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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Port Huron High Senior Photoshoot with Janelle

Color Guard session on
Lake Huron at Sunrise

deadlifting weights has never looked so fab

See what it looks like to Experience an AJBC Senior Shoot in the video below.

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Thanks to this Port Huron High Senior, Color Guard is my new favorite sport. It probably does help that Janelle also does Power Lifting, so her fierce strength with the weights allows her to carelessly spin her flags in the air and make it look so magical. And believe me, seeing it in person early in the morning at sunrise on the shores of Lake Huron while the sun slowly reached over the clouds and bounced back on the water was truly peaceful and stunning. Look at the images, her skin is literally sparkling.  

   It was awesome to watch as Janelle transitioned from this soft, Color Guard Cinderella, to a beautiful 17 year old girl hanging out on a Fall day, to a strong, confident weight lifter, and ended on a grungy, sassy look hidden under an old train trestle track. She pulled off all looks perfectly.

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Check out more of our senior galleries

If you want to see more sessions on Lake Huron check out Mackenzie’s Senior Photoshoot

If you want to see more prom dress ideas check out Tiffany's senior shoot

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my body transformation

my weight loss story

how I transformed my body in record time

We as women can be really, really hard on ourselves.
And when we’re down on ourselves our confidence crumbles.
Another thing that crumbles is the way we hold ourselves, and the way we see ourselves.

I’m here to tell you, of all things, please, do not let your confidence crumble.

I’m here to tell you to start standing up for yourself.

And here’s an amazing example why.

We had just got done rock climbing at Grand Ledge, a sport that I fell in love with 10 years ago. I HATE working out. But this isn’t working out. It’s fun, it’s an adventure, it’s a challenge, and… ok… it’s one hell of a work out, but not in a “I feel like I want to die” way!

After kicking some butt we went out to dinner on the way home.  A lot of dinner. With a beer. Oh, and dessert. A whole banana split, just for me.

When we got home I went in the bathroom to put my pjs on. I was exhausted. I took my shirt off, turned, and looked in the mirror… and then noticed… it was like my body had changed over night. 

Why is the quality crappy? Because it was taken with my cell phone. 
Why would a professional photographer try to prove a point with a cellphone? 
Because we live in a world full of photoshop. I want to prove to you these images haven't been touched and they are in fact real. 

I knew right then and there things had to be different. This wasn’t me. This was not how I was used to my body looking. The image in front of me didn’t reflect how awesome I normally felt about my self.

That’s when I decided to make a change.

The image on the right shows the new me. Someone confident. Someone more aware. Someone willing to take care of their body.

So what did I do?

I stood up for myself.

No, really. Like… I stood up.
I fixed my posture.

Yeah. I’m serious. These images are actually just 2 minutes apart from each other.

I learned an amazing fun fact from Jeni Vincent Yoga about a year ago. Your body should always feel centered and your “cup” (or your hip bones) should never tilt or “spill.” Do it. Roll your shoulders back, raise your head, and finally tilt your hips so, if they were a cup, they can’t spill anything out, and watch as your body morphs in to a healthier version of you. And I’m not talking healthy as in skinny, I’m talking- your body is SO thankful that you just balanced it that it’s going to reward you with a better version and shape of you.

What you can’t see in the left image is how much my back is arching, and how much my tailbone is pointing out, due to me sitting editing hours on end. I actually stand just like this out of habit because it’s comfortable. But that’s REALLY pushing my stomach out. So guess what, that dinner, and beer, and banana split is all at the front of my body. My boobs look pathetic because my shoulders have completely fallen into my body, my chest is closed in and cut off from the world. My face looks round because my neck is nonexistent. And my face looks tired because I’m not feeling confident, which is showing through my eyes and expression.

Once I realized this, and kinda look in horror wondering if that banana split MAY have been an even WORSE idea then I already knew it was, I stood up, for myself, and took a deep breath. Instantly my body felt more energized, and I obviously looked better, not because I was thinner, but because my body just clearly looked happier. 

Being centered is a HUGE deal in life. If you’ve never taken a yoga class, I REALLY urge you to. And PLEASE do it with Jeni. She’s amazing.

These are also areas I focus on and tweak for you during a session. Learning tricks like these and posing women for years has allowed me to easily see your best angle, before you even get in them. So if you're feeling uncomfortable and unconfident in front of the camera, it's ok, I'm here to help you find that balance. Trust me, not only does it look great, it feels great! 

And remember- tell yourself you are strong and beautiful, and then stand up for yourself, with great confidence.

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Want to see more flattering tricks? Check out my blog on how to slim your face for photos in just a few easy steps.