From Self-Destruction To Knowing My Self-Worth

“Like most women, I've struggled with my own insecurities of self-confidence and self-worth. For the longest time, I've always had difficulty believing that I was beautiful. I've been told by many people how beautiful I was, yet was unable to tell my own self that. My lack of confidence caused me to compare myself to other women and would notice how absolutely gorgeous they were. I felt flawed, and my self-worth plummeted as a result.

When I found out that my ex-boyfriend had lied and cheated on me with a married woman, I was completely heartbroken and felt immense sadness and anger. I had the core belief that something was wrong with me and that it was my fault for what had happened. I'm not even sure how to fully articulate this feeling, but whatever it was, I just didn't feel ENOUGH. Pretty enough, clever enough, worthy enough, or just, well, anything enough. I suffered greatly from depression and anxiety, and coped by self-destructing. 

It wasn't until the day after my birthday that I received a text message from a good friend of mine and fellow #SheerBeauty, Miss M. In the message was a link to schedule a boudoir session with Brian and Jennifer at Sheer Photography. Miss M mentioned her own experience with Sheer Photography and described it as being one of the best and most life-changing experiences she's ever had. I've always had an interest in booking a boudoir session and I took her text message as sign that I should finally do something beneficial for myself. So I made it official! I booked my first ever boudoir session with Sheer Photography and it ended up being the best decision I've ever made.

Words cannot express how awesome my #SheerExperience was!! It was truly an amazing and life-changing experience!!! From the moment I walked up the stairs I was filled with excitement and couldn't wait to get started. Brian and Jennifer made me feel comfortable and were so much fun to work with!!! They both made my #SheerExperience an amazing one and helped me feel beautiful, sexy and confident. 

On the day of my reveal, I was amazed at how stunning and sexy I looked in the photographs. I couldn't believe that the woman I saw in the pictures was actually me! For the first time in my life, I said that I was beautiful and actually believed it! I couldn't be happier with my photos!! This whole experience and seeing those photographs has helped me realize that I am much more than what I originally thought of myself as. It has taught me that I do need to start loving myself more because I am worthy, I am beautiful and I am good enough. 

Thank you Brian and Jennifer for giving me the experience of a lifetime. This experience has truly made a world of difference in how I feel and think about myself. I'm forever grateful for everything you both have done for me. Thank you so much.”

IS THAT ME?!?!

It’s still so hard to believe that it is me in these photos.

When I started this adventure I researched every place that offered boudoir photography and even thought about if I could do it myself, but when it came right back to the facts Sheer Photography had the best price for a professional and SAFE experience. 

Never was I scared, heck, I could see myself stripping it all off again.  It was so good for me. I use to weigh a lot; like 300 lbs., then I lost over half of that and ended up divorced after 15 years. All my kids are grown up and I’ve felt ugly, insecure, zero confidence and hated my body. 

Doing this boudoir session, was the perfect chance for someone to show me what I had to offer myself. The Sheer Experience did so much for me. I left there thinking I could make it again and even started looking for a better job.

Brian & Jen made me realize I have a worth and I can’t let anyone, a man, friends, or even family destroy that. I hope all women look at my pictures and realize that I'm definitely not a size 4 and that I even was heavier then I wanted when I came in for pictures but I am beautiful!! Love yourself. Every morning and every night I go to bed remembering this when I look at my wall art.

Don't forget the CHAMPAGNE!!!

Before my photo shoot, I was so nervous about all the little things and very worried about how I’d look on camera. I’ve always had a lot of body image issues and feel my body is “boring” and lacking curves in the right areas.

Jen starts to boost your confidence right away while she works her magic on your makeup, lashes, and hair. She makes it fun while she does it too, which helps ease the nerves.

Then its time to get undressed for the shoot & both Jen and Brian are so excited it really feels so easy! (Heck, I ended up totally nude by the end 🤣).

When Brian first turned the camera around to show an image I couldn’t believe it was me! After that, it was game on!

At the reveal with Jen, you’ll have a hard time choosing which images are your favorite and that says a lot about their work.

If you are looking to book a boudoir session with Jen and Brian, do it!! I followed their work for years until I finally got the courage, which I’m so happy I did. You will come out feeling super confident and sexy...what woman doesn’t want that?! Also, don’t forget the champagne if you want to have some bonus fun at your shoot!!

Finding my CONFIDENCE!

I had been wanting to do a boudoir session for a while, but always had the thoughts of “you can’t do sexy, you can’t be sexy, you don’t look like the beautiful women you’ve seen do these photo shoots”.

I was always thinking about all my flaws: I break out all the time, my booty could be bigger, and my boobs could be smaller. In my mind, my body is not where I wanted it to be for doing a sexy photo shoot.

I decided to scheduled my first boudoir session, I went with my best friend so we could do it together. She had previously done a boudoir before, so she was my support system for mine. We ended up going to someone she had found on social media. I thought well at least if my photos don’t turn out great I wouldn’t be spending a lot of money.

Well in turn I lost more than a little money, I lost so much confidence in myself, and was scared to even show my now fiancé the finished photos because even though he says I’m sexy, I felt anything but that, deep down I thought if he saw those photos he wouldn’t think I was as sexy as he said I was before.

After I stopped dragging myself through the dirt, and feeling down on myself I reached out to Jen & Brian. I had known about Sheer Photography for 4 years, and absolutely loved their work! I told them my story, and they were there to listen, and provide me with so much information, and encouragement not to let this one bad shoot define how I felt about myself.

I know many people will be like ”well why didn’t you go there in the first place?” And like previously stated I felt that I couldn’t do/be sexy, so I went in the wrong direction that lead me to believe that so much more. When I decided that it was my time to try again I knew coming to Sheer was going to change things for me, I just didn’t know how much!

