That Self Esteem Boost though.... | Austin Boudoir Studio

We share an affinity for unique jewelry, big messy hair, and acrylic wall art. Miss "J" was something of a client soulmate and I am so delighted to have had the opportunity to meet her and work with her on embracing her femininity through a boudoir experience. 

"FUN! So empowering. It was so nice to feel beautiful and sexy and most importantly have fun. What a self esteem boost."

Hair and makeup by Kendall of Mayhem Beauty

"The timing of everything was some sort of divine plan! It couldn't have happened more perfectly to help empower me and remind me how much I value my health and beauty."

"I have no words to thank you for making me feel fierce and powerful and special. You are truly talented at what you do. All women deserve to feel the way I got to feel after seeing my pictures for the first time. Love you lady!"

Another prime example of a woman who jumped at the opportunity to do something for herself, to treat herself, and to remind herself of how badass she is. And she got a giant acrylic wall piece of that badass hair flip image to remind herself every single day she walks past it hanging on her wall. AMAZING. 

HEY YOU!  YOU'VE BEEN *THINKING* ABOUT THIS FOR FAR TOO LONG. TAKING THE FIRST STEP OF REACHING OUT IS THE HARDEST PART...I'LL HELP YOU THE REST OF THE WAY. LET'S CHAT ABOUT MAKING YOU FEEL AWESOME, SHALL WE? 

She had no idea how to be sexy.| Austin Boudoir Photographer

"I can't believe I'm actually going to do this."

"I don't even own any lingerie."

"I'm not sexy". 

These are the comments that flood my inbox on the regular from all different types of women of all different walks of life. 

Miss "N" told me that she had no idea how to be sexy.  But, by simply existing, she already was. And she didn't have to know *HOW* to give sexy looks or make her waist look as small as possible, or know what the most flattering light was. You see, that's my job. 

Simply show up. I'll even let you show up nervous as hell, if that's what's natural for you. Because it's also my job to make you feel comfortable. 

You can bring lingerie or nothing at all. 

You can have an idea in your mind of what you want to accomplish with this, or you can just leave all your trust and anxiety to me. 

It's natural to be nervous, I GET IT. But the point is....it's not your job to make yourself look the best you can look in your photos. It's mine. So you can just relax and follow the very detailed directions that I give you while we're shooting, and know that your images WILL be every bit as stunning as all of those you swoon over on my website. And we did just that for Miss "N". 

"This was my first boudoir shoot and, if I'm completely honest, the first time I wore real lingerie in all my 30 years. Needless to say I was nervous and had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how to be sexy. "

Hair + makeup credit: Kendall of Mayhem Beauty

“But Kara made me feel comfortable and she made me feel beautiful! My experience was amazing from the minute I walked in to the very last interaction. Kara is incredibly talented. She knows exactly what to say, how to pose you and what lighting will bring out the goddess in you. I highly recommend Kara and her studio!”

— Miss N

“ Amazingly my boudoir experience changed the way I see my body. I feel more confident and I feel sexy! I’m ready to walk around in my lingerie if it weren’t for pesky indecent exposure charges, hahaha ;)”

— Miss N

Miss "N", thank you SO much for trusting me with your first (and hopefully not last!) boudoir experience. I'm seriously over-the-moon with our finished product and so excited that you can see what I saw forever and ever each time you look at your incredible boudoir album. You are STUNNINGGGGGGG and I adore you and your photos!!

THINK THAT YOU CAN'T LOOK AS SEXY AS THE WOMEN ON MY WEBSITE? THEY DIDN'T EITHER. LET'S CHAT, DAHHLING!

You don't *have* to take your clothes off | Austin Beauty Photographer

It's probably no secret that I'm a fan of nudity. I think every woman should be able to rip her clothes off, whip them around her head, and have her photos taken confidently. (Note: I have not yet achieved such confidence myself...but I'm one step closer with each personal boudoir shoot I do).

Boudoir is my baby. It's my niche, my specialty. It's what I do 92% of the time. Yes. I did the math.

The *OTHER* 8% of the time is spent doing BEAUTY portraiture. So. What's the difference? 

BOUDOIR PHOTOGRAPHY

While boudoir photography almost always involves a certain level of undress or nudity, it is also a little more raw, candid, unposed LOOKING (although we do pose you throughout the entire shoot!). Boudoir is meant to embrace a woman's sexuality, independence, femininity, and badassness. Because of the posing and the wardrobe, these images tend to be more intimate in nature. We do retouch all boudoir images for our clients with standard retouching techniques and the finished product is generally a variety of about 50-60 images with a natural retouch that include "detail" shots such as legs, tush, breasts, back, shoulders, collar bone, lips, as well as full bodyscapes and imagery that includes the face. 

Example of Kara Marie's BOUDOIR Photography. More intimate in nature, boudoir images embrace a woman's sexuality, femininity, and badassness in a certain level of undress. 

