Welcome to the art of imperfect adulting. Sabrina Harrison, are
Speaker:you ready for a fun chat? I'm so ready. Thank you so much for
Speaker:having me. I'm happy you're here. I start all my conversations
Speaker:asking everybody the same repetitive question. What part of the world do you
Speaker:call home? I live in Westminster, Colorado, and if you're
Speaker:not familiar with Colorado, that is a suburb in the Denver area.
Speaker:Very cool. Next warm up question. Before we get to the topic of the day,
Speaker:although I cheated a little bit on this one with you, how do you feel
Speaker:about Valentine's Day presents? I
Speaker:think that they should not be compulsory.
Speaker:But personally, with my own relationship, I think that
Speaker:it's really nice to have an opportunity to
Speaker:show that person, person that means so much to you, how special they
Speaker:are or to decide to spice things up and
Speaker:kind of split the script if you've been in a longer relationship, maybe you know
Speaker:what I'm talking about. So, like, I don't love
Speaker:the compulsory nature of it, and I don't think that you should
Speaker:necessarily have to get flowers or chocolate. But I do
Speaker:think that it's an amazing opportunity to show yourself some love.
Speaker:And I do think it's an amazing opportunity if you do have a wonderful partner,
Speaker:to show them love too. How do you feel about it? They're sort of the
Speaker:same. I have a rebound reaction to, like, any,
Speaker:any day that's like, today is the day that you must do this. Like, it's
Speaker:like, you know, but that's just me being me. And then
Speaker:with regard to, like, Valentine's Day, like, I am not
Speaker:a flowers person. Like, because. And my reason is
Speaker:really dumb, but I feel badly for the flowers.
Speaker:What about potted flowers? No, that would be different. That would be different. But
Speaker:when people give cut flowers, especially on Valentine's Day, where they're frozen for a long
Speaker:time because it's the biggest flower day of the year. It's like, hi, here, have
Speaker:something that's gonna die. I killed this plant for you. Like, I know
Speaker:that I'm a weirdo with that. That's like totally. Like, I don't expect anybody else
Speaker:to. If you come to me and you're like, amy, that's dumb. I'm like, I
Speaker:know, I know. But nonetheless, go straight to chocolate. Drive through.
Speaker:All right. Exactly. Exactly. All right. So
Speaker:in this conversation today, we're going to talk about photography.
Speaker:Specifically, you are a working professional photographer, But
Speaker:a few years ago, and we'll talk about it, you actually hired someone to take
Speaker:pictures of you, which is always a fun Thing to be the
Speaker:client in a thing that you are normally professional. That took you down a
Speaker:path of self exploration and I think it even changed some stuff about your
Speaker:business. Are you ready to talk with me about that?
Speaker:Yeah, let's dive in. All right, let's do it. Let's back up. Before we
Speaker:even talk about this photo session. Do you remember how old you were when you
Speaker:first discovered an interest or passion or affection
Speaker:for photography? Ooh, I think
Speaker:that it's actually in my genes. My grandfather was a professional
Speaker:photographer with a studio and so
Speaker:I grew up with my dad, who very much got it from him, like,
Speaker:hey, your hips don't bite. Everybody get together. That kind of thing.
Speaker:And I have a very well documented childhood and wedding and everything.
Speaker:So I and like my siblings are very much into
Speaker:photography. I think it's just, it's just something that's all in our blood.
Speaker:Family business. Family business. All right, so then,
Speaker:do you remember what your first camera was?
Speaker:Oh, that's a good question. My first camera that was
Speaker:actually mine was a. Was a Canon film
Speaker:camera. That's how when I was in college, I got
Speaker:a new camera for photography classes
Speaker:and we were still shooting with film. But what we would do
Speaker:then, because it was like cusping on the digital age, was we
Speaker:would take. We would develop the film and then
Speaker:scan the film to Photoshop. And I
Speaker:know you're a photographer too, so you maybe remember. I do, I
Speaker:do. And then edit it from there in Photoshop.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. So I, yeah, I started with black and white film and in
Speaker:the dark room and then definitely went through the phase where we,
Speaker:when I was like when back when I was still working for
Speaker:publications, we would shoot color film and then
Speaker:scan it for the newspapers and the magazines.