From the time I walked up the stairs, I felt so welcomed, and comfortable around Jen and Brian. They made me feel beautiful, sexy, and so so soooo confident in my skin again. Working with them was just easy, carefree, and so much fun! When I left I was so happy with how the day went and all the sneak peeks that came with it, but was still just a tad bit nervous about going back for my reveal and having to see, and pick all of my photos.

Fast forward to my reveal, I kid you not when I say I wanted to cry watching the slideshow of my photos that they had put together. It had been so long since I saw myself as someone beautiful, and I never really thought of myself as sexy, but HOT DAMN did they prove to me that I can feel and be both! Jen and Brian truly made me feel even more confident in myself than I had ever been.

I wanted to do this for myself, but I never thought that I actually NEEDED to do this for myself.

I am so beyond thankful for them, and what they’ve done for me. They made me love all things about myself, especially my booty! All I can say is if you’re thinking about doing a boudoir shoot, do it for you! Having a #SheerExperience has made a world of difference in how I look and feel about myself. If you’re like me and had a bad first boudoir shoot and are thinking about doing another one, do it! It’s not you that can’t do/be sexy, because you can and you are, and Jen and Brian are the people you can trust the most to prove that to you!

Miss A and why she booked a #SheerExperience

First off I want to thank Jenn and Brian for my AMAZING #SheerExperience. They are great people! 

I choose to do my #sheerexperience with them because I am currently ending my marriage of 7 years. It’s been really hard on me. I am a mother of two boys, one whom is in sports and going into a new school, so as every mom knows kids and change sometimes are hard, I own two business, and making a whole new life for myself. I was in such a funk that I started to feel so bad about myself, between the family and friends who I am losing ending my marriage, I was starting to lose sight in who I was and what life ment to me. I was told to do a shoot and feel sexy again to get back out there and be the amazing woman I once was. I went in to Jen and Brian with no limits, I wanted them to tell me how sexy I was, or how amazing I was looking. Having two complete strangers sit there and know nothing about you, repeat over and over how beautiful you are and just get excited every time that picture was taken, that gave me the boost of confidence I was needing back! I now look at my pictures every morning and remind myself on how strong I look in my photos and how badass I really am. I even made one of my favorite pictures the background on my phone, every time someone has my phone or looks and asks me “who is that sexy picture of?” Or “DAMN who is that girl?” I look at them and I smile and say me. The reactions I get keep me going. Knowing that people see me 100% different then how I see myself, they see something in me that I have been looking for and I think I am starting to find it.

My #SheerExperience

When I first thought of Boudoir I will admit I thought, “I can't do anything like this, that's something for models.” I am a person who has many insecurities about my body and knew I would not like any pictures taken of myself in that way. It wasn't until my good friend Allie told me about doing a boudoir shoot for her fiance for his bachelor party and for the night before the wedding that I really looked into a boudoir shoot. She too had some insecurities, however, following her shoot and seeing her photos she told me how much confidence she felt and how empowered she felt about her own body. The moment I heard this I knew I wanted that. I wanted to feel that way about myself.  I started looking into photographers but everyone in Pittsburgh I found I did not have a good feeling about. Allie said her session felt rushed and I knew I didn't want that. Of course we also see the cost and immediately have second thoughts.  So I started to look into more local photographers, since I currently live in Austintown, OH and stumbled upon Sheer Photography. I started to explore their site and immediately fell in love with some of their samples on their website. I did not reach out right away because I was extremely nervous. I had never done anything like this before. I started to run through reasons why I could do this other than I wanted to feel better about myself. I decided that I could do this for my husband because his birthday was coming up in February and I could give it to him as a gift.  I finally, after 3-4 weeks of trying to convince myself, reached out to Sheer and said I was interested in doing a shoot. I was very upfront about being nervous and how “out of my comfort zone” this was going to be for me. Jen and Brian were amazing. Jen responded in less than 24 hours and told me I should come in to a group and talk to her and some others about the shoot. So I booked my date and came in for a discussion. Right when I met Jen I knew I liked her. I mean what girl doesn't like another girl offering you chocolate and wine and wanting to take sexy photos of you? I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what to wear, how to prepare or anything about this. I didn't admit it at the time but when Jen was giving us advice on outfits to wear and asked us what we didn't like about our body I wanted to say “everything”. But my favorite part of this night, other than meeting a now new friend, was hearing about a #SheerBeauty's experience in person. Hearing her testimony of how she did not like her body and now, after her reveal, how in love she now is with her body made me that much more excited to have my own #SheerExperience.  I explored several lingerie sites, as suggested by Jen and other Sheer Beauties on the facebook page, and found a few outfits that I really loved for a reasonable price (a few were $5 or less!). I even shared with my mom that I was doing this and she surprised me with a few outfits as well. As my shoot date came up my nerves were rising by the day. I decided that I wanted this shoot to be me so I didn't starve myself or try going to the gym 3x/day. I ate healthy as I normally do and I worked out in my normal routine.  Then came the day of my shoot. Let me tell you I don't think anyone could be more nervous than I was. I even packed a bottle of wine and 3 mini shots of Fireball with no intention of drinking them to be honest but just in case I needed to get out of my own head. Jen picked out the outfits she liked best while I was getting hair and make up done, which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, because Brittany is absolutely amazing. When she was finished with my hair and make up I felt like a whole new woman. I had never felt so beautiful, other than my wedding day lol. Don't come in with expectations just let Brittany do her thing and she'll make you feel like a goddess. But, even with how beautiful I felt it didn't stop my nerves. I got into my first outfit and I was nauseous. I came out of the changing room and felt like I was shaking and I was. I was so nervous Brian could tell. I was sweating and shaking in my entire first outfit. By the time we were done with the first outfit and I was changing Jen and Brittany needed to take me in to the hallway for air because I started to cry I was so nervous. Brittany had peppermint oil that she rubbed on the back of my neck and the sides of my face. After cooling off I felt a lot better. We continued with the shoot and the more we took photos and the more Brian showed me the better I was feeling. I actually felt sexy which I didn't think was possible. At one point Brian and Jen asked me what kind of photos I was looking for and interested in. I told them to make me a guinea pig because I had no idea. That's when things got fun!! Put your trust in Brian and Jen. Jen will put you into poses that you cannot look bad in. Try your best to not think about your insecurities because Jen will make sure you are in the most flattering poses. I can say with confidence now that I did everything I could to make the most of my shoot and to just go for it! My shoot started with me shaking, sweating, and crying and ended with me topless in the shower and I loved every minute of it.  The following week Jen had me in for my reveal and I think I almost cried. I kept all but 1 of my photos that was taken. We went through them and hand picked photos I wanted to put in an album that I wanted to keep for myself and then we went back through and picked photos that I was going to use as present for my husband. This is where things got rocky. I got the present and I was in love. I was so excited to surprise him with these photos and with the flash drive so he could see them all. The day came and the reaction I got was not what I had hoped for. My husband actually was not a fan of my photos because there was too much makeup and he could not see past this. He likes me all natural and he decided to tell me that the photos “aren't you, I can't see you.” I was crushed. I went to my room and started crying for the next 2 days. I reached back out to Jen and thought I made the worst mistake of my life. But as time went on and I kept looking at my photos I was more angry than sad that he didn't like them because I felt sexy. Jen messaged me when my album came in and my excitement stirred in my heart. When I came to pick up my album I was in tears. I WAS IN LOVE WITH MYSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.  Do I still have insecurities, yes, what girl doesn't. But I can now see myself in a new light after being a part of the sheer beauty experience. I can now see myself as beautiful and sexy in my own skin. I am so happy that I chose to do this and so thankful to Jen for her support throughout this entire experience.

