Ok, now that I’ve booked your boudoir shoot, what do I have to do to prepare for my boudoir session? Every woman askes that, and it can be kind of nerve racking. There are tons of nerves and emotions leading up to a boudoir shoot, and that’s ok! I’m here to help! I wanted to write down some guidelines and suggestions to ease and organize your minds and prepare you for this awesome experience!

• Drink lots of water leading up to your session! Our skin looks its best when it’s hydrated, and we tend to feel better as well 🙂
• Bring a plain white T, and your favorite pair of heels. Sometimes the simplicity of just a white shirt is all we need to feel sexy… and the power of our favorite heels to feel strong and confident!
• Do your nails! Treat yourself to a mani/pedi. Solid neutral colors or french tips photograph best. Please stay away from anything super bright.
• Stay away from spray tanning and tanning beds 2 weeks or less before your shoot. The color needs time to settle in, and can look unnatural in photos if done too close to your shoot!

• Pack the night before! The last thing you want to do is stress yourself in the morning. You will receive a packing list from me before your session – use that list to make sure you have everything you need, so in the morning you can just grab the bag and go 🙂
• If you are going to do any major hair changes, do them at least a week before your session. This is especially important for coloring your hair!
• Tattoos are a work of art, and I love photographing them! But for them to look good, they need time to heal. Please no new tattoos less than 2 weeks before your session!
• STRETCH! Boudoir poses will have you use muscles you didn’t even know you had. Strewtching beforehand will make a huge difference the day of your shoot, I promise!

• If this is a bridal boudoir session, bring something that will be at your wedding (a garter, veil, a piece of clothing with your new last nam, etc…) to personalize your session! We also have a veil in sudio that you can use 🙂
• Step out of your comfort zone! This may seem like a given, but even in choosing your lingerie, dare to choose something you would normally be scared to try! This experience will help you see yourself in a way you never have before, so why not embrace it and buy that piece you’ve been drooling over, but convinced yourself you shouldn’t wear!?

Want to learn more info on our boudoir shoots? 

Visit https://rocboudoirexperience.com/the-experience/

or schedule a free discovery call here:

Or join our women’s only facebook vip group for more resources and support!

When I asked Keisha to write about her boudoir shoe experience with us, she quickly responded with a huge “YES!” When I first read this it brought me to tears. Not only because of the impact her experience had on her, but also because I could relate to her journey. Here is her story, written by Keisha herself.

Keisha’s Story – Through her lens

My boudoir experience with Jolana was nothing like I was expecting. It was such an empowering and wonderful time. She made me feel so comfortable and like we were friends when we had just met for the first time.

To set the scene, it was my 25th birthday and I had just had a party the night before. I was not only hung over but SUPER nervous. I had been modeling for 12 years but never did a boudoir shoot. Growing up, I was always super skinny. I was bullied for it and so I started to hate my body. I had tried to do everything I could to gain weight but I could never gain enough to make a difference or to stop people from picking on me. Even as I got older, random people would make comments about how I “needed to eat a cheeseburger or I would fly away”, or “oh my gosh! You’re so skinny. Do you eat!?”. It really had an effect on my mental health. I wouldn’t even look at myself naked.

Fast forward to moving from Rhode Island to Rochester, I found a small group of photographers and came across a post of Jolana’s about a giveaway and entered it. Something told me I needed to work with her. I ended winning the giveaway and I had no idea what was in store. I show up at the photoshoot location and she gives me the warmest welcome and even had a bottle of champagne for me for my birthday! (How sweet!) While we were shooting, she guided me in what her vision was and we were laughing like we were best friends the entire time. A couple weeks later, it was time to see the MAGIC we had made.

We had taken so many pictures and she went through literally over 100 photos of me and made them PERFECT. I almost cried. I couldn’t stop saying “oh my god, that’s me”. For the first time I felt sexy and seen. Like my body was beautiful and free. Not only did she take the most beautiful pictures, she changed my whole outlook on my self image. I even showed my parents my pictures (not the full nakies), but even they loved them!

I would recommend The Photography Experience to everyone! Jolana will literally change your life.

Want to experience your own Empowerment Session? Book a discovery call to learn more!

Not quite ready to take the leap, but want to learn more about the possibilities?

Join our Women’s only Boudoir VIP Facebook group, full of some of the most supportive and amazing women you will ever meet! Joining also keeps you up to date on everything boudoir related, including sales, new sets, and important announcements!

