Why taking Nudes are so important in your boudoir session
photos taken by madison
There was a time in my healing journey when I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror naked, and I know we have all been there at one time or another. Seeing my naked body used to bring up so many old thoughts. The moment it started to change was when I began taking naked photos of myself back in 2020, but the WOW of being naked didn’t really come to life until Greece. I shared this story before, when Brina photographed me naked at the nude beach. Those boudoir photos were something else. I had never felt so free in my own skin, in my own body. Being surrounded by other humans who were also naked and not being sexualized felt so freeing.
There was no performance, no comparison, no pressure, just bodies existing as they are meant to.
Yesterday, Madison and I went upstairs for training, and she photographed me fully naked. I also added a few of the photos she took of me back in December, and we played with the Wet Set again. I did this because our bodies change so much, and I wanted to document my current body, the body that is stronger, softer, and older. I am turning 35 next month, and I wanted to see myself in this chapter of my life. Not the version from five years ago. Not the version I am trying to become.
But the version that exists right now.
I find that as a boudoir photographer, with the amount of time I spend in front of the camera wearing lingerie, it does not carry the same impact for me anymore compared to being fully naked in front of the camera and embracing my body for what it truly is. Lingerie is beautiful, but it can still feel like a layer of protection. When that layer is gone, there is nothing left to adjust, hide, or perfect. It becomes honest. It becomes grounding. It becomes art.
I am not saying that after reading this you will immediately say yes to nude photos in your upcoming boudoir session, but I do want you to sit with the fear of being naked and notice what comes up. Where did that fear begin? Who told you your body needed to be different? What would it feel like to stand in front of a camera with nothing to hide behind and simply exist?
Maybe your first reaction is no. Maybe it feels uncomfortable. Maybe it feels too vulnerable. That is okay. Growth rarely begins with confidence. It usually begins with awareness. The awareness that the discomfort might not actually be about your body, but about the stories you were taught about your body.
You do not have to be fearless to do something powerful. You just have to be willing. Willing to see yourself without filters. Willing to soften the criticism. Willing to allow a new narrative to form when you see an image that reflects strength instead of flaws.
Nude images are not about showing more skin. They are about stripping away judgment. They are about meeting yourself without distraction and realizing that your body is not something to fix, shrink, or apologize for. It is something that has carried you through life.
We only have one body. It carries us through every season, every heartbreak, every win, every chapter. It deserves to be documented. It deserves to be celebrated.
It deserves kindness. And sometimes the most powerful way to honor it is to see it fully
The three photos below were taken once a year, each one holding a different version of me. Different body types, different chapters, different levels of softness.
I wanted to capture this chapter of my life, the calm chapter, the at peace chapter, the kinder chapter. What is wild is that when those photos were taken, I remember hating the body I saw in the moment. I remember picking it apart, focusing on what I thought needed to change. But now, looking back at them, I see them so differently. I see strength. I see growth.
I see a woman who was doing her best in that season. That shift in perspective is exactly why documenting each chapter matters, because one day you will look back at the version of you that felt “not enough” and realize she was more than enough all along.
Before your nude images, I encourage you to try a simple mirror practice.
Stand in front of the mirror naked, not posed, not sucking in, not adjusting, just standing as you are. Take one slow breath in and one slow breath out.
Instead of scanning for flaws, begin scanning for gratitude.
Gently look at different parts of your body and remind yourself what they have carried for you:
• Look at your shoulders and remember they have held weight you do not always talk about.
• Look at your stomach and remind yourself it has digested stress, excitement, love, and life.
• Look at your legs and acknowledge that they have walked you through every chapter.
If judgment shows up, do not fight it, just notice it and ask yourself who taught you to speak to your body that way. Place your hand on your chest and say, this is my body, it is not wrong.
Hold eye contact with yourself for a few seconds, not to critique, but to witness.
If it feels uncomfortable, stay. If it feels emotional, breathe. If it feels empowering, remember that feeling.
This is the energy you bring into a nude session, not perfection and not one hundred percent confidence, but presence. Nude photography is not about being fearless, it is about being willing to see yourself without armor, and the more gently you practice that in the mirror, the easier it becomes to let someone else reflect it back to you.
This image speaks deeply through the stretch marks that run across the skin.
So often, these lines are the very things people try to hide, smooth out, or apologize for, yet they are some of the most honest markers of a life fully lived. Stretch marks tell stories of growth, change, strength, and time.
They show that the body has expanded, adapted, carried weight both physically and emotionally, and continued forward.
In this light, they are not flaws at all, but quiet proof of resilience. When photographed without shame or editing them away, they become something powerful to witness, a reminder that our bodies are not meant to stay the same, but to evolve with us through every chapter of life.