Speaker:And so yeah, no, I totally. I still have buried
Speaker:in my closet somewhere like some of the cassettes and things from the darkroom at
Speaker:one point. So they sold off my school oriented school. They eventually
Speaker:sold off all their enlargers from the darkroom and I bought one and
Speaker:did nothing with it for like forever. And then finally like gave it to a
Speaker:school nearby. But I. It was so fun. Dark rooms were fun. Anyway, off track,
Speaker:off track. But one more silly photo nerd question. If you had to go
Speaker:the rest of your life with only one lens
Speaker:to use forever and ever in all situations, what would it be? It would be
Speaker:a 35. That is my choice too. 35.
Speaker:1.4. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I've got a razor
Speaker:sharp 35 millimeter. And I personally
Speaker:love being that distance from a client, which is
Speaker:a pretty, like, personal distance, so that I can give a lot of
Speaker:direction and communicate a lot. Um, I know that, like, wedding
Speaker:photographers love like, a 7 to 70 to 1 20, so that they
Speaker:can kind of get bird's eye view and more like editorial
Speaker:candidates. But when I'm working with a client, it's like, I'm
Speaker:very much helping them with every single detail. So I want to be able to
Speaker:be close to them. Yeah. And I no longer do client work. So for me,
Speaker:the 35, you get a bit of the perspective, you know, not that I wouldn't
Speaker:also, if I was going on safari, be like, please send me with a 400.
Speaker:Okay, so off that. Off that topic. All right, so very great.
Speaker:I would rent it. I would rent it. I would. I would
Speaker:rent it. I would borrow it. I would hit up anybody who I knew and
Speaker:be like, let me take yours. I'll buy it if I break it. So
Speaker:for your. For your husband's 40th birthday, this is the
Speaker:event that kicked off this discussion. You made a decision that you were
Speaker:going to give him some photos of you as a present.
Speaker:Tell us about where the idea for this present
Speaker:came from. Like, so put yourself before this, and what was the thought
Speaker:process going into through your mind? Like,
Speaker:I'm going to give him some photos of me. So I
Speaker:was already working as a photographer. I was taking pictures of, like, babies
Speaker:and seniors and pregnant women and families and just anything
Speaker:that came my way. So photography was already, like, kind of
Speaker:top of mind, but I was more like behind the lens.
Speaker:And so I wasn't very well documented at that moment
Speaker:in time. And I felt like it
Speaker:was a very personal present. Like, anyone could give him a.
Speaker:A new, like, dress shirt or a
Speaker:mug or whatever. I'm literally the
Speaker:only person that could give him this gift of me.
Speaker:And so I love that that was the case that I was,
Speaker:like. It was a unique thing that only I could do for him.
Speaker:And I've had a chance to, like, really think about, like, that moment in
Speaker:time. And I found a roomy quote that I actually think really
Speaker:encapsulates, like, my feeling about it.
Speaker:Rumi said, as you walk on
Speaker:the way, the way appears, clarity does not come
Speaker:before action. It comes from action. Oh, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. So I, like, I had a knowing
Speaker:that I was, like, ready to reclaim my body.
Speaker:I was postpartum and, you know,
Speaker:going through that whole journey with children and
Speaker:nursing and, like, having your body not be your own. I
Speaker:was just, like, kind of freshly on the other side of weaning my
Speaker:second child. And so I
Speaker:was like, I was ready to take a leap into the unknown,
Speaker:and I was ready to, like, really show my husband how much I
Speaker:loved him. But the clarity actually came from the
Speaker:doing. The clarity. I didn't have a ton of clarity when I did
Speaker:it. Does that make sense? Well, for me, it does. But I'm a
Speaker:person who's kind. I feel like that's one of the messages that I shout from
Speaker:my little perch here, isolated in my cocoon of production.
Speaker:When people ask me about starting something new, people seem
Speaker:to always really want to have a conclusion and have
Speaker:it be perfect and know that it's going to work before they start. And I
Speaker:just kind of say. I'm like, I don't even think that's possible. I say, you
Speaker:know, you've got to create enough of it and get it further out there to.
Speaker:To even know, like, it's gonna. Doesn't happen until you do it.