Making your Experience Tangible

Having a hard time figuring out how you’d like to see your photos displayed? You aren’t the only one, I promise! Before I started photographing boudoir I also had no idea that I’d want a photobook or even a metal print to hang. Luckily for you, I have already gone through all the uncertainties, and for this reason have samples of everything available, ready for you to pick up and feel! Seeing yourself in print is such an empowering feeling, words really can’t describe it. And I have some amazing options for you to choose from:) 

Photobooks

Photobooks are the most popular, and honestly they are my favorite as well! They come in a variety of sizes and shapes too!

• First off… they are luxury books, handcrafted in Toronto by an all women team.
• You have so many amazing covers materials to choose from, which means you can make that album be YOU inside and out
• Couture boxes are available to store your albums, and not only do they keep them safe, but they are an art piece of their own and can be personalized (these boxes also come with our most popular collection!)
• We even customize the gilding (the edge color of the pages you see when it’s closed) to make your book even more special and you!

Folio Boxes

You might be wondering… what the F is a Folio Box!? Well here is my description, but the photo below might do it more justice than my words 🙂

It’s an 11×14 box that houses 8×10 matted prints. As with the albums, the box cover material is fully customizable.  The matte around your prints protects your photos from getting bent!

Who is this option good for? Well, sometimes we want to tangibly be able to touch our photos, and have the option to keep them private, OR hang them on our wall! Why not have the flexibility of both and have the best of both world right? 🙂 A Folio Box is the perfect option for this.

Wall Art

Sometimes the best way to show off your beautiful self is by having your favorite piece be the staple of one of your walls! Now I know what you might be thinking: I can’t hang a boudoir photo on the wall… what if someone sees it!?” I felt the same way. But then I saw my photos and fell in love. I ended up getting TWO metal prints for my own bedroom, and it was the best decision I ever made. Now every morning that I wake up and feel bloated, skin is broken out, hair is a mess, etc… all I have to do is look at myself hanging right across the bed, and I remember how beautiful and sexy I am regardless of how I feel. It’s an instant confidence boost!

We offer various different sizes of metal prints, and also offer them in matte and shiny, so you can choose the aesthetic that best fits your home!

And best of all, they are super light and easy to hang! Which means you can hang them anywhere your heart desires 🙂

Fun Add-ons

Depending on which collection you go with, and if you do a pre-payment plan or not, you have access to freebies! We like having fun little ways for you to admire your photos, and best of all these options also make great gifts! Here are a few:

• Beautiful, high-end desk calendars
• Retro viewfinders with your favorite images (great for the more risque ones!)
• 5×7 Photo Ice Cubes (glass standalone photos)
• Mobile App

Something for everyone

Everything you see above, plus more, will be at your session, ready for you to pick it up and see what feels right. We make sure all items are high quality and do your gorgeous self justice! If you’d like to see more before your session, join our Facebook VIP group and check out our Lives! We have a couple dedicated just to showing off all these beautiful products 🙂  

Ready to book your session? 

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When I asked Maggie to write about her boudoir shoe experience with us, she quickly responded with a “YES!” When I first read this it brought me to tears. Maggie’s reasons for doing a session, and transformation, has been one of the most memorable ones. Here is her story, written by Maggie herself.

Maggie’s Story – Through her Words

I have been a mom for two years. It actually goes beyond two years, when I think about it. It truly started when I decided that I wanted to become a mother. My mind changed and I started really taking care of my body because I knew a human would soon be relying on my health to have the best start to life. I was very focused on this goal and was so fortunate to be blessed with the gift of life so soon into my journey. This meant that I also didn’t fully consider the degree of change my body would endure to support a new human life. Something I started to understand was that my body had a new purpose. 

 At 3 months, I realized that my body was never going to look the same again. I wanted to have a celebration for my readiness to embrace this change in my appearance. A change that meant I was bringing my beautiful boy into the world. 

That is when I decided that I wanted to have a boudoir session with Jolana! I wanted to capture my feminine strength and motherly readiness in one empowering photo session! I was excited to see how Jolanas artistic eye would enhance my almost showing baby bump. She immediately connected with me and embraced my ideas and vision for the shoot. I wanted some photos to proudly announce my pregnancy, as well as photos that made me feel and look sexy. Afterall, that’s how I got to this situation, haha!

