You Are Enough. Celebrating Being a Boudoir Photographer.

People often ask me why I’m a boudoir photographer, and I’ll be honest – sometimes, it is hard to put in to words. It is actually a deeply personal choice, one that has grown out of pain, frustration, feeling as though we as women and as moms are viewed as not enough.

Damn it. WE ARE ENOUGH. Just like we are. And my goal in life? My goal is to celebrate that through boudoir photography.

I’m a boudoir photographer because doing it reminds me daily that I am enough, too.

This is a message I want to spread far & wide. I don’t know how yet. I don’t have a plan. I just know I want to share it with the world. With every woman I meet. Every woman who tells me that they can’t do a boudoir session, at least not until they lose 20 lbs, get tone, or whatever the case may be.

We are loved for who we are TODAY. Right now. In the present. The woman you are today is who I want to document. Right now. (By the way, if you told me you could never do a boudoir session, sorry if I was a little over the top dramatic about why you CAN do it. I’m a little passionate about it.)

For the past 3 years, I’ve had the distinct honor of photographing TEDx Houston. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and is focused on ideas worth spreading. Speakers are given at most 18 minutes to share their ideas. Doesn’t matter who you are, 18 minutes. At first there was just one TED conference, and tickets were hard to come by and very limited. In recent years, they have decided to open up TED and create TEDx events. Local events, ones that can celebrate the city that they are a part of, and still help to spread ideas around the world. You can view all of the TED & TEDx videos online, and they are so wonderful. I love being a part of TEDx. Cameras are not allowed at TEDx events, so being one of the selected photographers has been incredible. The bonus has been the TEDx events I’ve been to, and they have taught me so many things both about Houston and about myself.

I try to make a point of watching as many of the TED and TEDx videos as I can. Recently, a link somewhere lead me to the video below. (I unfortunately don’t remember where, as I opened the video in a new tab and lost the original source.) The tab stayed open in my browser for several days, the time never being quite right to watch it.

Until now. Tonight I watched it, and it left me in tears. THIS. This is why I do what I do. It is for the moms out there that feel they have to hide. For our children. For your daughters. For our mothers. For US. For the fear that we have to hide who we are. For the shame.

What we look like does NOT define us. We need to change the world. We need to let the world know that WE ARE ENOUGH.

Thank you to Brittany Gibbons for putting yourself out there. For creating Curvy Girl Guide. For reminding us that we, as women, need to treat each other with a bit more kindness. And most of all, for reminding me to be strong. To continue to spread my passion. To stand up and celebrate our beauty, both inside and out, just as we are.

To the readers of this site, thank you to you for allowing me to share my passion with you.

To all of my amazing clients, YOU help make my dreams come true by sharing your laughter and trusting me with your fears. You are amazing and strong. You are beautiful in ways that words can’t express and photographs can’t even accurately capture. YOU ARE ENOUGH.

To all of the Hot Mamas out there, I celebrate you all every time I lift up my camera. Thank you for giving me that opportunity. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are a part of me, and because of you I am enough, too.