My First Shoot

12 Aug My First Shoot

For those of you I haven’t gotten to meet yet, I’m Kaitlyn, Sara’s assistant. I started working here back in January, and from my first meeting with Sara, I knew that my team member photo shoot would be coming. I’m not going to lie, this absolutely TERRIFIED me! My one and only experience having my pictures taken by anyone but friends had ended in a total disaster, and I feared that my boudoir session would go in a similar fashion.

As the months went on, I knew my shoot was getting closer and closer. My fears grew, and I highly considered trying to find a way to get out of it all together. My viewpoint shifted ever so slightly on the day of my planning and prep. I was still afraid of stripping down, and trying to look good all at the same time, but now I had a slight hint of excitement mixed in there as well. I had seen enough of you beautiful ladies go through this process that I knew there would be at least a few pictures that I would end up liking. However, at this point I was still hanging on to the thought that I am not photogenic.

Almost a month later (after having to reschedule dates), it was finally the night before my session. All of my outfits had been finalized, and my stomach was full of butterflies. What shocked me was that these were no longer the butterflies of someone who was scared. These were the Christmas Eve butterflies I would get as a kid. I hardly slept that night, as the anticipation kept my mind racing.

The moment I walked into the studio that Friday morning, all traces of fear left my body. It was time to get pampered and have an amazing time. As I sat getting my hair and makeup done, the vibes in the room were very much silly (as you can see in my getting ready picture). Makenzie did make it a point to be very thorough with her questions, making sure I ended up with a look I would love. But, other than that , all three of us were all laughs and jokes.

Then, it was time. I put on my first outfit, and was directed to the bed so we could begin. After snapping a few shots, Sara showed me what would be one of several shots off the back of her camera. It may not have shown, but I almost started to cry. This was the first time that I looked at a picture of myself and felt beautiful, pretty, sexy, and so much more. I was in shock. We had been shooting for less than 5 minutes, and Sara had already managed to capture a picture of me that I loved.

Needless to say, the rest of my shoot went better than I could have ever imagined. I may have been nearly naked, but there wasn’t a single moment that I didn’t feel completely comfortable. We danced to Beyoncé, I managed to get some lipstick in my eyebrow, and had an all around great time. By the time we wrapped up, I could hardly stand to wait a whole week for my reveal.

Fast forward a week, and I’m sitting at the reveal table. I am long past the point of being able to contain my excitement. I know that there are going to be some shots that I love, but I am still half expecting to see a lot of pictures that I don’t like myself in.

Then, my slideshow starts. I think I managed to hide it pretty well, but I was almost in tears the whole time. Out of over 100 images, there were less than 10 that I wasn’t absolutely in love with. It was almost as if I was looking at pictures of another person. This wasn’t the girl who hated having her picture taken for fear of looking “weird”. Instead, I saw confidence and strength. No surprises, I left with the big package, and a huge book. There was no way I was going to be able to choose between these pictures.

I think the coolest thing about this whole process is how I felt afterwards. I left the studio after my reveal feeling like I was walking on air. I don’t think the smile left my face for the whole rest of the day. This photo shoot instilled a confidence in me that I didn’t think was possible. I’m not afraid to take silly pictures of myself, or to have others take pictures of me anymore. I spend significantly less time worrying about what others think of my appearance, and significantly more time making myself feel great.

I know that there is only so much that I can say before people start to think, “yeah yeah, you work there, you have to say these things.” But, every word of it is true. Sara has not proofread this, and will be reading this along with all of you! She has given me complete creative control (which is pretty freaking awesome!) I am SO extremely happy that she pushed me into doing my shoot, and I can’t wait until my next chance to be in front of the camera!