Hi blog, we meet again after a very long unintentional absence. The studio has been booked solid and as a one woman business owner, my shoots and client interactions are a priority and my poor blog goes radio silent. Sorry blog!

Not only has the Northern Virginia boudoir studio been busy creating and celebrating masterpieces there’s also been a lot of personal changes going on and it’s forced me to slow down and  re-evaluate what I want for my business in the next coming years. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere! Simply taking a breather. Perhaps another blog post on this will be in order for the future!

Now that I’ve gained some time to work on my personal projects, I revisited a recent one. My creative passion project has been merging my love for travel, beautiful landscapes and locations with nude figure studies. I’ve collaborated with some incredibly talented art models and explored some beautiful locations to create art and holy moly, it’s so much fun and is always the best way for me to recharge during a busy season in the studio. 

You might have seen on the instagram here and there and even on the blog some postings on my travel projects. This latest one being from Iceland in 2022. (I’ve been 3 times already, I love it there so much!)  I’ve decided to revisit and edit them in a way that reflects what I am drawn to in this moment and period in life. It’s fascinating to me because I’ve always heard that an artist’s work will often reflect a mood, a period in their life or era that they are experiencing and I can say that I know what that means now. 

When I first edited these images they were in color and vibrant as I wanted it feel exactly how I saw it when I photographed it. And thought in color was how it should have been processed. I’m also very much drawn to black and white imagery (more often than color) and when I decided to make this a black and white collection, I just fell in love, but mostly because I felt a connection to them unlike how I edited them last year in color.

This was a little bit of an A-Ha moment. My creative project has taught me to create what I’m connected to and not what I’m “supposed” to create. I mean I knew this, but now I REALLY know what this means. It’s amazing to me that even though I’ve been a boudoir photographer for 13 years, I’m still learning and evolving as an artist and I plan to keep it up. Learning new things, different techniques and styles that speak to me have been a way to discover parts of my artistry that fuel my evolution and I’m excited to see where it takes me.

Now, I think I need to get these printed in an album and display it at the studio.

Location: Iceland / 2022

Photographer: Julie Socher

Model: Icelandic Selkie

Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you

What I really enjoyed about this trip with Corwin Prescott was all the different locations we got to shoot in. It’s been about a month since I was last there and every time I look at these images I’m just in awe of the landscape, it’s just unreal. Take a look at Part I of these Arctic Nudes

It was windy, cold and rainy at some points and I can’t say enough how amazing these models were. But it’s also taught me that we traditionally see as undesirable conditions to shoot in, shouldn’t hold you back from creating amazing art.

Models:

AliceX
SayhelloJess
IcelandicSelkie
Nicole Vaunt

One thing I need to do is to take time through out the year to do something different to keep my creative satisfied. I get so many ideas and interests that cross my mind that unless I actually mark it off on the calendar it usually never happens. It’s easy to get caught up in client work and while I do really love the art we create in the studio, it’s also important to get out and create outside of it. It keeps me fresh y’all!

So I had an awesome opportunity last month to fly to Iceland to the Arctic Nude workshop with Corwin Prescott and not only see this amazing country in person but combine beautiful landscapes with the human form. This was definitely a bucket list place and being able to combine these two interests with the help of an incredible photographer but also with a team of absolute pro models was an incredible experience.

Something that was not like my regular in-studio shoots is I do not typically work with models. I work with everyday women whom I guide into every look and pose. And the great thing about working with models is I learn SO much about posing from them so when I’m guiding my clients during their shoot, I have more tips and tricks in my pocket from shoots like these that I can bring to my shoots in the studio.

I was so inspired by this trip that the plan so far is to carve out time often to create, but also perhaps create a whole new website and Instagram account to host these images. So I’ll keep you updated on when that actually happens because I would love to have you join me there!

I’ll be splitting this blog post up into parts based on location to not overwhelm! So here is Part I of The Arctic Nudes at our waterfall location. Be sure to check back for more!

Models: Nicole Vaunt, SayHelloJess, Lillias Right, Icelandic Selkie, AliceX

Can’t wait to hear from you