So, if I want to share anything with you sheer beauties about this whole experience it is this:

1) Be courageous, step out of your comfort zone as hard as it might be cause the outcome is well worth it.

2) If you want to do this, DO IT FOR YOURSELF, NOT FOR SOMEONE ELSE.

I am Strong

I am a 26 year old domestic abuse survivor.  Like many who have experienced this I lost myself. I lost my identity and any confidence I had in myself throughout the run of the relationship. I often lived in fear of setting him off. I dressed the way he wanted. Wore my makeup the way he wanted all to apese him. When it all came to a violent end and I moved back home I knew I needed to gain control back over my life.

So I started seeing a therapist. I started to reconnect with old friends which led me to finding out about Sheer. When I booked my #sheerexperience I had no idea what to expect. I was nervous. After years of having every flaw pointed out, I was nervous to do this. Which is why I knew I had to. This experience was so liberating. What Jen and Brian do is nothing short of amazing. They both made me feel so comfortable and relaxed. Jen was the best hype woman a girl could ever ask for. She was there to listen to my concerns. Listen to my problems in my life as well as listen to me gush over nails and make up. She is truly one of the most amazing humans I have met in my life. I can not thank these two humans enough for what they have done for me.

My #sheerexperience is something I will cherish forever. That session with them gave me so much confidence and just gave me back a little control I hadn’t had in a really long time. It was so liberating. I am forever grateful for the chance to work with these amazing humans. Thank you for everything

Empowered for simply being a woman

I am 30 years old, married, a mother of 3 beautiful children and work full time. Like many in similar situations I spend most of my time simply trying to balance this chaotic, overwhelming, but totally worth it life. Unfortunately, also like many others, I often lose myself in the process. When I booked my #SheerExperience I was recovering from the worst years of my life. I had lost myself entirely and had just started working on myself again. I knew I drastically needed to do something for me and after following Sheer for quite some time, I noticed I felt empowered simply by their social media posts. Empowered simply for being a woman. For going through all the same stresses most of us go through, and waking up the next day to brave them again. So many women were being vulnerable, talking about their insecurities, their struggles, and how Sheer helped them see themselves differently. Whatever this phenomenon was that women were feeling after their sessions, I needed that.

My session was the day after I turned 30, and the timing could not have been more perfect. The six months prior to my session were full of rebuilding, growth, happiness, and love. I was finally seeing and feeling the payoff from the hard work I had been putting into myself, my family and my job. The day of my session I thought I was the most confident I had ever been. My body wasn’t perfect, but the photos weren’t about that for me. They were to capture this moment in time. This pivotal moment in my life, where I had weathered so many storms and continued to come out stronger in the end. Somehow, my Sheer Experience was even more than I had anticipated. I had read the posts and comments, I’d seen the photos, EVERYONE was happy with their experience.  But it can not be said enough how incredibly comfortable Jen and Brian make you feel. How two people have the ability to empower so many women is almost unbelievable, but it’s true. I felt comfortable, beautiful and confident throughout my entire session. Jen is the ultimate SHEERleader and has an incredible ability to read exactly what YOU need to feel comfortable and sexy. And as if my actual session wasn’t amazing enough, my reveal was far more than I could have ever imagined. I am still blown away by the woman in the photos. I never really valued being sexy, it was never an adjective I associated myself to. Not to mention, after back to back pregnancies and a very rough few years of life, sexy wasn’t on my priority list. But I saw myself as sexy on Reveal day and I have ever since. That’s the empowering part for me. Sheer Photography showed me I’m sexy. It gave me the opportunity to appreciate myself, to take a step back and see myself as an individual again, as Miss K ❤️  

Miss K and her #SheerExperience

I cyberstalked Sheer Photography for months before I booked them. Why did I book? Because this isn’t the kind of experience where you show up, have your photos taken awkwardly and then leave to wait for an email with your semi-okay photos.

