I am a curvy woman

Being a curvier woman, a boudoir shoot wasn’t something I would have thought would be for me, I’d never done anything like it before and had never even considered doing, but when Marinas competition for bridal shoot popped up on my Facebook I thought Heck, why not, have to try everything once right? What could it hurt?

In saying that filling out the questionnaire really made me think about how I felt about myself, made me realise I really don’t enjoy the way my body is and I don’t have any particular traits that I can honestly say I enjoy. Then the question of location: bedroom or nature came up, this question made me really think, I came to the conclusion, go hard or go home! What’s more beautiful and freeing then nature? How exciting would it be to be able to go back to something so natural and freeing?

I press sent and didn’t think about it anymore until I received the email from Marina offering a call to discuss a shoot, and honestly, I got extremely excited and extremely nervous all in one. Talking with Marina on the phone she was extremely comforting and friendly really made me feel at ease, asking questions that really made me think about what I wanted from this experience and what I expected, and honestly even traveling to my choice of the shoot I still didn’t know what to expect.

I have to admit I really looked into Marina, her previous work, Facebook, Instagram, web pages everything, because I wanted to know who she was, what kind of work she did, and ensure she was truthful in her words, a week or so later we met for coffee, we chatted and got to know a bit about each other, Marina is extremely educated and an experienced photographer she’s very knowledgeable in beautiful areas and suggested a few depending on the photos I had mentioned I enjoyed whilst looking through her previous work. From that I came to the conclusion we would travel to Stanthorpe to this beautiful place with all these amazing rock formations.

It would be a two-day trip, evening and morning shoot, 3-hour drive from my home but figured it would be worth it! Traveling down my heart was beating like crazy and I felt like my stomach was filled with butterfly’s, how was it going to go? What were we going to do? Would someone walk by whilst I was naked? What would they say if anything?  What would the photos look like, and would I actually like them? I truly had no idea how to feel or what to think.

Meeting Marina at our agreed-upon destination, walking on the tracks, chatting I felt like I was catching up with an old friend, catching up with life, and experiences, it wasn’t as nerve-racking or strange as I thought. That’s when we got to the first area, and Marina asked if I was happy to start, surprisingly at this stage knowing what I was there for, knowing what I needed to do, getting undressed and positioning myself wasn’t weird, it didn’t feel uncomfortable, and it was a wave of relief. The hardest part was done, and it was AMAZING! Might be speaking for myself here but I had so much fun, it felt so natural but at the same time I for once in a fair while felt beautiful, like I belonged there, some positions where uncomfortable some made me laugh and some were comfortable I could have stayed there all day, but it was all well worth it.

One of the things Marina did during the shoot which I am forever grateful for was, I didn’t see the photos until she had gone home and looked through them, so not once through this experience did I look at the photos, did I have a chance to critique what I was doing, how I was positioned to hide what I believed to be my flaws. 

Driving home from the 2 day session I felt a renewed feeling of confidence, I felt revived and grateful for such an amazing experience I can say I would do again in a heartbeat, and will and have suggested to every person I have told about it, I’m proud of myself for doing something out of my comfort zone, but also so happy with the feelings I had about myself after it was all over and done with.

Seeing my images for the first time 2 weeks after the shoot I was absolutely gobsmacked in the beauty, how has someone managed to make my body look so amazing, and the surroundings were just unexplainable, I could have sat there for hours looking at the photos and could not be happier with the outcome.

To any person male or female planning or looking into a boudoir shoot all I can say in dive in, do it, don’t talk yourself out of it, I promise you won’t regret 1 second of the experience and will hopefully have a newfound appreciation of yourself as I did.