Snowstorm Can't Stop Her | Austin Boudoir Studio

I'm stepping back into the blogging game finally (I know, it's been a minute), and lucky for me (and you), I've got QUITE the stockpile of incredible women with incredible stories and images. So let's get this show back on the road!

Miss Y. This girl was so much damn fun to work with.  

A photographer herself, Miss Y understood the value of a boudoir experience and she braved a snowstorm to fly to me from across the country, and we shot on a day that Austin was SHUT THE EFF DOWN because of a little bit of ice and cold. (We're wimps. I'll be the first to admit it as a girl who was born and raised in the #1 snowiest city in the country many years). 

We both brought our A games and came up with a collection of photos that was so representative of her and her badassery, while glamming it up a little with some leather and boots, letting her show off some story-telling scars of hers, and just overall killing.it.

"Having a boudoir experience with Kara Marie was my dream. I had been following her for over 2 years before the stars aligned. I wanted to do this to celebrate myself. "

"I traveled all of the way from North Carolina to Austin during a snow storm. It was worth it. She is absolutely on point in everything that she does. Seriously does this woman sleep? I am obsessed with my images. I am ready to do it again." 

"I have always been a loud person. It is within that loud personality that I hid my insecurities. That is until now. I feel liberated. Words could never begin to explain how looking at an image of yourself and falling in love with that image of yourself changes the core of you. I thought I had confidence before, NOPE. Now am this new woman who exudes confidence in all facets of her life."

"This shoot changed me. I am happy with myself. I am content with my scars. I feel powerful."

And THAT is what it's all about! Hearing from my clients that this experience helped to improve their self-image is  job satisfaction to the nth degree. Thank you thank you Miss Y for your candidness, for your badassery, and for flying all the way to Austin from North Carolina in a snow storm ;) 

Taking it ALL off | Miss S | Austin Boudoir Studio

BY THE END OF THIS BLOG POST, I WILL ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE IT ALL OFF FOR YOUR BOUDOIR SESSION. 

Yep, down to just your birthday suit. There's something so damn freeing about not wearing even a stitch of clothing...yet that thought is often derailed by our intense fear of not looking the way we're "supposed" to, our crippling insecurities, or, maybe just the "weird" factor of being photographed by a stranger (Hi! I'm Kara Marie! Lovely to meet you. Now that THAT'S out of the way....

I GET IT.  I GET IT ALLLLL.

But if you're going to be nude in front of anyone's camera, mine is the one to choose. I've got the whole naked female form thing down to a perfectly lit and posed science. I'm also pretty easy to be comfortable in front of. *in my best Lamar Burton voice* "But you don't have to take MY word for it!", check out the RAVES page for more on clients being comfortable in such a "weird" setting. 

You'll giggle, then belly laugh. You'll wonder how these photos could possibly turn out with all your bits hanging out there. Then you'll see them, you'll gasp, and you'll fall deeper in love with yourself and the way you and your body are right now. And you'll probably wish you would have done your entire session in the buff. But it's fun to have the variety of wardrobe, too. ;)

Miss S reached out to me in order to help her celebrate herself in her 40th year of life. We started out clothed...then less clothed...then nude. She felt silly in the poses, she admits, but never imagined that she would love the photos, and so many of them, the way she did. Read on:

"When I turned 40, I promised myself that everyday would be better than the last. The power of intention led me to have the most amazing year of my life. As I round the corner towards 41, I wanted to do something extra special for myself. Enter Kara Marie Boudoir. I really enjoyed looking at images to give Kara an idea of the style that I like. "

"Kara nailed my vision and I'm thrilled with the results. Every step of the journey was easy and enjoyable. Kara's website has a ton of great info and she was quick to diminish any anxiousness that I had about being naked or doing a weird pose."

"I'm a glass half-full kind of gal so luckily, I don't struggle in the self esteem department. I did not expect to fall madly in love with so many photos, though!"

"I feel great and am proud of the hard work I've put into my body. I'm excited to look back on these when I'm older."

It was time to strip down, be vulnerable, and trust me completely. She did. And the resulting images make my heart skip a beat. They aren't hyper sexualized, but reveal a woman who is proud of her sexuality. They aren't "traditional" boudoir, rather, they lean more towards fine art nudes.  They aren't heavily retouched, but they are strategically posed and lit to show off her natural curves. They don't bare it ALL, but they bare her soul and show her in her most natural form.

"What a fun present to myself. I'm so happy, thank you a thousand times over. Hopefully I get to see you next year, too!"