Nope. This was so very much more.

I’ve struggled with my body for years. I was 140 pounds my freshman year of high school and *LOL* I thought I was fat. By my freshman year of college I had dropped 25 pounds because of a toxic relationship i was in with a man who told me repeatedly that he “Liked girls with a nice ass” and told me my boobs were “too big”. I endured that kind of toxicity for over two years and it took a major toll on my body and my soul.

I was at my skinniest and still felt ugly and disgusting. Then i found a man who loved me for me and helped me build myself back up piece by piece for another two years - but then I gained a buuuuuunch of weight. My mom calls it “happy fat” (I call it wine and cheese dip, damn you MOSCATO)... but even still, the body image issue returned with vengeance. I could feel my belly growing and getting flabbier and flabbier, my face puffing out and I hated myself again.

So I found Sheer. At first, I couldn’t justify spending money on myself. I couldn’t convince myself I was one of the girls in their photos, so I just joined the VIP group. I watched all these women of all shapes and sizes getting their photos done and talking about how AMAZING they felt. Still, I couldn’t do it. Then the Mother’s Day sale came around and I suck “OKAY KRISTEN LETS DO THIS.” I set my session six months out (in october) swearing to myself that I’d lose the weight. Spoiler alert: I did not. I gymed hard the month before my session but only lost a tiny bit of the weight I wanted gone.

My session was nothing short of awesome. Jamming to rap tunes got me in the spirit, jumping around like a T-Rex, laughing and having a good time COMPLETELY NUDE in front of two human beings I’d only met once before my session. I was SO comfortable with them that I went totally naked and didn’t care. And my photos? I LOOK SOOOO AMAZING. I finally saw the body that my boyfriend does when he sees me. Chubby and all, it didn’t matter, because I was reeling convince in my curves.

Here’s the gist of it ladies and gents: this was a life changing session for me. I am no longer making myself feel like garbage for being a little soft in the middle. I’m going back again to do a session with my boyfriend. It’s more than “Oh yeah, you look sexy” it’s “You are a beautiful badass bitch who deserves to love and be loved by yourself and everyone else.”

Jen and Brian are MAJOR GOALS when it comes to being a boudoir photographer. This has changed everything in my life about my self confidence and my desire to change my body. You will not regret your decision to go with these two. Not only are they HELLA awesome as people, they’re an excellent photo team and you’ll love being part of their community of self love and beauty. Ya won’t regret it. Xoxo.

--

What started as a wedding gift turned into so much more.

Hey there Beauties! I was first introduced to sheer photographies VIP page a year ago. At first, I was hesitant to be apart of the group, but after seeing all of these beautiful women share their #SheerExperience and post their stunning pics I couldn’t leave!

These beautiful women in the group would post their sneak peak photos and all I could think to myself was “this would be such a great gift for my fiancé, but there’s no way I could do it.” I kept wishing I could be like those women, the courage that they showed for sharing their photos was something I admired in itself! Let’s face it, we all have insecurities and that would be my biggest fear is showing those insecurities for everyone to see. I have struggled with my body my entire life. Growing up my weight was always a problem and I never liked a thing about the way I looked.

Getting ready for work one morning, I saw Jen and Brian posted something about an awesome deal that was coming up and when they finally announced it, something inside of me just said “do the damn thing!” And well... I pulled out my credit card and booked! I was nervous and excited all at once and their was no turning back now! Can I do this? I knew this would be a great gift for my now husband and I just had to go through with it.

The day of the shoot came around, I put on my makeup, struggled putting on my fake lashes and was on my way. I was a nervous wreck! I got to the studio so early that I decided to stop for ice cream as a stress eater to calm my nerves.. yeah, I know that wasn’t the best idea. I get there and Jen has me lay out my outfits and the nerves started to go away just from having a conversation with her. I felt like I was talking to a good friend.  I get into my first outfit, step into my first pose, Brian snaps the first picture and shows me... is that really me?! Okay, I got this now! The shoot was so fun and Jen literally does the poses with you which is a huge help! Because let’s be real, she is the pose queen!

A week goes by and I get my reveal. Well, I’m blown away. It was so hard to pick!! And I couldn’t believe that was actually me! I honestly wanted to cry. I finally could see what my husband has been telling me all along. I left with so much confidence, it truly was the best feeling. Could I really wait to give this as a wedding present? Yeah, that answer was a no! I had to show him! And of course, he LOVED them!! So much so, my pictures are his background on his phone, which is another confidence booster let’s be real.

So for you ladies that are second guessing yourself for whatever that reason may be, my advice for you is to do it for yourself! What I thought was a gift for my husband turned out to be more of a gift for me. It made me love the body I am in. You will not be disappointed trust me! Jen and Brian are such great people and they go above and beyond for their sheer beauties! So stop waiting and book!!

Miss L and her journey.