BEAUTY PHOTOGRAPHY

Now, BEAUTY portraiture is a bit more polished...with a finished "fine art" look and feel. Beauty portraiture is a great option for a woman who wants a smaller collection of absolutely breathtaking portraits of herself that are wall-worthy. Our beauty portraits always containing the full face and have more "statement" wardrobe which can mean a ball gown, little black dress, lace bodysuit, fabric draping or even nudity. There are also more special effects such as fine art tectures and extensive retouching done on these images.  The finished product is generally a smaller collection (roughly 15-20) fully enhanced, wall (or Facebook profile pic)-ready images. 

Example of Beauty Portraiture by Kara Marie Boudoir. Beauty photos always contain the client's face, can be taken fully clothed, + are finished with a full retouch and a fine-art edit making it classic wall art.

Beauty portraiture also tends to appeal more to the masses.....it may be a little less intimidating for a woman who is hesitant to bare it all for my camera (although I maintain that, regardless of your wardrobe or lack thereof, I *WILL* make you feel comfortable. Promise.)

These are images that you can gift to mom or grandma and they will gush over without instructing you to cover up your bits. 

They don't necessarily need to be taken in our studio, as you can see. These can be taken outdoors, in your own home, on the street, in a car....you get my drift. 

So, if you do happen to be holding out on a boudoir session because you're just a little too intimidated by the idea, try a beauty shoot first! Even if you've already done a boudoir shoot or seven, a beauty shoot offers a whole different element of elegance and femininity. 

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!

It's All Happening | NYC Boudoir Session

"ALMOST FAMOUS" is my favorite movie. It's a combination of my love of music, the obsession with the lives of rock stars (from a distance!), and my biggest girl crush ever on Kate Hudson. Often when I quote this movie, I'm the only one in the room who gets it. I'll get to the point soon enough.

Compared to other photography niches, boudoir (while ever-growing), is one of the smaller groups of camera slingers. What I love about that is the tight-knit community of boudoir photographers that I have been able to network with over the last several years. Because, believe it or not, not EVERYONE understands the mind of someone who shoots half naked people for a living.

Agnes Fohn of Yellow Brick Collective in NYC is a photographer whose style is so, so different than mine, and SO utterly incredible. Her images are dripping with artistry and her personality is downright awesome. That must be why we get along so famously (we're both equally modest too! hahahaha). And she loves "ALMOST FAMOUS" as much as I do. And comments things like "It's all happening" often. So basically we're soulmates. When we established that I was going to be in NYC on a day that she had availability, we knew that we needed to make a shoot happen. 

What you're about to see is the result of 2 boudoir photographers getting together very early one fahhh-reeeeeezing (to me) NYC morning for a little bit of scantily clad fun.

Do you see that smirk!?!?! GAH! Love love love!  She is just the stunningest. 

And... just a little peak into what this crazy talented lady shot of me:

Shot by Agnes Fohn of Yellow Brick Collective, NYC.

THANK YOU THANK YOU AGNES for your talent in front and behind the camera, thank you to Natalia Carrasco for totally perfecting Agnes' makeup for the shoot (and, apparently, doing a quick bang trim, too!). 

Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me...? | Austin Boudoir Studio

I am certainly not known to be the smoothest talker. I'm much better at premeditating my dialogue or otherwise inserting my foot-in-mouth when put on the spot to come up with something to say. It's really quite unfortunate because generally I do have the very best of intentions....but sometimes the dumbest thing imaginable comes out of my mouth...

...like when I'm trying to maintain a professional but comfortable client/photographer relationship during a shoot, and I ask my client to get into a pose, and I immediately say "Is it getting HOT in here!? Or is it just me!?". And I swear.to.God.I.meant.the.temperature.  But, coming from a photographer who is photographing a woman scantily clad, you could see why that may seem a bit creepy. Ok...maybe more than a bit. 

Luckily, my clients are awesome. When I say something that stupid, I make fun of myself incessantly and hope for at least a genuine laughing shot. 

I think that happened at least twice during my shoot with this client. Her images make me happy. Check them out!

"This was one of the best experiences I've ever had! Kara was such an amazing, bubbly, and badass photographer! She made me feel so beautiful in my own skin. Also, her makeup and hair artist was INCREDIBLE!"

"I never felt an ounce of body shaming or negativity. I loved that she would just talk and we had causal convos the entire shoot! She made me laugh a bunch and the images she captured were AMAZING! I would recommend her to anyone that was looking at doing a boudoir shoot!"

“I feel so strong, beautiful, and comfortable in my skin. It really brought my confidence up overall.”

Thank you to Miss "M" for bringing her A++++ game to her boudoir session. And to my makeup artist, Kendall of Mayhem Beauty for doing yet another stand-up job. 

IF YOU'VE BEEN TOYING AROUND WITH THE IDEA OF HAVING A BOUDOIR EXPERIENCE, LET'S CHAT MORE!