Jolana sent me welcome guides with everything I needed to know to prepare for my session, lingerie guides, FAQ’s and also made sure to speak to me on the phone to answer all my questions. She was so personable and made me excited about the photos right at booking!

Her studio space was beautiful. She made me feel so comfortable that I was able to get dressed right in front of her! She embraced all of my varying outfits that I brought with me and was excited to work with my more unique choices. 

I will say that her suggestion to stretch before your session is spot on. I actually did stretch beforehand but I was still sore for a day after! Pointing your toes and arching your back when 3 months pregnant was no easy feat! But boy oh boy were my photos beautiful. Her use of light and dark shadows really enhance your shape and make you look sexy AF!

I book Jolana for all my family photo sessions now and will definitely be booking another boudoir session very soon!

Want to experience your own Empowerment Session? Book a discovery call to learn more!

Not quite ready to take the leap, but want to learn more about the possibilities?

Join our Women’s only Boudoir VIP Facebook group, full of some of the most supportive and amazing women you will ever meet! Joining also keeps you up to date on everything boudoir related, including sales, new sets, and important announcements!

A beautiful Transformation

Okay, this review made me tear up. Emily is the sweetest person, and I am so honored I was able to help her along her self-confidence journey! I still remember when Emily first booked! I walked her through the process over the phone, and she expressed her concerns of being a “bigger girl”. I assured her that that wouldn’t impact our time together at all, and in no way impacts her beauty 🙂 Leading up to the session, we had another phone conversation to go over her outfits, but really, it was more to calm her nerves and get hyped up! 

The day of came, and I was SO excited to work with Emily! I already knew we were going to get along great, not only because of the amazing time I had with her friend that recommended me, but also because of how much fun we had already had just through phone calls! We had instantly clicked on the phone 🙂 We jumped right into hair an makeup; I poured her some wine, and we had a nice girls talk/ jam session while she was getting pampered.

One of the things Emily was really nervous about was a bad sunburn she had gotten a few days prior. I’m not going to lie, it was definitely on the top of bad sunburns I had seen in a while, but I knew we could work with both her outfits and my posing to help hide it from the photos. And let me tell you… we succeeded! You would have NO IDEA she had any sunburn from her photos! I honestly always forget that fact, because there is no trace of it!

We had such an amazing time at Emily’s shoot. I could see her confidence building with every photo I showed her on the back of the camera, and seeing Emily finally see her own beauty through my camera was so amazing to watch!

The icing on the cake for me was seeing her reaction during her reveal, when she got to watch a short video of my favorite photos from her session on a giant screen. Emily lit up, looking a little shocked, asking “Is that me!?” Her reaction put a huge smile on my face and I just kept saying “HECK YES GIRL; that is all you!”

JUST LOOK AT HER IMAGES!!!

 It’s such an honor to know that Emily trusted me with such a vulnerable experience as a boudoir session, and put her faith in me to help show her the beauty & sexiness that has been there all along <3 Best part of it all? I’ve gotten to work with her since on other photos AND I have made a new friend in the process. Can’t ask for anything better than that 🙂

Want to experience your own Empowerment Session? Book a discovery call to learn more!

Not quite ready to take the leap, but want to learn more about the possibilities?

Join our Women’s only Boudoir VIP Facebook group, full of some of the most supportive and amazing women you will ever meet! Joining also keeps you up to date on everything boudoir related, including sales, new sets, and important announcements!

Why Boudoir Photography?

The human body- its curves, markings, wrinkles, scars, and all its intricacies- creates a canvas of the life we have lived. Our body is a powerful and beautiful reminder of the battles we have won; of the warriors that we are. We should not feel the need to hide it because it doesn’t fit the unachievable standards society has created for us. Instead, we should be proud of our scars. Be proud of the battles and challenges we have overcome. And accept our body no matter how imperfect it feels to us.

Boudoir photography, to me, is what helps us not only accept the body we have, but it helps us fall back in love with it. It empowers us to challenge what the “perfect” body is and kick all the expectations put on us by media, magazines, and society to the curb. We are each created uniquely, and that is what should be celebrated. Boudoir photography is about the transformation that takes place between the time you walk in my studio and walk back out that door. It is about feeling beautiful, and that is something I believe every person deserves. 

