How Boudoir Has Changed My Life.

You’ve probably heard the story by now, but I’m going to tell it again and in detail.

In 2016, I left a toxic relationship. I weighed 125 pounds (the least I’ve ever weighed in my life) and I still felt like shit about myself. Looking back now, I wore a the cute outfits and wore a size 2 in pants, but still I was miserable and had body dysmorphia and hated myself mentally and physically. I convinced myself that I needed to lose more weight and start walking more and bought all these workout clothes and shoes just to collect dust in my closet. It was never enough, I always wanted to lose more weight. My mom called this stage of my life “sad skinny” because I was at war with myself so much (and my ex) that I couldn’t eat half the time.

Flash forward to 2017, I was in a healthy and happy relationship with my amazing Marine boyfriend. When we moved in together, I “let myself go” and really hit the wine and cheese stage of my life (this time also coincided with the time I turned 21 - wine bottles should come with a warning on the label). I ended up gaining almost 55 pounds by 2018. I had initially inquired with a boudoir photography studio team in Girard, Ohio. We talked on the phone and he told me that the average spending was $1500 and the minimum investment was $499. I wanted to say “You mean $4.99, right?” but I knew it was $500 minimum to invest. I didn’t have that kind of money! $1500 was a whole months paycheck for me! So I joined their VIP group and decided I just wouldn’t be able to afford something like that for years, if ever.

In 2018 (about six-ish months later) they ran a Mother’s Day sale. I had to leap on it. I booked my session six months out and swore I’d start going to the gym down the street from our apartment and get myself into shape. I rode my bike to campus often, I started going to the gym rigorously the month before my session, but by the time my actual session came around, I hadn’t really lost any weight (maybe 5 pounds, when I wanted to lose like 50).

Photo by Sheer Photography

I wanted to cancel my session. I did. I hated myself for not doing what I had sworn I’d do. I knew I hadn’t tried hard enough. I was a failure and a fatty and I could barely afford to buy photos from a session anyway, so why bother even going?

But I did. I went. I took a few outfits I had ordered from Amazon (all covering my tummy) and I went in with mixed feelings. And I’m so so SO glad I did. I felt sexy, I felt sensual, I didn’t feel like a fattie, I felt like all the bigger girls on Instagram who look AMAZING in their curves. I discovered I had that in me too, I just needed to dig. little and push my booty out a bit! By the end of my session, I was fully nude. And one of my absolute favorite images is a nude shot from that session.

Photo by Sheer Photography

But still, I didn’t have all the money in the world, so I managed to buy 14 images from my session. It was hard choosing just 14, but I did. My background on my phone was a booty shot and I didn’t change it for over a year (which is crazy because I used to change it every other week).

I was already shooting every kind of photography under the sun, but after that session I knew I wanted to make women feel the same way I did: amazing, empowered, sexy, emotional, it was all so incredible. So I took a chance on myself, ran a special for boudoir sessions, and I booked a bunch of ladies. I had three options for photos and I offered them to each girl. My first session, my first client asked if she could buy her whole gallery. I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A PRICE FOR THAT BECAUSE I DIDN’T THINK ANYONE WOULD WANT THAT MANY IMAGES! But she did, and so did nearly every other girl who came in for their session.

I booked a boudoir session and it completely changed the course of my life. I decided I wanted to help women feel that way as often as I possibly could. I’ve been called a fairy god mother, a wizard, and lots of other endearing names. I’ve been told (on multiple occasions) that I reawakened “the best” (if you know what I mean wink😉) and it all started with a boudoir session that I almost didn’t even go to.

There you have it - the story of how I became Kristen Jones, the best boudoir photographer on the east side of Columbus. And I wouldn’t change a single thing.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay you ☀️

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