I found a group whose mission is lift and empower other woman. To appreciate true beauty, the beauty of a person’s soul. Brian & Jen have found a way to artfully expose not only our bodies but the true beauty of our souls. Cheesy? Yes of course but all the best most joyful true moments, experiences in life are simply that. I’ll assume my story is like that of other women, and if you’re researching Sheer Photography yours too. I wanted to do a #SheerExoerience for a while, like a long time. I didn’t think I was “ready” to show off my body in that way. I compared the way I looked to others, always focusing on the flaws, not good enough. I went through a divorce and it wasn’t difficult, I was over the relationship at that time. It was the years it took me to feel okay with the decision to leave. I found strength in myself along that journey with the help of friends and family. I coped in ways I could including unhealthy and healthy. Luckily, the healthy coping lead me to Brian & Jen. I decided that after all my hard work both emotionally and physically I wanted to appreciate where I was. I looked on Instagram, used a hashtag search and found a few photography studios that did great quality. I was specifically looking for bodyscaping, use of light & shadow to showcase up-close detail & the curves of my body. I watched these studios for a few months, anyone can get lucky with 1 or 2 great exposures. Brian & Jen consistently produced great quality photos and I loved their style of inspirational sayings posted on their Instagram account. I contacted Brian & Jen, got the details and booked my session. The days leading up I was nervous, like oh shit how am I going to look, again focusing on my flaws.   I had to remind myself they were great at their work & they would make me look amazing- I put my faith in their abilities. I drove from Columbus to their studio for my #SheerExpereince.  It was completely worth the drive. I had only spoken on the phone but they were warm, welcoming & super fun to work with. I enjoyed every minute and knew before I left I’d book another session. Brain showed me an exposure on the camera during my session- the picture showed a gorgeous, sultry woman, not how I would’ve described myself but it was me! I am in lust with the exposures from my session. Ecstatic that I did this for myself and looking forward to my next session.

Eat the damn cake!!!

A frequently asked question we get is, “what do I need to do to get ready for my #SheerExperience?” So we put together a few of our favorite tips, and we hope this helps whether it’s a session with Sheer, or another boudoir photographer.

1. Be Confident - Nerves are part of your experience, and are completely normal to have. But it’s time to love yourself more and finally be confident in who you are. We promise to work with you every step during your #SheerExperience. Our goal is for you to feel like a completely new woman after your session.

2. Wear lose clothing to the studio - The last thing you want are any unwanted lines that your clothing may leave, or trying to take off a tight shirt after you’ve had hair and makeup done. We recommend you arrive in sweatpants, a loose shirt, and braless.

3. Skip the tanning bed and spray tan - If you normally tan stick to your routine. If you don’t though, skip that temptation to start. Skin that’s not used to the tanning bed may appear blotchy after a visit or two due to uneven tanning. The last thing we want you to worry about is your skin.

4. Bring lots of outfits choices - I mean, who doesn’t like to shop, I know I do. Bring at least one more outfit than your session allows. Bring at least that totally fits your style, and something outside of your comfort zone. After all, this is something that’s probably out of your comfort zone to begin with, so embrace it and have fun.

5. Get your body ready - If you shave then shave, and f you wax then wax. The last thing you want to do is try something new and have it irritate your skin. Paint those finger and toenails, but avoid really bright colors. French tips and neutral solid color gel photographs best. Even clean nails are better than chippy nail polish

6. Start stretching - A common theme I hear from clients the next day is “you were so right, I can’t believe my muscles are so sore”. As little as 5-10 minutes a day can make a huge difference, and your body will thank you for it.

7. Eat smart and drink lots of water - Drinking lots of water and eating right will help give you a healthy glow and make you feel so much better. Be sure to eat breakfast the morning of your session. Eggs, toast, fruit, juices are all perfect choices. AVOID THOSE FASTFOOD DRIVE THROUGHS. With that being said, if you’re at a birthday party and there’s cake, EAT THE DAMN CAKE. It’s cake after all and who doesn’t love it.

Just Do It!

Have you ever wanted to book a boudoir session but thought “I don’t have a reason to do this, I need to lose 10lbs, I don’t have the confidence to do something like this, I don’t look like those women you share...etc”. Almost every woman we have done a session with has felt this way at one point or another before her #SheerExperience. These four brave ladies volunteered to jump back in front of our camera to let you know how they felt leading up to, during and after the boudoir session with Sheer. Please take a few minutes to watch this if you’ve ever wanted to book a shoot, but have any reservations about doing it. We all promise that you won’t regret it. Just do it!! 

What Miss R’s #SheerExperience meant for her

​Let’s face it, we all know what it’s like to scroll through instagram and see countless photos of what seems like perfect women. And you look at yourself and wonder what makes you different from them. Well, that feeling of “what’s wrong with me” is something I’ve carried around my whole life. I grew up dancing from the time I was three, and when I turned ten I decided to join the competition team. Being so young but not quite young enough, my age put me right on the border line between the junior division and the teen division. So somehow I was placed in the teen group and out of all the girls I was the youngest one. It was hard trying to fit in, all of the girls knew how to apply makeup and straighten their hair and they dressed a lot differently than me. They talked about things I had no idea about, silly things like thongs, push up bras and boys. Needless to say, a lot of the time I was trying to play catch up so I didn’t seem so immature or stupid to the other girls. I remember always comparing myself to these girls, who in my eyes at the time seemed so perfect. Always wondering why my boobs weren’t big enough or why I looked so ugly compared to them, and keep in mind I still had a mouth full of braces, small purple eyeglasses that came in a Spongebob case, and my chest size was equivalent to a five year old boy’s. A few years later, I decided it was time for me to quit the team, and I left with more than a boatload of insecurities that I was carrying around for years and years. Thankfully I’ve done a lot of growing (mostly mentally but physically too) from that time, and with a lot of patience I’ve really learned to love my body and let myself feel beautiful. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes those Instagram models still get to me, but it doesn’t phase me like it used to. These photos by Sheer Photography are my celebration of confidence. For me, these pictures are a milestone of how that insecure little girl has come full circle into a beautiful, confident and strong woman. I am so thankful that I did this. The way I felt after my photoshoot was so powerful and so strong that I wish everyone could experience it. Yes, these photos are a great gift for the person you love, but it’s an even better gift for the person you should love the most, you. Thank you Jen and Brian for this amazing experience, you guys are the best.

