Marilyn Monroe Throwback & Boudoir Stylized Shoot | Loudoun County Photographer

I always look forward to collaborating with my beautiful friend Heather from Spunky Real Deal, founder/owner of the Virginia Bloggers Club and the Virginia Business Club. There is no easy way to describe her. She’s innovative, motivating, inspiring, supportive…someone who is dedicated to helping small businesses and their owners succeed. We have been together for a long time and I always enjoy working with her.

One of the things I love about being a Loudoun County photographer is the vast amount of options we have for shooting locations. We decided on 48 Fields for it’s privacy and limitless possibilities, from fields of tall grass to old barns. Heather envisioned two separate stories from this one photoshoot: a stylized throwback to Marilyn Monroe and tasteful boudoir.

During the editing process, though, I saw a story unfold. A story of a “perfect” woman in gown and heels, hiding away from the world, who eventually steps out into the sunshine and embraces who she is. She slowly drops the cover of her hood and dress and is left vulnerable and with nothing but who she is. Flawed but beautiful. Raw and delicate.

Isn’t this what women wrestle with everyday? The never-ending competition to be better, to be the best. I am learning through this process of finding myself in my photography that it isn’t about anyone else – it is about me, what I’m doing, what I want to achieve. Who I want to be. This session was just as much about me as it was about Heather or Marilyn. Learning to put myself before the world, to be unafraid.

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” – Marilyn Monroe