Nudes are intimidating, I admit it. But you can truly rest assured that you are in the very capable hands of a professional. I'm never going to have my camera all up in your business in an uncomfortable way. I won't expect you to do ANYTHING at all and will monitor your comfort level the entire time. I will photograph you in an artistic and classy way. You will laugh and have fun and be surprised that you are able to have such a good time while being naked in front of a "stranger".  You won't be showing me anything I haven't seen before. Your body won't offend me, and when you see your final result, your body won't offend YOU, either.

If clients are considering a nude set of images during their boudoir experience, I always encourage them to bring an extra outfit, just in case they aren't feeling it. Yet I've never once had a client who was CONSIDERING doing a nude set decide mid-shoot that they weren't comfortable with it. If anything, they decided sooner into the shoot than planned that they were ready to take it off. This experience isn't about being someone you aren't. It's about showing EXACTLY who you are...who is hiding under masks. I only want you to do what you are comfortable doing. It's just that I have this uncanny ability to make people comfortable with themselves. That is my super power. 

Infinite thanks to Miss S for trusting me with her boudoir experience, for loving the process, and for allowing her words and images to be shared with the KMB audience. 

WHETHER YOU'RE READY TO BARE IT ALL, OR ONLY A LITTLE....LET'S CHAT.

Birthmarks and Beauty | Austin Boudoir Studio

While so many women find themselves coming to me for a boudoir experience for the same reasons, each of them is so different. Different in personality, in stages of life, and in appearance. 

The female form is utterly fascinating to me. There are so many body types and shapes, so many different facial structures, so many complexions....it's incredible how so many individual features come together to create a completely unique woman. 

As a boudoir photographer, I'm asked often what my favorite feature is to photograph. While that's a question harder to answer than "What color would you wear if black were no longer an option?" (is really, really dark grey ok?), I would say that a strong contender would be birthmarks and freckles. I ADORE birthmarks and freckles. Put a birthmark or freckles on a tush or hip, and now I'm in boudoir photographer heaven. 

All this to lead into the fact that this blog feature contains a pretty amazing woman with a pretty amazing birthmark and other pretty amazing features that we pretty amazingly captured together!

"The experience was so much fun! I felt completely prepared between all of the communication and advice that was given from the time I booked the appointment and all the way through the reveal session."

"You are truly gifted at what you do and you made me feel so relaxed and excited at the same time." -Miss G

I adore the classic filmy feel of these images, which, based on her mood board, was what Miss G was feelin' for her images. Mission accomplished!

What's more, she ended up with 3 outstanding artistic nude fine art prints to hang over her bed, which, by my calculations, should be arriving on her doorstep any moment! Ohhh the excitement (I swear I get more excited about seeing my clients' wall art than they do!) It's SO fulfilling for me to see images that I've created together with the client end up as art pieces in their homes. And, trust me, photos look WAYYYY more awesome in professional art print than they do on a screen. 

Thank you, Miss G, for allowing me to be a part of your journey, for trusting me to create this experience for you, and allowing me to share some of your images and words!

READY TO DOCUMENT YOUR UNIQUENESS? HIT.ME.UP, DAHHLING!

Straight out of a magazine: Miss W | Austin Boudoir Studio

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen little peeks of this blonde bombshell and her killer boudoir shoot. She showed up with her friend, a bottle of champagne, and a kick ass attitude, and left with a really incredible set of images just for her own damn self. 

Miss W Said:

"It feels damn good to do something for yourself! I turned 31 on Monday and thought 'Hey, you are't getting any younger!' Every day I thank my lucky starts for all the greatness I have in my life.  I loved how comfortable and beautiful everyone made me feel throughout the whole process!"

“ If you’re a girl out there contemplating a boudoir shoot....DOOOO IT!!! Kara is AMAZING!”

— Miss W

"I love not only feeling sexy and confident but also LOOKING fuckin sexy!"

When she first contacted me about a photo shoot, her email signature was followed by a quote. If you know me or follow me at all, you know that I'm a quote girl. SO...I knew we were a match made in boudoir photographer/client heaven before I even met her. It said:

“I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.”

— E.B. White

Hellllooooo, RED! Amiright!? Yasss. 

This set. This set with the classy red lingerie, chanel pearls, red bottoms, and fur coat just SCREAMED magazine ad to me! Miss W seriously rocked it! I'm thrilled with our finished product. 

Hell yes to rocking a boudoir shoot. Hell yes to doing so for YOU. Hell YESSSS to feeling even better about yourself after you're done. I love these kinds of stories. 

Thank you Miss W for your badassness ;)

Makeup credit: Kendall of Mayhem Beauty

WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU DID SOMETHING TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL LIKE A GODDESS? LET'S CHAT, DAHHLING!