Speaker:You don't know. You can, you know, read about,
Speaker:you know, walking or running or doing things and study it
Speaker:forever and ever, but you won't know what it's like to do it until you
Speaker:try, you know, like. Yeah, and so I, like, I think that
Speaker:that's. And it is. It is a. A mindset shift
Speaker:and an awareness. And Rumi says it so nicely and poetically, like, it's hard
Speaker:to do stuff. I'm sure it's like, I don't know what's going to happen if
Speaker:I jump off this cliff. I don't know if the water is cold, but you
Speaker:won't know, like, until you do it. And that's where the clarity
Speaker:comes from. You won't even know by watching other people. So somebody jumps off the
Speaker:cliff in front of you, that's reassuring that they make it
Speaker:right. Right. But if they know rock there.
Speaker:But they might be like, hey, the water is cold. And you're like, all right,
Speaker:I understand that. I know what that is. No, you don't. You don't know what
Speaker:it feels like because you're going to jump in and you're like, oh, that's what
Speaker:you meant when you said cold. Now I know what you mean. I feel that
Speaker:it's cold. Now I understand. And so I agree with you.
Speaker:I agree with Rumi. I think that's fantastic. All right, so
Speaker:you have this idea you're going to give your husband these photographs.
Speaker:It's a very specific type of photos that you're giving him, which is
Speaker:boudoir. Photos. That's the idea of the gift. Right. So I want to get everybody
Speaker:in alignment. You, me, everybody listening and watching. Explain, like, generally
Speaker:speaking, what does this mean as a style of photography? Like, what are we talking
Speaker:about? It's generally in lingerie
Speaker:or some, like, version of undress. Some of my clients choose
Speaker:to be in lingerie, only some of them do not even choose to be in
Speaker:lingerie. Maybe they're in pajamas or they're, like, taking
Speaker:off a dress or they're in a jersey or something like that, but it's some
Speaker:form of undress. And then some of my clients take that all the way
Speaker:to nude, and some don't. And what did you do?
Speaker:I did. I undressed, like, from
Speaker:a dress into lingerie, and then I did some
Speaker:implied nudity where it looks like you're naked, but you can't actually see that you're
Speaker:naked. Okay. All right. So that's the
Speaker:concept. That's the concept behind the gift. Do.
Speaker:So if I understand it correctly, you did. Did you take these photos of yourself
Speaker:or you hired somebody you were trusting another creator to take these
Speaker:photos of you? Yeah, I had a friend that I. That I
Speaker:asked to help me, and we rented a hotel room,
Speaker:and that's how we decided to do it. And then I. I kind of, like,
Speaker:had an idea for some of the poses that I thought would
Speaker:be sexy, and then we kind of just, like, rolled with it and
Speaker:kind of vogued through that pose flow. And they also
Speaker:had some ideas. So I think I probably had a
Speaker:greater knowledge of what I was getting myself into
Speaker:than most of my clients do when they begin the journey. Just because I
Speaker:had done some research and I knew what it was like to be
Speaker:on the other side of the lens and how I might pose,
Speaker:as opposed to just being, like, the subject who is being
Speaker:posed. Does that make sense? It does. So you reflected earlier.
Speaker:I think there's a couple of interesting things about the timing of this. You said
Speaker:you were postpartum. You had two kids.
Speaker:Was your family complete at that time, or did you go on to have more
Speaker:kids? Yeah. Okay. So for people who are listening who have not had children,
Speaker:the first kid changes your body not as much as the second kid.
Speaker:I will say from experience, that is the bigger. And I think so. You
Speaker:know, that is a thing that I was first led into
Speaker:by a trainer that I worked with at the time. They were like, get ready.
Speaker:This is the bigger shift in your body. It is a massive adjustment, which everybody
Speaker:says. And so that is an interesting time to Be thinking
Speaker:about it. The other thing is that I would love to hear
Speaker:you mentioned that you were not really, because you were the
Speaker:woman in the family, but also the photographer. You were not really
Speaker:documented very well in, like, sort of the memory books of your family,
Speaker:which is a. A classic thing. Flip through an album and it's like,
Speaker:where is. Insert the family photographer? They're behind the camera. Right. They're not in all
Speaker:the pictures. What was it like to.
