Love Yourself Series, #21 Brenna

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Meet Brenna, a mother, a wife, and a chronic illness sufferer. She struggled with body image her whole life being tall and thicker, and with health issues that affect her skin and therefore her self-esteem.

She was looking to improve how she felt about her body and self. With aging, and 2 kids she wanted to feel and see herself in a new light. We definitely did that, her style session was fun, we found some cute pieces, she brought more from home and we really played the day of her session.

She had to do a payment plan, this was last year when I still offered post-payment plans, which I no longer do, (I do offer pre-payment plans with bonuses otherwise not available). This is why I no longer offer post-payment plans, she had to wait over a year to get her images, and I am impatient and love getting your digital images the next day at the latest your physical products within 2 weeks of your session. I don’t like making you wait to show off how amazing you feel and look in your images.

Here are some of her images and her story in her words:

“Before the session, I was super nervous and scared. Never showed another woman let alone a camera see the body I was given. During the session, I was slightly nervous but more relaxed! And that's all cause of you. You are so personable and loving that I felt like I have known you for ages! When I saw the photos, I couldn't believe how stunning I really can be. I appreciated myself a bit more. If you’re on the fence, do it, You only live once but importantly that one life is with this one body. We have to appreciate what we have and doing this shoot will definitely make you see how truly beautiful you are!” -Brenna

Another workshop?

Today I am going to talk about how we think about things, I used to think I would never do this or do that…

Now I think oh when I do this or do that….

It’s not a matter of if it’s a matter of when.

I wanted to go to 1 live in-person workshop last year, you know what I got to go to 2!!!

I had to really invest in myself to get to the next level in my art, so I did. I did the work for sure, no it was not easy, but it was so worth it. below is a clip of the 2 shoot days and what I was able to create in such a small amount of time.

Now back to the manifesting part, the biggest change for me is when I did the deeper work, I was doing Neuro therapy, affirmations, vision boards, frequency alignment, and clearing my own energy. It’s a ton of hard work, to get to the point I am today, where I not only dream about what I want, I am taking action making plans, and making it happen!!!

I got out of my own way and changed the way I thought about everything. I have been to the beach more in the last few years than I ever have, I went to 2 workshops, I chased waterfalls, and I created the life I wanted to live instead of settling for the cards I was dealt.

So let me ask you this, how are you creating the life you want instead of settling?

My art matters to me, I don’t want to be like every other photographer. I want to capture the human condition!!! So, I have invested over 25,000 on my education and my art. I invest in growing to where I want to be instead of investing in staying where I am.

How are investing in yourself?

Now I will share more from the last workshop I invested in myself and my art.

Rex...

Men’s Intimates…

Yes, I do that, I love men just as much as I love my female clients. Rex was helping out at the Stripped Down workshop, and was amazing he made us work hard to get any emotion out of him. While at his set, we had the amazing Denise Birdsong too to help us if needed. I for sure used my ace when it was my turn, I had a migraine that morning and wasn’t at 100% so I used some pointers from the master herself.

In the video below you can watch as she gives me pointers and helps with posing since my brain was slow and in the pressure cooker of the workshop, I wanted to get as much as I possibly could from it. You can also watch how it takes a bit longer to get most guys there as far as emotion, I had to coach more, and show more, after all, you can’t go there unless I can show you what it looks like myself.

Rex was amazing and really made us all work for the emotions from him, though I think I got some amazing images of him in just 5 minutes folk, just 5 minutes and this is what I got:

Dirty 30's Series, post 1, Maggie

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Meet Maggie, a 37-year-old woman who had gotten mixed messages about self-worth through out her life. Still struggling to love herself more, she wanted to come in and celebrate her Dirty 30’s before they were over. As a bigger lady wanted to heal some of her stuff with an empowerment session.