To find out more about scheduling a #SheerExperience for yourself, fill out the contact for below.  

This ones for the girls!

Being a mom of three, we've all have sat and binged wine and thought of who we were before kids. We forgot the freedom we've had but the new profound love is something we would never replace. 

Coming into Sheer my first time I was 3 months Postpartum and a nervous wreck. I remember being so anxious and asking all my friends who had done a shoot what to expect. After meeting the team and talking to them while getting pampered I couldn't wait to get in front of that camera. The adrenaline was pumping. Jen was AMAZING and I always tell people " you guys will be best friends." The atmosphere is so calm and fun that you feel so powerful in the shoot. Brian...everyone asks "omg a man?"....stopppp... he is the most professional person to ever photograph me, and I'm talking about pictures even with my kids. Most professional ever. The confidence you feel in front of that camera makes it not awkward at all. Brian also shows you photos from the back of the camera during the shoot and it increases your adrenaline and makes you want to kill the pose 10 fold!

My second shoot...when I say "I was ready." That's an understatement. I was going to step out that comfort zone and POP, SUCK, POP like nooooooo other. Being a year after birth I knew going into that shoot I was going to kill it. I barely recognized myself during my reveal.

Sometimes us woman, as moms, wives, daughters always put ourselves last. It's in all of our blood. But if your thinking about doing a shoot. TREAT YASELF GIRLS!! Step out of your comfort zone and what your comfortable in, decrease it by 5%. You WILL NOT be disappointed during your reveal. Take this chance and really fall back in love with yourself. You deserve it. The best part about this group is how all us woman, who have no idea who each other are, really pick each other up. You and I are more then friends, were like a really small gang.

Xoxo, Miss T

We can all relate...

I’m a mom, in my mid 30s who eats brownies for breakfast and works out maybe 5 times a year so when I originally thought of doing a boudoir shoot I thought “Maybe now isn’t the time. Maybe after I get in shape.” But lets be serious, I’m probably not going to stick with a workout plan for more than a week anytime soon. So, after seeing countless images on Jen and Brian’s facebook and instagram page of all the beautiful women in all shapes and sizes I started to toy with the idea of doing my own shoot. After some back and forth chat with Jen I finally decided to go for it. 

I nervously counted down the days until the shoot. I spent hours picking out the perfect pieces to wear and pinning makeup looks and poses. I wanted to be as prepared as possible! Luckily I wasn’t alone in that process (thank you Jen for all the guidance!). 

The day of the session I was filled with nerves! On the drive over I thought maybe I would call in sick- I didn’t know if I could do it! I already spent all morning shaving my legs and putting on fake eyelashes so there was no turning back now. I worked up enough nerve to walk up the steps of the studio where I found Jen and Brian. They gave me such a warm welcome and we chatted a little bit before moving into the shooting area. The studio is absolutely gorgeous. I loved that it was split into a “dark side” and a “light side.” I love the moody, dark images so we stayed on the dark side. 

Jen guided me through every singe pose during the session. After Jen would get me posed Brian would take photos from a couple different angles. They even showed me a few photos from the back of the camera, I couldn’t believe how much I loved the images already! We laughed through the whole session, I felt like we were old friends. I seriously had the best time! 

About a week later I came back in for my reveal and I was blown away! I absolutely loved the gallery they put together for me from my session. I had the chance to go through every photo and choose my favorites to put into an album (which turned out beautiful!). 

The whole experience was so wonderful for me. To see myself in the photos gave me a huge confidence boost. I had so much fun, I wish I could shoot with them all the time! I can’t thank Jen and Brian enough for spending so much time and effort into not only planning and shooting my session but also for making me feel comfortable enough to walk around in a thong bodysuit that I wouldn’t even walk around in at home ;)  

"Why would they pick me?"

Before I get into how this #SheerBeauty felt leading up to her session, during and after I first want to tell you WHY and what she was chosen for. We recently posted in our #SheerBeauty VIP Facebook group looking for two women sized 12+. We did this because we get a lot of women of every shape and size, but unfortunately cannot always share everyone's images. After going through 150 emails from so many amazing women who applied, we narrowed it down to Toni. I could tell how much she needed to see the beauty in herself that everyone else sees. She is an amazing & gorgeous woman, mom and wife who, as most of us, always puts everyone else first. I knew this experience would be life changing for her confidence and they way she looks at herself in the mirror...and I'm pretty sure she views herself differently now, but go ahead and see what she had to say...