Speaker:In your mind, in your mental talk, in the decision process? Like, where
Speaker:were you in this? In choosing to hire somebody else and be like, I
Speaker:want to be in these pictures? Like, what did that feel like? It was
Speaker:super scary. I was very nervous about it because you're seating
Speaker:control. And photographers notoriously love to be in
Speaker:control of the image and the composition and how
Speaker:they're being portrayed and everything. So it's definitely not
Speaker:as comfortable as being on the other side of the lens for me. But for
Speaker:me, that was a very important part of it because I really wanted to
Speaker:truly have empathy for how my clients would feel.
Speaker:They don't know how it's. How it's looking on the other side of the
Speaker:lens, and they have to really. They have to trust the process.
Speaker:Yeah. And I mean, we talked about the olden days before
Speaker:digital cameras. Today, you can chimp a
Speaker:little bit and see the image previews and get an idea of what they're looking
Speaker:like. But back in the olden days, in the 1900s, when I
Speaker:was in school. I love that. It's like a totally different number for that. I
Speaker:love. It's my new favorite joke. I'm like, when I was in College in the
Speaker:1900s, and there was no preview.
Speaker:Right. It was a delay. And so you really had to trust. But now
Speaker:you can do it a little bit. But I think that that crosses over industries.
Speaker:People normally say one of the most famous is doctors make terrible
Speaker:patients. It's like to be on the other side, something that you
Speaker:are a master of and usually you're very familiar with. It's
Speaker:a leap to hand the creative control or the
Speaker:professional job over to somebody else and be the client. You knew the
Speaker:person. This is a friend that you were working. Working with. Yeah. So you were
Speaker:comfortable. I was comfortable. And I think that that's part of it, and that's
Speaker:definitely part that I've built into my process. Like, I insist on having a meeting
Speaker:with people before they're taking their clothes off so that we can get more
Speaker:comfortable. Because I think if someone was just like, hey, come over to my
Speaker:studio and take your clothes off. I'd be like, okay, no thanks. You know,
Speaker:well, and to put. But two, I don't know if you've ever done commercial work.
Speaker:People who work, like in, you know, catalog work and models,
Speaker:they have no, like, it's like, it is. They are there. They will change their
Speaker:clothes right in front of. There are people who would be. Yeah, that's normal. Totally
Speaker:fine. Here's my, you know, like, so. Yeah, yeah. And
Speaker:working with models after that, I. They're definitely
Speaker:more at home in their bodies in that regard.
Speaker:Yeah. No, and I like, so. And I call the tropics home.
Speaker:Miami, Florida. So, like, people are very comfortable being, you know, in a.
Speaker:In a state of semi undress. So it does depend
Speaker:on where you are, but mostly speaking, absolutely. Like
Speaker:walking in and being like, hi, get naked. That would be a
Speaker:rapid introduction. So with you, you knew this person.
Speaker:You had a concept of what you wanted to do. Am I understanding correctly that
Speaker:even though this was a gift for your husband, it was absolutely something that you
Speaker:were also thinking about for your photo business? So you were doing this was the.
Speaker:You were experiencing it with the idea of adding this to the things that you
Speaker:were going to offer right from the start? No, I
Speaker:was just going into it as the experience. And it was
Speaker:coming out of the experience and actually
Speaker:seeing the photos that I let it, like, wash over me.
Speaker:And I was like. I was like, oh, hey,
Speaker:I feel. So much better about myself. Like, this is
Speaker:literally looking at myself through
Speaker:a kinder lens than I do maybe in the mirror.
Speaker:And I really wanted to try to
Speaker:create that for other people. It was coming out
Speaker:of it, going into it. That was not the
Speaker:intention. I was just very cool. All right. So very cool. So
Speaker:what do you shared with me on the intake firm that we've talked about
Speaker:offline between the two of us that with.
Speaker:You didn't realize it when you started this process,
Speaker:but you say that with time and perspective, you realize that this
Speaker:gift that you were giving your husband was actually for you.
Speaker:And so you started to talk a little bit about how it changed your concept.
Speaker:Tell us more about what that means to you.
Speaker:I was able to just set down some, like, mental
Speaker:baggage that I had been carrying around in my brain for a
Speaker:really long time. And I think that
Speaker:this is especially important postpartum because you have
Speaker:to learn how to love your body all over again.
Speaker:And it has new features at that point. New
Speaker:bonus features. Bonus features. Yeah.