We met for her style session and hit it off, I knew her session was going to be epic, and man it was hot for sure. She wanted balloons as part of her session, I was happy make it happen. We had so much fun just doing hair and makeup it ran over, her session lasted a bit longer too because she pre-paid and selected more outfits as one of the bonuses, along with a 11x14 print. This is why I do one session a day, for the extras I can provide.

Like we sat one set for almost an hour playing with balloons. She had so many images with so much variety she had a hard time narrowing it down. She was so happy to get her images the same day since she pre-paid, she got her digitals later that same day. Her album and wall art a week later. Now that’s what I call service. Here are some of her favs from her session:

Here is what she had to say about her session in her own words:

Marco...

Did you know we offer men’s intimate as well? We do, I have offered them since the begging I just don’t get model releases for much of it as it can get steamy.

This is macro, just a normal guy, who struggles with his self-image. Usually in the band on stage, but totally shy in front of the camera. Men need love too!!! He volunteered to help us out during the Stripped Down workshop this fall. He was nervous as could be at the start of the day, but by the end, he felt like a new man, he felt handsome, and attractive for the frits time in a long time.

Here is a behind-the-scenes from the stripped-down workshop I went to in September this is a clip of the 2 times I got to shoot with Marco, a total of 10 minutes.

So, regardless of gender, here at Boushie Babes everyone gets pampered. In fact, most of the time men need a bit more pampering in the way of compliments than most of my woman clients.

Whether you need a new headshot, social media content, branding, or only fans, I can help you get images you will love and so will everyone else. I only had 10 minutes with Marco, image what I can do with more time..

40 Over 40 Series, Post 1, Sandi

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Meet Sandra, or Sandi as she prefers, she came in to celebrate herself and to get pampered after one hell of a year. She lost her husband this last summer after taking care of him while he was sick. She also is a social worker and works with adults needing more help. So, you can imagine she really needed the day to just find herself again. She is just doing her best to raise her son, grieving a major loss, and trying to live life to the fullest as tomorrow is never promised.

She isn’t used to taking care of herself, so her style session was fun, at first she was shy, unsure, and maybe a bit timid, but in the end, we were chatting like old friends. We found a few good things and talked about how she wanted makeup and hair.

Her session was amazing she showed up with her hot rollers in ready for makeup, and her hair was easy just a quick brushing out, then we got to play. I got to see different faces of her, and show her so many sides of her she doesn’t get to see, and at 50 she really needed to see how beautiful she still is.

So without further a do, here are some her favorites from her session:

What she had to say about her session in her own words:

Love Yourself Series post 20, Tiffany

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Meet Tiffany, this naturally curly and curvy woman who had struggled to love herself and her body her whole life. She grew up in a house that valued work and money over time with loved ones and living life. She in her adult life she has strived for lots of love, lots of experiences, and so much living. She wanted to push her boundaries and come in to see if she too could look and feel more confident and loving towards herself.

She really need to see and invest in herself by having a session, like all of us she really struggled to feel sexy and beautiful most days, she would pick apart her appearance. She needed this, so we got her scheduled, and did her style session she got a few different looks, and we added some pieces from the client closet too the day of her session.

Her session was amazing, we got tons of images. I could tell during her viewing she was still struggling to love herself more, so we stopped and talked more about it for a few, we went deeper, and then we continued, she found the ones she loved the most and we planned her album, she needed payments this was still close to covid early days, so we set that up, though post-payment plans are becoming a thing of the past, and replaced with pre-payment plans. As it’s been a year since her session and she only a few weeks ago got her order, I want a faster turnaround after your session. I want you to get your images faster, and your albums.

Below are some of her images, her Love Note, and her reveal.

She even left a google review, here is what she said:

Positive: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value

Great rapport and excellent instruction during the session!! Would highly recommend it for your boudoir wants and needs! Amazing experience, tons of quality photos that I really love!

-Tiffany

I did fix the spot she pointed at in the wall art, this is why I prefer to do in person reveals so I can fix it right away, she loves her wall art and is hanging it up.

