WHY WE DON'T PHOTOSHOP YOUR BODY SMALLER (OR BIGGER) IN BOUDOIR PHOTO SHOOTS

At Enchanted Moments Artistry, an Indianapolis boudoir studio, client bodies are never slimmed, enlarged, or reshaped in editing. There are retouches to lighting, skin texture, and tone, but never alterations of body proportions. Posing, lighting, and breathing work do the transformation instead, so the person in the final images is the client as they truly are.

Photoshop is big in every type of photography, and in this boudoir space, it’s important that we talk about it directly.

The notion of photoshopping images comes up in several different ways:

Sometimes it's framed as a request.

Sometimes as a question.

Sometimes it's sitting quietly underneath a session and I don't hear it until after, when a client says they almost didn't buy the images because they kept waiting to see a version of themself that was smaller, smoother, more edited.

Honestly, I just don’t work that way, and once you understand the why behind my hesitance to photoshop your beautiful human self, I hope you’ll be pleased that I don’t.

What I Do Edit In Your Boudoir Photos

When I say I don't edit your body smaller or bigger, I'm not saying your images go through without any post-processing.

I absolutely edit your images. I do all of the following:

• color grade.

• retouch lighting

• soften skin texture

• remove temporary blemishes

• adjust tones and shadows to create images that feel the way the session felt

What I don't do is reshape your body by slimming your waist, reducing your thighs, flattening your stomach, or altering the proportions of the person in the frame.

The person in your final images is you, fully represented without some digitally altered version of you.

The Honest Reason I Avoid Extreme Boudoir Photo Alteration

Because What You'd Be Buying Isn't You

If I edited your body smaller and gave you those images, you’d look at them during your reveal and feel something complicated and not very empowering.

Part of you would respond to the version that matches what you've told yourself you should look like, and that could feel good for a moment.

But that other part? The part that knows your own face and body and understands the way you actually look is going to register an extreme disconnect.

Over time, those images would quietly remind you of what you're not, rather than documenting all the gorgeous bits of who you truly are.

That, my friend, is the absolute opposite of what boudoir is supposed to do, and it’s the antithesis of why I do this work as a boudoir photographer.

Because the Posing Already Does the Work

I have invested tens of thousand in education specifically around how to work with every body:

how light falls differently on different shapes

how angles and positioning create lines and curves and elongation in a two-dimensional image.

We live in a 3D world and boudoir images exist in 2D. Bridging that gap is where the craft lives, and I continue to invest in building those technical skills.

When the posing is right…

When the light is right…

When the breathing work has relaxed the body and the angle is exactly where it needs to be..

That’s when the image shows you something true and beautiful.

Something found.

We’re not interested in disguising that, babes.

Photoshop to shrink or enhance the size of a body is what you need when the craft wasn't there.

When the craft is there, every beautiful bit of you is on display in the best ways, and we’ll work through seeing yourself exactly how you are and being empowered by that.

Because Your Body Has a Story That Deserves to Be in the Frame

Scars.

Stretch marks.

The parts of your body you've spent years trying to minimize or manage.

In my studio, those are not problems to be solved in post-processing. We’re embracing the documentation of your life and all the bits your body survived, grew, held, and carried.

I've photographed people celebrating recovery from illness in a body that looks different than it used to. I've photographed the scar from a surgery that saved someone's life.

I've photographed bodies that have given birth, bodies that have been through eating disorders, and bodies that have been treated as problems for decades by the people who were supposed to protect them.

The truth of those images can’t be found with Photoshop, and without the truth, you lose important parts of the boudoir experience and the story it helps you tell.

What This Means for You on Shoot Day

Every component of the boudoir shoot day is not always glamorous, but we’re going to make it an experience that brings the best parts of you to the surface.

The poses will sometimes feel uncomfortable, and that’s rather intentional. The more your body is working, the better the image usually is.

I’m with you as we move through every pose, and I’ll remind you of that every time I push you a little further.

I'll show you images on the back of the camera throughout the session so you can see what I'm seeing in real time.

I want you to have the same information I have and celebrate what we’re creating together.

At the reveal, the person you see in your images will be you, beautiful human.

We’re not exposing the version of you that lives in your worst bathroom-mirror moment or the version you've been waiting to become.

We’re showcasing the version that was already there, found from an angle you'd never been given before.

The Conversation Underneath the Request

When a client asks about editing her body, what she's usually asking is:

Will you see me the way I see myself? Will the camera confirm everything I've been afraid of?

That’s a big no on my end for a very, very important reason:

Because the way you see yourself in the bathroom mirror at 7am is not an accurate or complete picture, and the camera in my hands has a different job than your mirror does.

My job is to find what's actually there, waiting to be revealed with a little bit of direction and a whole lot of support. Every damn time.

I will never, ever promise you a smaller version of yourself. I’ll never promise you a bustier version.

What I can promise you is the truest version.

-X-O-

Brandy S. Wood, Owner, Enchanted Moments Artistry

P.S. Come hang out with us in the Facebook Group! Enchanted Moments Artistry | The Becoming Collective is a space for those who identify as women and is built around body positivity, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Join us for community, encouragement, and the occasional shenanigans.