The Transformation

The transformation that takes place in our studio is the best part of the whole experience for me. When a woman arrives in my studio most of the time, she’s excited, but a bit nervous. The shaky hands and voice, sometimes sweaty palms and face. I start by introducing her to my amazing hair and makeup artist and getting her comfortable in her chair. I have her favorite music playing, and her favorite drink ready to go. I also hand her a notebook of love notes written by past girls that sat in that same chair before her, filled with love, positivity, and words of encouragement to help her start her boudoir journey.   The three of us then talk about anything and everything (think a girl’s date out type of vibe!) and usually the nerves dissipate. This is when the transformation begins.

After hair and makeup, the shoot starts. I give some tips and tricks to help get those sultry faces you always see but never believe you can do on command, and I start helping you pose from head to toe. Don’t worry, I will get down and show you every pose first myself and then help you get into it (which is always entertaining to watch, because my butt is not flexible at all!). Right off the bat, I show you the back of the camera so you can see all the crazy posing I’m having you do is actually working! I usually hear ‘Oh my god that’s me!? I can’t believe I look like that!” Girllll, yes, yes you do!

After that, we bounce around my three different rooms in the studio and pose your butt against all the furniture and walls while singing along to your favorite songs, sipping on wine, and capturing everything that makes you beautiful!

By the time we finish the session and go into the reveal, we’re friends. We’ve just shared an experience that will always be remembered by both of us. We’ve left and shared stories about our lives.

This is when I send my new friend out to grab some food while I go through all their beautiful images, choose the best ones, and lately edit them. When you come back, BOOM! You get to see all your photos that same day! Nothing like instant gratification 🙂 We go through them together (once I reassure you that yes, that is truly you and you are truly that sexy and stunning!), And help choose your products.

This is my absolute favorite part, because you finally see yourself like you never have before. You get to see yourself through the eyes of your partner, the eyes of your loved ones, and everyone else who has seen your beauty this entire time.

A Little piece of my Story

We all go through a point in our lives where the future we imagined is shattered and we have to give up control to be able to move forward. This is a point in which we often learn the most about ourselves, and also provides us with an amazing opportunity to grow. For me it was when I became majorly depressed while also struggling with my relationship. It was difficult for me to admit my depression, because I have always been a light-hearted, optimistic individual. However when that optimism was replaced constant worry, overthinking, breaking down a few times a day, and feeling emotionally numb to everything, I knew this wasn’t how I wanted to live my life and something needed to change.

I started going to therapy began to unravel all the causes and contributors of my depression. Along the way we discovered that I had developed many unhealthy views about sex and intimacy growing up affected how I viewed myself.

Therapy gave me the confidence to book a boudoir session 6 months out for myself. It became a beacon of the progress I had made and gave me something to work towards in our therapy. It’s safe to say that my boudoir session was a life changing experience. The confidence-boost it gave me seeing myself in a different light was amazing. Photos that beforehand I would have kept private, I was excited to share because I felt so confident and beautiful in them. To me, they were art created with my body and something to be proud of, because truly loving yourself is something to always be proud of.  My boudoir experience empowered me to finally wear the clothes that I wanted, to truly be a 100% myself without worrying what others thought. It was such a freeing experience, and something I wish every woman could experience. 

Yup! That’s me at my Boudoir Shoot!

Photo Credit: Sheer Photography

My own experience made me fall in love with boudoir photography and pushed me to start offering it as a part of my photography business. Being able to empower women to see themselves through such a positive and life-changing light, and helping them realize their self-worth is truly an amazing experience. I want to help lift other women up and show them the queens that they really are. 

My journey is the reason why I am able to go through a major life change right now without spiraling into a depression. I have grown so much as a person and continue to grow. I am finally truly embracing me and being my true and authentic self, regardless of what others may think. I have learned your body is something to be proud of and is not an object to be sexualized. You have the right to show it off to your comfort level, and if someone decides to sexualize what they see, that is on them, NOT on you! In the words of my therapist: “Do You!” And do it confidently, because there is nothing more empowering than being yourself.

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For me, boudoir photography is a celebration of your body and who you truly are. I take pride in being able to help show women how to celebrate their bodies, their battles, and their victories they’ve been through. Let me show you your shine. Let me help remind you how to love and be proud of yourself!

  Let’s take back our self-image and confidence, and dare to love our bodies the way they are right in this moment!

Interested in booking your boudoir experience with us? Start your journey here:

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