Love Yourself Series post 19, Melisa

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Meet Melisa, she works at the local hospital here in town. She is a mother and a wife. She survived an abusive marriage, worked on herself, and now is married to the best man for her. She is also part of our 40 over 40 campaign as well as our Love yourself campaign, she is 50 this year.

She had to rebuild her mindset after her crappy marriage, and when she finally felt ready she came into celebrating herself, and give a gift to her fabulous hubby. He even came in at the end to help her pick images because she can still be harsh on herself, how many of you are harsh on yourself? She even lost weight but found it made her body image worse, who else has had that happen, I know I have. So, she worked on her inner mindset and still is, progress over perfection. She needed to see the changes, she needed to see herself as sexy and confident.

She gets her lashes done, and gets pampered by taking trips too, but this was more to see herself in a healthier way, a new light. She wanted to see what her hubby is always going on about, and during her shoot, we accomplished just that, she now has a better outlook on herself and her beauty, cause dam she ages like a fine wine. So, below are her love notes, Reveal, and some of her images. She plans on coming in again and again to boost her confidence when she needs it.

Love Yourself Series post 18, Teresa

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Meet Teresa, one strong badass woman, who runs her own business, and struggles with her looks and body after tons of surgeries, she at one time was a weight lifter, but she so really struggled after 2 kids and health issues. She does Cleaning and maintenance, and some remodeling, over in the Valley and Post Falls area. Oh, and she is a grandma, too.

She had always wanted to do a session but after years of abuse, and rape, she had to heal and work on her mindset, which she is still working on. She did the session for herself, and to prove to herself she could still look amazing even with body changes, health issues, and not seeing herself as beautiful anymore.

We met up for her style session and instantly clicked, we chatted for over 2 hours while trying to find her outfits at the mall. I love it when clients and I become instant friends. She wanted a Smokey eye look, she always felt like a raccoon every time she tried it or had it done by someone else. So, I showed her that there was a level of Smokey eyes, and we found one she loved.

Her session was amazing, we did a few extra outfits, because we did the all-black set as well, which run the session later than expected. We were having so much fun we didn’t notice. She loved her images!!! She was amazed at how beautiful she looked and felt. Below are some of her images from her session, her love note, and her reveal of her collection.

Love Yourself Series post 17, Tammy

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Meet Tammy, She is one badass mother, grandmother, and even a great grandma!!! She also is 54 years old!! You are never too old. She works in the medical field, giving back to the communities. She always wanted to do one of these sessions, just never did. She listened to others, got in her head, and finally, she started healing and growing after years of life, kids, and a career.

When we meet at the mall, she was still in her scrubs just fresh from work, and so was I. She had amazing long beautiful hair, and her smile was charming and bright. We shopped for a few things, found a few things she loved, and chatted about life, about how she always took care of others, and never spent time or money on herself. She jumped in when a kid she loved needed her and adopted her, so this badass woman not only raised her kids, but helped her daughter, and her granddaughter raises the next generation all while raising her 4 yr old daughter.

She got to the studio, and she wanted natural makeup and more curls in her hair, so I started to pamper her. She brought a few really amazing pieces, and some we found we didn’t like. We did the session, she got out of he comfort zone, she even did in the sheets!!! Which is implied nudity if you didn’t know. these turn out to be some of my client’s favorite images every time. Less is more, more emotive, more vulnerable, I love showing my clients an image of themselves as the subject, the center of the image. She loved her bombshell image above, one of her favs. Below are a few more of her images.

She even jumped on my pre-payment bonuses and got both studios, and more time in the studios with me, we got so many it was hard to stay in the collection she had already paid for, and yes upgrades are totally allowed!!! She even agreed to let me use her images in my new 40 over 40 series too….stay tuned for more info.

Love Yourself Series post 16, Tasha

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Beauty to Bombshell

Meet Tasha, she’s as unconventional as they come, and she always stands true to herself above all else. She never wanted kids or the American dream as society sells it, so she honored that and got beat down for it, she was shamed at times for not wanting what women are supposed to want. She is a 45-year-old badass woman if you ask me.

