My Experience | Outdoor Boudoir Sesh

After putting together my post about booking a boudoir shoot, I knew that I just had to talk about my experience with doing an outdoor boudoir shoot. Since I’ve done two so far, they’ve been extremely fun for me to do. Anything to play dress up and get pretty pictures taken of you; I’m on board! 

The one thing I love about Instagram is finding different people in your area. That’s how I found my photographer, Hailey Faria. And little did I know, she turned out to be a military spouse as well. Nothing like a “small world”. She takes beautiful photos, I’m a huge fan of her photography work. Her feed is absolutely stunning on Instagram and everyone needs to check it out.

Why did I hire her as my photographer? After much browsing around and checking photographer’s websites out, I loved the previous shoots she has done. She calls her boudoir shoots, “poised” sessions and during my search I stumbled upon a post she shared describing poised and it was exactly what I wanted to hear before I booked with her.

….and now the woman she can be for herself.  I am photographing the beauty that women have deep within – the soul their husband is drawn to – the heart their children receive. This woman. That we all are. Poised.

Poised, by definition, means having a graceful and elegant bearing.

– Hailey Faria

What thoughts did you have prior and during your shoot? Nervous and excited. Naturally curious, I was excited to try something new. For a couple of months, we would email back and forth about what I’d wear since she helps with finding your outfit for that day. Which I have gained a new love for Free People, absolutely love all their clothing. I shared my worries about doing this shoot since we would be outside. Like what if we run into people in my nearly bare it all attire? She was amazingly patient with my worries and gave me the security that it’ll be okay and I was actually more covered than what people wear to the beach nowadays.

Where did you do your shoot? We actually didn’t settle on the location until a week before our shoot. And the one question she asked me was “what do you connect with more?” and since hiking became one of my loves during our time on the island, I told her I connected more with the mountain range on O’ahu. She chose Wa’ahila Ridge, which was actually one of the first hikes I did when we first moved here and it’s one of my favorites. Constantly rewarded with amazing views as you make your way higher up the ridge line.

What did you wear? It has actually become one of my favorite pieces that I own. It was a sheer lace bodysuit from Free People, now you see why I love them so much!

And the sheer maxi skirt was from Nasty Gal, as much as I love their clothing, shipping to Hawai’i has not been a great experience. I did buy nude colored underwear since I didn’t want all my business to be hanging out there for anyone to see!

So, did you run into anyone? Just one person, surprisingly. But it wasn’t that bad as I thought it would be. It was towards the end of the shoot and we were wrapping things up, so we were making our way back to the car. And out of nowhere, someone passes us along the way. We didn’t even hear the guy, but he just passed by, taking no glance and was on his way.

So yes, definitely a memorable experience, thank you, Hailey, for being awesome at what you do! I’m all for pushing myself out of my comfort zones and this was one of them. I would definitely book another one, but I doubt it’ll happen anytime soon.

Leave any questions you might have about booking an outdoor boudoir shoot and I’d be happy to answer them!

x | boudoir photography by hailey faria