate beds, and being naked for boudoir- you need to realize it's not about how much of you that you bare to the camera.

It's about the light, the emotion, it's about you in the simplest form. That's what sexy is.

Give me 1 room, 1 girl, 1 window and not even 1 hour or 1 outfit and I will evoke something out of you that you didn't even know you had hiding in you to begin with. Or maybe you did and you were just too scared to let it out. 

This is your opportunity to let it out.

Beauty. Rawness. That edge you feel when you look into the bathroom mirror and begin to sing and dance in your underwear, after a shower, with wet hair into your hairbrush to your favorite song like you're in a music video starring you. 

Yeah. That moment. Let's capture it and make it yours. Make it Natural. Make it beautiful.
 

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For those of you who are still unconvinced that this isn't possible for you.... here's a selfie less 1 minute after my "shoot" with myself.
Same spot, same hair, same clothes.
Different expression, different light, different angle.
It's seriously this easy.

I know what looks good, I know what to ask you to do. I know the angles, I know light.
I specialize in making women of all ages look and feel amazing. Let me worry about that part and you just worry about showing up for yourself.

I don't need you to be anything you aren't.
I just need you to be present in this life you're living and allow me to capture that for you.

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Contact me here to book your own beauty or boudoir shoot, or just to simply ask questions and chat about the process!

See more Beauty / Boudoir Galleries here.

See what other personal projects I've done here.

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Senior Session- 1 amazing teen with 6 different personalities

A senior session with diamonds and guns, mud and dresses.

   It makes me happy when I meet a girl who can push boundaries but not be afraid to give back. A girl who can wear diamonds well, but doesn’t freak out when she falls in mud. A girl who can look like a lady in an evening gown but can out shoot the boys in the woods.
   That’s Tiffany- exactly.
   Not to make me sound old, but she’s a reminder to me that there’s still girls out there that are going to grow up and lead this world and make it a better place. There’s still girls out there that people can be proud of.
   Her shoot took us 2 different days to complete due to the fact we went from spinning in circles in a brand new prom dress in front of a handmade backdrop I had made, to grabbing guns and boots and hiking down the muddiest hill I’ve ever seen! We also grabbed amazing coffee in Croswell and climbed around some old buildings in Goodells. We were literally all over the place!    I LOVE shoots like these. Because shoots like these aren’t really shoots. They turn in to fun days of exploring with new friends.
   Check out what we did on our little adventures together:

(OH! And scroll down to the bottom to see what everything thing looks like behind the scenes on BOTH days of our shoot!)

There are so many looks to this session if you love the glamorous prom dress outfit check out Janelle's Senior Photoshoot!

For a more outdoor country feel check out Tayler's senior session!

Check out our full Senior Gallery

Check out our behind the Scenes video too of BOTH days we shot!

Seeing the Beauty of Birth through a Fine Art Maternity Session

A Fine Art Maternity Session

The Beauty and Magic of The Baby Bump

   4 years ago I did a shoot at Paul Mitchell Great Lakes. There was an extremely talented young woman there who had brought her sister in to model her hair cut and color. It was one of my favorites I had captured all day.
   Less than a year later we got to work with each other again. She was entering a contest and had me photograph two more models for her, showing off her talented and unique work.
   And now here we are. Creating beauty together again like you wouldn’t believe!
   Now a proud mama of a beautiful baby girl, Larisha sent me a message a few months back asking about a maternity session for her and her boyfriend, and showed me some examples of what she liked.
   Dark, moody, raw.
   If that doesn't’ just explain everything I love.
   It’s amazing what you can do with two people, 1 backdrop, the right lighting, and a vision.
   The way I see it- this is Fine Art. This is Beauty, elevated. This is real life, made to look as magical as it feels.

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View Our full Family Gallery

For more of a spring look, check out Claudia's Maternity Photoshoot!

For a beautiful Winter Maternity Shoot Check out Syme's Session!

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Port Huron, Michigan Maternity Photographer