Bridget: I already feel an idiot most of the time anyway, with or without a fireman's pole. 

Mark: I don't think you're an idiot at all. I mean, there are elements of the ridiculous about you. Your mother's pretty interesting. And you really are an appallingly bad public speaker. And, um, you tend to let whatever's in your head come out of your mouth without much consideration of the consequences...But the thing is, um, what I'm trying to say, very inarticulately, is that, um, in fact, perhaps despite appearances, I like you, very much. Just as you are.

-Bridget Jones's Diary -

Albuquerque boudoir photographer - ccliberman photography

There isn't a character in film or in literature I identify with more than Bridget Jones, except maybe for her equally outspoken Jane Austen counterpart, Elizabeth Bennet. But, really, I'm way more Bridget. She is kind of clumsy, kind of blunt, and she always seems to be in an war between what she wants to eat and what she wants to look like - and the eating always wins. And I have another thing in common with her, the hero in my story loves me just as I am. Well, that and he reminds me quite a bit of Colin Firth (if you mixed in a little John Mayer). And isn't that what we all want? For someone to look at us and skip over all the "wobbly bits" and "diarrhea of the mouth" moments, seeing only the good things we have to offer?

Maybe it's because I don't have to work too hard for my husband to think I look great or maybe it's because before him, I felt like I had to work really really hard to be seen as attractive, but when I started this  business adventure, I decided to take a different view of boudoir photography and women in general. I made a conscious decision to buck the system that says the experience is about being a different you, a supped up you, a you as you wish you were rather than as you are. I decided that I wanted to show you the amazing, sexy YOU, that is shining through whether you are taking the dog for a walk or going out for date night. For many of my clients, that means sprucing up for a night out and showing off a rarely seen, but innately present sexy side. And for others, showing off the sexy doesn't mean hair and makeup at all, it means showing up and showing off without any extras. And I love that. I love that being your best you can be bare faced or made up, ponytail or bombshell hair. And it's important to remember that your partner sees and LOVES the real you every day.

Albuquerque boudoir photographer - ccliberman photography

A friend of mine had been talking about doing a boudoir session for some time. She kept saying "I think my husband would love it." Well, like time does, it marched on. My friend and her husband were moving away, and we still hadn't gotten around to scheduling a session. She came over to hang out and said one more time "I really should have done that, he would have loved it." I pointed out that she had three more days ... and we were off. Session scheduled, surprise planned. 

I have lots of different kinds of friends. Many are sorority sisters who always look put together, some are more casual mom types like me and this particular friend is more at home camping in the woods with her husband and her furbabies than she is at a mall. She doesn't wear makeup, in fact she didn't even own a "real bra" when we scheduled our session. We had fun in the days leading up to her shoot. She shopped, we shared pictures and ideas. I thought she might be nervous, but she was completely at home in her skin. She loved her pictures, her husband LOVED her pictures, and I saw firsthand that being yourself is sexier than being made up to be someone else. She wouldn't have looked like her with even a little makeup. It would have become a mask that would have covered up the essence of who she is. Her husband loves her, and she loves herself...just as she is.