"My name is Toni and I am a 38 year old wife (of almost 17 years) and the proud mother of an 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter. I wanted to share with everyone a little about myself and why I decided to enter a model call contest and my experience with Sheer Photography. I had been checking out Sheer Photography's VIP group page for a while. I was in awe of their work and how beautiful the women were in their pics. To be honest, I found myself even a little jealous of how brave these women were to pose for their pictures. I have struggled with my weight for most of my adult life, up and down several times. After children, of course it was always more of a struggle to keep it off. Life happens, and as women and mothers we tend to take care of everyone else before ourselves. My husband and I are high school sweethearts, so he has seen me thin and at my highest weight as well. Throughout all of that he has always told me I was beautiful and sexy. Of course I never believed him. Why do we do that anyways? The one person who knows us better than anyone, cares the most about us, and obviously loves us for who we are, tells us something positive about ourselves and we don't believe them? I would always tell my husband that he "had" to say those things to me. In reality he didn't. He said them because he wanted to and most importantly because he believes them to be true. I had been joking with my husband for a while about how "funny" it would be if I did a session. He would always ask why I thought it was funny. He loved the idea. So me being me, and thinking I was too "big" to have a session, left the idea alone and didn't think anything of it again. So then one night I saw that Brian and Jen posted info about a model call contest. I couldn't believe my eyes when they were looking for someone of a certain size and above. I thought it was amazing that they wanted to feature women with curves! I started to think about entering. Eventually, I worked up enough courage to start an email. I must have wrote and deleted the email at least 3 times. I wanted to do this for myself. I wanted to be able to see myself the way my husband sees me. I wanted to feel pretty again. I didn't want to just feel like a mom anymore. You see in the last year, I have had a lot of life changes. I have really discovered who I am as a person and I wanted to feel like my outside matched my inside.So I wrote the email, sent a few pics and hit send. That had to be the most terrifying part of this whole experience. Regardless of if I was picked to win or not, I had already won. I was so proud of myself and everyone else for being brave enough just to enter. 

I had received an email about being a finalist and could not believe it. At that point I told my husband that I had entered. He was excited and said he knew I would win. I kept saying he was crazy. Finally the night came when Jen announced the winners live. Two winners were chosen and my name was said last. I was watching with my husband and I felt like I couldn't breathe. When Jen said my name my husband started yelling "See I told you! You're gorgeous!" I wanted to vomit. I was in total disbelief. About 150 women entered and instead of being excited, all I could think about is why they chose me and how? How could anyone besides my husband think I was pretty? So after hearing some more positive words from my husband, I decided to do it. Jen was so amazing and helpful. When I met with her (and the other winner) for our consultation, I was so nervous! I had no clue what to expect. It was like meeting up with an old friend. She walked us through the process and the studio. Gave advice on what colors would look best on me and what kind of outfit to wear. I left there feeling so comfortable. Jen was such a help in the days to follow as well. I messaged her and kept asking about different outfits. Never once did she ignore me. I would have never been able to decide what to wear. In the days that followed, I became so nervous. I kept thinking of every excuse to get out of it.You see, I am the care taker for my sick grandmother, and the kids keep me so busy while I also work part time. I kept telling myself that I didn't have the time or energy to do it. Finally, after a few more pep talks from my husband and some positive words from close friend, I found the courage. Good thing I did because my session was in a few days. 

The morning of my session, I was actually really calm. However, as I backed out of the drive, I got a little nervous. Although with my anxiety, it was no where near as bad as I thought it would be. Before I got out of the car to enter the studio, I took a deep breath and told myself that I could in fact do this. Once I got upstairs and saw Jen and Brian, they instantly made me feel at ease. As I was getting my hair and make up done by the amazing Brittany, my nerves seemed to dwindle away. Brittany made me feel like I was some sort of celebrity and this was an everyday thing! She rocks at what she does! Once she was done with me, I went with Jen and she helped me decide what outfit was first. As I was changing, I could not believe that this was happening to me. Me! Took another deep breath and reminded myself that they picked me for a reason, even if I still wasn't sure what that reason was. During my session, Jen was right there with me posing and helping me. I thought I would be really uncomfortable with Brian taking my pics, but words can not even begin to explain how professional he (and Jen) are. I won't lie, the first pic or two a felt a little silly. Brian then showed me one of my unedited images on the camera. I told them there was no way that was me. They both said that the camera doesn't lie and that I was beautiful! From that point on, I was so excited to see more and was ready for anything! At one point I was speechless with the images. I was trying not to cry. I was beautiful! At the end of my session, I felt amazing! I left there with so much confidence and feeling the best about myself than I ever had! Brian and Jen are angels from above. They make it their mission to make every woman, big and small, feel sexy and beautiful. They are very successful in that mission. 

Jen sent me a few sneak peaks from my session. I about fell over. Needless to say they were amazing! A few days later, my images were ready. I brought my husband with me. I sat there looking at all my images and somehow was still in disbelief. Jen kept saying how much she loved them and my husband was speechless (almost). 

It is so hard to find words to describe my experience with Sheer Photography. The problem is that there are not enough words. How many ways can you say amazing and wonderful? Well all of the ways is how I feel. It was life changing for me. I see myself in a whole new light. I now try to (even though sometimes it's still difficult) just say thank you to my husband or anyone else that says I am beautiful. I have made it my mission to tell everyone that is thinking about a session to just do it! Hitting that send button changed me for the better! Thank you Jen and Brian for picking me and helping me to see the beauty that was there all along."

Hair & Makeup by Brittany Blanchard

Ready to become a #SheerBeauty too?!? Contact us now to book your own #SheerExperience

Do the DAMN THING!!!

As women we often feel like we don't deserve to treat ourselves. We take care of everyone else before even thinking about doing something for us. So many women even come in for their boudoir session because they can use these images as a gift for their partner. While these photos will make the best gift you could ever give someone, they are also the BEST FUCKING GIFT YOU CAN GIVE YOURSELF!!! Did I say that loud enough??? You deserve to let someone else pamper you. You deserve to feel beautiful. You deserve to see yourself the way everyone else sees you. You deserve to show your children that their momma is a strong, confident woman! So do it scared...Nerves are normal, but I promise to be there right next to you the whole time and guide you in every possible way!!!

Check out some of this gorgeous #SheerBeauties images and what she had to say about being a mom of 3 and dealing with her own doubts.

