Unfortunately since I announce the giveaway the FDA has stepped in and said 23 and Me can no longer provide the health info only genealogy. The winner will be contacted. If they are no longer interested in the giveaway because of this change a second winner will be selected. I do apologize for this change in the prize but we can’t argue with the Feds right!
Now back to Chasing Joy Getting Naked!!!
Ok, so maybe I didn’t really get naked. But I did take off my clothes!!! Way back in the early days of this blog I came up with a list of things that I was interested in doing to keep me occupied and avoid letting boredom steal my joy. Most of the things on the list were pretty ordinary, things like take a ballet class, help someone, dye my hair etc... There was one thing on the list that was quite a bit more risqué. It involved me stepping way out of my comfort zone and even my clothing. It was to take a boudoir photo.
Almost 3 full years after adding it to the list I did it!!!! It took almost 3 years because I was afraid. First I had to come to terms with my body. I am not a thin or petite girl. I knew if I did not learn to love and accept my body for what it was I would not enjoy taking the photos or like them when they were done. While I cannot say that I love my body I have reached a level of acceptance where I knew I was ready. I reached that point around my 33rd Birthday. I even told my co-worker friend that I thought 33 seemed like the perfect age to do my boudoir photos.
The next big obstacle I had to get over was the idea of being very close to naked in front of a stranger. Now I am not a prude. I have no problem changing at the gym in the normal changing area as opposed to hiding in a stall. I wear bathing suits without a cover up. I even walk around my apartment naked pretty often. But to put on sexy lingerie in front of someone and strike a sexy pose just felt terrifying. Its one thing to put on lingerie to help you feel sexy for your significant other who you are fairly certain will love it. It is a completely different story to put it on and try to look sexy for the camera.
Then one day I was on FB and I saw this photo by my bloggy friend LaShawn AKA @RosesDaughter from her blog.
Photo by LaShawn Wiltz Photography
It is such a beautiful photo!!!! I loved the yellow. I thought about when I met LaShawn at my first Blogalicious Conference and how I have watched her photography get better and better over the last two years. The light bulb went on and I thought I want her to do my boudoir photos. I trust her to take good photos of me and I trust her to have them in her possession. The only problem is she was based in the Atlanta area and I am in Philly.Enter fate… It just so happened that this year Blogalicious 5 went back to its original home Atlanta where LaShawn is located. I reached out to LaShawn and, Yes!, we were both planning to attend the conference. I was nervous about asking her to do the photos. I’d seen her post tons of photos but none like what I wanted to do. We did not know each other well outside of sharing this blogging life. She might be just as uncomfortable with me being almost naked in front of her as I was at the thought of it. So to make sure we were on the same page I created a secrete Pinterest board of Boudoir Photo Inspirations (It’s notsecret anymore . View it here). I asked LaShawn to be my photographer and gave her access to the secrete Pinterest board so she’d know what I had in mind. She quickly agreed. We worked out her fee and the logistics and it was on!!!
Reason number 317 that Blogalicious is awesome: You get to do amazing things like Boudoir Photo Shoots with your Photographer Bloggy friend while at the conference!!!! While the other Blogalicous peeps were getting ready for the McDonalds 80’s party Lashawn and I were up in my room doing the photo shoot. She was great. I was so scared to do the shoot and she knew it (I probably told her I was nervous a million times). She humored me when I talked about having my cocktails before we got started. She made me feel comfortable by having a normal conversation with me (as though I were not in my undies) during the shoot. She did not rush me at all. I could tell she was having fun which made me relax even more. One of the things I really appreciated is she had done her homework. Not only had she looked at the Pinterest board she had done her own research and had a few poses in mind for me.
When it was all said and done I love love love my photos. Because these are not the kinds of photo’s you post on Facebook, Instagram or your blog for everyone to see. I put them into a photo book, easily accessible by me to be shared with close friends. I also had one made into a curved glass frame. These now reside in my bedroom on the bedside table.
I am so glad I did this. I found the entire experience to be both liberating and confidence building. If I am ever not feeling sexy I can look at my book and have proof that I am. Also I think it will be really really neat to have this book when I am like 80 years old. I will have proof that back in 2013 I had it going on.
Have you ever taken boudoir photos? Did you do it for yourself or give it as a gift to your significant others.? Would you ever consider taking sexy or nude photos? Why or why not?
If you are in the Atlanta area I highly recommend LaShawn Wiltz for your photography needs. You can see samples of her work on her blog http://lashawnwiltz.com and on Instagram. You can also find her on twitter @RosesDaughter and Facebook as LaShawn’s PhotoBlog. Please tell her you heard about her on Chasing Joy.