Boudoir as a LIFE CHANGER | Austin Boudoir Studio

I'm about to share a doozy of a blog post with you. Miss "L" here, was yet another reminder of why I chose Boudoir Photography as my career path. Her shoot was easy, breezy, and effortless (more effortless for me than for her...she had to do a lot of back arching!). She was an absolute GODDESS in front of the lens. Even looked quite a bit like Scarlett Johansson.

She could be a model...

...but she's not.  She's the mom of the most precious little girl, a business owner, and has really impeccable taste in shoes and lingerie (as you'll soon see.)

What's more than that, though, is that she was SO much fun to be with and her words about her experience brought me to tears. Again. Yeah yeah, I cry a lot lately. But man, it really resonated. I know I preach how important this is to women, but I'm always surprised by how different their backgrounds/stories, yet how similar their response to their images was and how it's changed them. 

I'm going to stop blabbering because this client's words says more than enough...oh...and then there's the photos! 

"Three years ago, I was sitting on my couch watching my almost one year old walk around and make a mess of everything. I was thinking about how easy this little human changed my life and my body. Then, I got a text from my best friend that said, “we should do boudoir shoots!” I laughed. Yeah, definitely not going to do that.

I was not back to my pre pregnancy weight and wasn't about to run around in almost nothing taking pictures. I told my husband about it and he said that I should because I deserve to feel sexy and confident. The problem was, I did not feel sexy or confident and wasn't sure pictures would help that.

Fast forward 3 years, I stumbled upon Click Chick’s website. I was immediately lost in the images. These women were gorgeous and elegant and classy. I could never be those things, right? The next week, a friend of mine posted some of her images to Facebook and I instantly noticed they were taken by Kara. SHUT UP.

As fast as my little fingers could work, I began emailing with Kara! Did she just call me "Dahhling"? Yes. Well all right, this may not be so bad. I decided that night I had to book my session, claiming it was going to be an anniversary gift for my husband. If not now, when? That's what I kept telling myself.

I booked my shoot several months in advance so I would have time to pick the perfect wardrobe and work up the nerve to be in front of a camera. The day finally arrived. I was nervous, anxious, and a little worried about whether I would be able to do this or not. Would the pictures turn out okay? Would she like me?

As I walked up the stairs, I seriously thought about turning around and leaving. That would have been the biggest mistake of my life. I opened the studio door and there was the cutest, sweetest little blonde with the biggest smile coming right at me. As soon as she put her arms around me for a welcome hug, I immediately started to relax. I cannot even explain how relaxed and comfortable I felt from the beginning, even before hair and makeup.

I sat down for hair and makeup and had the best conversation with the most amazing makeup artist I have ever known. After that, it was time to start. Kara told me exactly what she wanted me to do. She made the shoot extremely easy, (well, maybe not easy because some of those poses HURT! haha) comfortable, relaxed. She also has a way of making you feel like you’re a supermodel. Not even kidding.  I walked out of my shoot feeling like I just won Miss Universe.

When I got home, my husband said, “ you look different!” I said it was the makeup. He said, “nope. That's not it.” That night I got a sneak peak. I died. I thought to myself, that's not me. It can’t be. Oh, but it was! 

I (not so) patiently waited for my reveal. I arrived 30 minutes early. As I sat in my car, I kind of started to hyperventilate. I was approximately 154258% more nervous to see my pictures than I was to actually take them. Such a strange feeling. I opened that studio door one more time and there was that adorable little blonde firecracker again. I like her.

So we sat down, she woke up her computer and BOOM, there I was. My heart started racing, I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to have every single image printed. I wanted wall paper made out of these images. I did it. This was me. As Kara scrolled through, I lost my words. I couldn't speak. I was speechless. (obviously, that never happens).

These pictures showed me that I was more than just a wife and mother. They showed me that I am a woman with so much more to offer. What started out as a gift for my husband, ended up changing my life. Confidence is the number one word out of my mouth when anyone asks about my images. Confidence.  

“ You've always had the power my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself.”-Glenda, the good witch.  THANK YOU IMMENSELY, Kara for being my good witch. I cannot wait to do it all over again!!!!!!

I am so grateful that Miss "L" found her way into my studio... and even more grateful that this experience was exactly what it was supposed to be for her, and then some! 

Hair and makeup by Kendall of Mayhem Beauty, Blue bra and panty set is Heidi Klum Intimates from UNDERWEAR Austin, Black garter belt set is Agent Provocateur.

I've said it a million times before and I will say it over and over again: This is NOT about sexy photos. It's about showing yourself that you are AMAZING. You can be confident, powerful, gorgeous, feminine, and a badass all at once.

Let me show you.

IF YOU'VE BEEN PUTTING IT OFF, STOP IT. JUST STOP IT.  LET'S CHAT ABOUT YOUR BOUDOIR EXPERIENCE! I'M READY TO SHOW YOU WHAT YOU'VE GOT!