When I first scheduled my session for my #SheerExperience I was nervous and wanted to just cancel it a bunch of times, but my husband kept telling me "No babe your doing it and your doing it for yourself. You deserve this!". I always feel so guilty doing stuff for myself especially with having 3 kids and being depressed and having poor self image of myself so I never spend the money on myself. I was so nervous before coming to do my session because of my body and not being able to find anything to fit it, but I had my consult with Jen and she made me try on one of the body suits she had there and said I had to wear it because I looked HOTT in it, I didn't want to believe it but I did and it made me feel good about myself. Fast forward a few weeks and my session was here...I was nervous as hell! Amanda did my makeup and she did a bomb ass job at it and she helped calm me and so did Jen while I was getting ready. Once the hair and makeup was done and all the compliments they were giving me I felt so good and beautiful. I changed into my first outfit and was thinking this is it and I walked out there and I was like I can do this. The whole time during the session Jen makes you laugh and makes you feel gorgeous and shows you all the right poses for your body, Brian is also amazing and a gentleman at that he will make you feel so comfortable that by the end your like who cares and everything is hanging out and it's fine. Lol But they are seriously amazing at what they do and made me feel comfortable and beautiful which I haven't felt for a long time. So if your on the fence or bought the package and keep saying your going to cancel or you don't deserve it, you do deserve it! You deserve to be pampered and deserve to be beautiful and told that. Me being a mom of 3 kids, unhappy with my body, depressed and also living with Multiple Sclerosis for 5 years has taken a toll on my mind, body and spirit but I am so glad I did this because it made me believe in myself and my beauty thanks to the help from the amazing Jen and Brian. So seriously just do the damn thing girl, you deserve it!!!!          ~XOXO, Miss A

Hair & Makeup by Amanda Kay Dimuzio

I'm a mom, with so many insecurities...Can I really do this?!?!

As a mom myself, I get it!!! Even before I had a kid, I had the little belly pouch, thick thighs and a "chin-neck". No matter what shape or size we are, each one of us have our own insecurities, but doing a boudoir session doesn't mean those things will be on display. We work with you before your shoot to talk about what outfits will flatter you and pose with you during your shoot to show off your beautiful face and best "ass-sets"! See what I did there?!?! I will be posing right next to you, get on the bed with you and might even take my shirt off with you so I can show you the best way to grab your own boobs. We don't expect you to come in knowing how to be sexy or how to show off your amazing curves. It's not everyday you ladies do something so intimate, sexy and outside of our comfort zones. But I promise not to leave you wondering what to do. Now, enough of that...let's see what Miss A had to say about her recent #SheerExperience!

"I came across Sheer Photography’s page after a close friend of mine had her boudoir shoot done. The pictures were, sexy and breath-taking! This was something I had wanted to do for a long time but never had the strength to push myself and I knew my insecurities would make me feel like I couldn’t be beautiful or be able to feel sexy. I have an almost two year old son who is my world, but after having put on a lot of weight during and then after my pregnancy, I knew I had to take control and make a promise to myself that If I lost a goal weight I had set, I would treat myself into doing one of these shoots. This was also a late wedding present for my husband since we didn’t have a big wedding or were able to get each other a wedding gift I knew this was perfect gift for him. 

Brian and Jen were so genuine, sweet, and made me feel completely comfortable during my shoot. I was a nervous wreck and as soon as I walked out they both knew exactly what to say to help calm my nerves. They do beautiful work and I couldn’t be happier with how my photos turned out. I’m truly thankful for them both and having this boudoir shoot done changed the way I look at myself. It definitely inspired me to feel sexy and beautiful in ways I never knew I was able to before the shoot. I know I will definitely be doing another shoot again in the future. Thank you both so much for making me feel beautiful and doing such an amazing thing for women, everyday."        ~ Xoxo, Miss A.

A gift for him...a gift for me!

I first heard of Sheer Photography when I was scrolling through Facebook one day. Someone I’m friends with must’ve added me to their VIP group. I’m honestly not even sure who added me but thanks friend! I creeped their page for several weeks wondering if I would ever decide to go ahead and do it. The pictures they take are obviously gorgeous but even more appealing was all of the comments from women in the group talking about how nice Jen and Brian are and how great they felt about themselves after seeing how amazing they looked in their photos. I contemplated it for several weeks. I kept thinking, I can’t make sexy facial expressions and I’m even more clueless on how to pose. I just kept looking through all the photos thinking how beautiful all these women looked and how I should just bite the bullet and do it. Then Black Friday came and they ran some seriously awesome specials and I thought, what the hell, and scheduled my session. I was super nervous about it but I kept in mind that if I hated them, no one would ever have to see them.

The day of, I was a ball of nerves and excitement. I had my hair and makeup done with Brittany and it turned out amazing. I went in and changed into my first outfit and came out and Jen and Brian made me feel so comfortable. It was like hanging out with some friends! Jen is so sweet and so funny and even though my muscles hurt like I was training to fight in the UFC for like a week, she was a pro with showing me how to pose. Not just telling me, she actually did exactly what she wanted me to do which made it SO much easier. Brian was a total gentleman and professional. He told me exactly what to do and when, they both made it so easy. At my reveal they showed me my photos and I could not believe my eyes! That was MY body, and it looked like THAT?! I got these photos done as a gift for my fiancé but if we’re being honest here they were more of a gift for myself. I can’t wait to give them to him. My next project will be talking him into doing a session with me. Thank you Jen and Brian for making me feel like a goddess! I have no doubt I’ll be seeing you both again soon!

~ XOXO, Miss J

Ready to book your own #SheerExperience?!?! Fill out the form below and we will be in contact with you!