She jumped on my pre-payment plans last summer and came in this summer for her session, she had been shopping and saving all dam year for this treat, this once-in-a-lifetime experience she had to have. She doesn’t give herself enough credit she thinks she’s boring, yet she is teaching herself guitar, learning to grow plants, loves her pets, works hard, and doesn’t tolerate bullshit.

She planned for a year as I said for this session, so by the time of her style session she had outfits and props, so we just connected and laughed for a while. During her shoot we had so much fun, we found a few outfits that didn’t do her justice, and we found some she totally rocked in. As with all my sessions, we even find some poses that don’t look all that good, but we find way more than are totally amazing and showcase personality.

Love Yourself Series post 15, Debra

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

Beauty to Bombshell

Meet Debra, a stay-at-home mom with a part-time job to help provide for her family. She always just felt overlooked and normal. She wanted to do this to show herself she was beautiful just the way she is. Like most of us shorter gals, we feel cute, not confident and sexy, or like a real woman.

So she took the chance to get out of her comfort zone and did something she thanked herself for. She booked a session. She wanted to showcase her style, which was more of shorts and a sweater, or more comfort over style and I loved that. She is bubbly, and always had a smile.

She struggles like most of us do with accepting herself and her body as things change, we have kids or we get a bit older. So we showed her just that, just how amazing she is right now. After 4 kids and life, she finally did something for herself.

We had so much fun, we played, we laughed, and we discovered a bit more of who Debra is. She got see and finally see herself in a new light.

Love Yourself Series post 14, Tarin

In this series within my blog, I will share individual client stories, that they have allowed me to share with you, in hopes of encouraging you to love yourself more right now not when. These are real women, with real stories.

beauty to bombshell

Meet Tarin, a beautiful amazing woman on her path of self-discovery after years of not being truly loved for who she is. She served in the navy, married young, divorced young, now a single mother who hasn’t let anything stop her. She may have gotten sidetracked a few times but she is now on her way.

She is back in school for her passion, taking amazing care of herself and her son!! She struggles just like most of us, but she keeps going. She is on a healing journey working on both the physical and mental things she needs to. She struggles with Crohn’s, so her weight yo-yos are due to flare-ups, but she is still gorgeous.

She is chasing her dreams, getting out of her comfort zone, and doing it!! No, it’s not easy, but she gets up and gets it done.

Her shoot was amazing, and we got some amazing shots, she had a hard time letting any go, she loved so many images from her session. She even brought in her favorite coffee mug!! I was like hell freaking yeah!!!

In, fact as I write this she has already booked another session!!! She felt more seen and more herself than before. She felt comfortable finally discovering who she is not who others say she is. So below are some of her images, only a handful.

Here is what she had to say, since her shoot ran a bit over, and we got distracted I had to text her after to get it, but here is what she said about her session:

“Before my shoot I was nervous. I didn’t really know how I’d look and that worried me. I am very self-conscious and hate that I always feel like the camera adds weight to me. But I was also really excited to do something purely for me to make myself feel good about myself. During my session, I felt awkward but I trust Accalia completely. She made me feel comfortable and confident in my skin. It was fun to just let loose and enjoy the moment. I fell in love with images. Some of them weren’t amazing but it wasn’t the fault of anyone it just wasn’t the photo I got excited about. A few of them I looked at and finally saw what others have told me for a while. I felt sexy, confident and like a real woman even though I’m in my 30’s and a mom, I I never felt like I was a woman, whether it was due to my size or constantly being reminded I’m someone’s daughter, I always felt so young and cute. Now I am able to fully embrace my 30s and sexy self. Do it!!! You can always delete the photos but you rarely get the chance to just be you and be made to feel amazing about your body and who you are. It’s worth it to just be the center of attention and focus on your well-being and positivity alone.”-Tarin

How to pose like a model when you're not

How do the cover models do it?

A knock-out photo time and time again?

Well, genetics help ( yes) but so does knowing how to pose for photos, tricks of the trade that can help turn you into the version of you you’ve always wanted.

So in order to prevent you from cringing at yet another picture of yourself, we have collected these tips with the help of the experts so you can take a good photo well before the camera clicks.

1) Before the shoot -

Get some “R&R” take it easy, no tricks here get some rest. The best photos are moments. So just be in them, and relax. Get a good night’s sleep, and don’t eat too much the night before either. You want to be as fresh as you can be. If possible do yoga or meditate before.

2) Posture, hair, shave, and clothes -

Are 4 main things to consider when preparing for your photograph to be taken. No matter how you want to look be it smart or rugged, all of these things are easy to do, but the thought and preparation before a shoot are difficult to fix at the last minute. It goes without saying a fresh hairstyle and a clean shave will make you look more presentable but the clothes you wear are often overlooked pieces of the jigsaw when it comes to preparing for a photo shoot.

3) What to do with your face:

One thing that may make one side better than the other is a must hide the blemish. To hide a double chin, or even just to prevent one showing up that isn’t there push your chin out a little bit down. This will also make the jaw look more angular. Do not pull it back as this tends to be why double chins show up in photos. An elevated camera angle will also help here, and not facing the camera squarely, as doing so can cause a face to widen, while a little bit of a turn helps create a more flattering look. When smiling try to keep your tongue behind your teeth and to the roof of your mouth. This keeps the smile controlled, prevents a gummy smile, and can lift the face while tightening the area underneath your chin.

4)When taking selfies-

Hold the camera as far away from your face as possible, especially if you’ve got a prominent snout.

5) What to do with your body:

Just get comfortable, if it feels weird, it probably looks like it. As mentioned early, maintaining posture is also key. Keep your chest broad, shoulders back, and pinch your shoulder blades together to prevent hunched over shoulders. Looking over your shoulder with your back towards the camera is flattering for everyone it shows a good jawline and angle for the face. Avoid creating parallel lines though, such as standing with arms by one’s sides. It is rigid and unflattering.

Fuck Shame.....Still I rise....

shame

/SHām/

noun

1. a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.

   "she was hot with shame"

verb

1. (of a person, action, or situation) make (someone) feel ashamed.

   "I tried to shame him into giving some away"

Shame is also a feeling of I am bad, or something is wrong with me, instead of the behavior.

What do you feel when you look at this image?

As women, we are constantly told who and what we should or shouldn’t be. We are told to be ourselves, yet not like that.

I am here to say:

FUCK SHAME and FUCK THAT!!!

and those who make you feel shameful.

We are all human and we have needs, food, shelter, love, and connection.

The image above speaks to the shame a lot of us feel towards our sexuality and pleasure. It gives me the feels, like so many feels. The model and I were wrapping her session and she sat there and curled up and I was like wait….grabbed the toys, laid them out, and gave her a bit of coaching and direction.

This image brings up tons of stuff for me, about being told to not like toys, that it was wrong to feel pleasure or to explore yourself. So, much more as well like being a sexual woman was taught to be bad, to want sex was bad, to enjoy it was really bad, yet men love it yet shame us for the same pleasures.

Again, FUCK THAT!!!

I am a woman watch me take my power back, and say fuck that!!!

Ladies, I invite you to help yourself, do the shadow work, and reclaim your power!!!

FUCK SHAME!!!

Let’s make some amazing art along the way!!!!

Just start, now where you are, let go of what others have told you to be, and start asking yourself who you want to be, and then take action on that, no matter what you can do this. Only you can.

I have created a safe place to explore the different sides of who you are, a no-judgment zone. A place you can be who you are, or who you want to be for a day, the best thing is you are safe to explore yourself in ways we rarely if ever get to.

So let us rise again ladies and reclaim our sacred power as women as creators, and as lovers.

Still I Rise

BY MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.