Speaker:And so I like, it was very, very transformational for Me,
Speaker:I felt more capable, I felt more confident, and I
Speaker:felt like I was lovable.
Speaker:All right, all of that from the photos. Okay, so that's
Speaker:really interesting because let's talk about how
Speaker:photos and images, they sometimes have a
Speaker:very direct connection to self concept.
Speaker:Right. So. Which is a weird thing to kind of think about because I
Speaker:don't think that, you know, most of the time you just think of it, it's
Speaker:just a picture. Like what? You know, don't make too much of it. Right. It's
Speaker:just a picture. But like going back to. And I am just,
Speaker:I am pulling out a Psychology 101 reference that could be
Speaker:completely wrong. And people can tell me, but the. There's a concept of self concept
Speaker:where it's like, this is what I think of myself. And there's another one which
Speaker:is that this is how I think that other people see me and judge me.
Speaker:Those are two ideas of the same thing. But with photos,
Speaker:right? When somebody hands you a picture of yourself or you see a picture of
Speaker:yourself in a frame or in an album, those
Speaker:two things come crashing together. Like so if you have a concept that doesn't
Speaker:match the photo, that can be great. Like, oh, look how great I am.
Speaker:Or it could be like, oh my gosh, I did not realize that that is
Speaker:what I showed looked like in the camera. So what
Speaker:were, did you have concerns when you started this? Like, you
Speaker:knew you were postpartum, you knew you wanted to give your husband this, but did
Speaker:you have concerns and fears as you went into this project and what did those
Speaker:look like and feel like? My concerns were
Speaker:like the common concerns that I hear all the time. I am like,
Speaker:my belly is not my favorite part of my body, especially
Speaker:postpartum. It I had like some new stretch marks and so I was very
Speaker:concerned about how those were going to come across the camera.
Speaker:And they just didn't feel like they belonged to me. And, and I do
Speaker:think that most, most people have some
Speaker:level of dysmorphia where they don't actually see
Speaker:themselves as other people see themselves. Yeah.
Speaker:And I think that
Speaker:boudoir can be really helpful and healing in
Speaker:that it helps you actually see it as it exists and
Speaker:not as like it exists when
Speaker:you make a huge deal of it in the mirror, when you're being self critical
Speaker:and picking yourself apart, like you make it a much bigger deal
Speaker:than it actually is. And when we're looking at
Speaker:ourselves in our belly and we're maybe like pushing it out or
Speaker:we're like focusing on the things that we don't like about it.
Speaker:And you're not seeing it in space or with posing.
Speaker:So, like, my stretch marks, like, largely did not
Speaker:even show up because of the way that the light hit my
Speaker:body. And I find that that's true with my
Speaker:clients, too, that, like, sometimes light will pick something up and
Speaker:sometimes it doesn't. And so it's like, okay, so in
Speaker:reality, it's not an obvious
Speaker:thing to other people. Like, it is to me when I'm really super
Speaker:focusing on it. And when I move my body
Speaker:in different ways, maybe I elongate my torso. Maybe you're seeing me from
Speaker:the back and I've turned my head back to look at you. Like, it's not
Speaker:an obvious thing to other people, and it's not something that really
Speaker:draws your focus as another person.
Speaker:It just does as the subject. And so when I saw it, I
Speaker:was like, oh, like, that's just part of me.
Speaker:It's not nearly as big of a deal as I thought it
Speaker:was or, like, as gross as I believed it
Speaker:was beforehand. Does that make sense? I think
Speaker:so. I mean, I think that I would say that, you know, if
Speaker:you're in the dressing room of, you know,
Speaker:Bloomingdale's or Macy's or whatever, and you're looking at your outfit in the
Speaker:mirror, you're looking for, you know, sort of
Speaker:imperfections. Like, does it fit? Like, where doesn't it fit?
Speaker:And then. And so what you're saying is that I'm going
Speaker:to rephrase it. You tell me if I get it correct, if I understand
Speaker:and put it in my own words. You were concerned
Speaker:that the things that you saw as imperfection and not good enough were going to
Speaker:show up in the pictures that you were going to give to your. To your
Speaker:husband. And that was, you know, facing that. Like,
Speaker:I don't. I don't want to highlight my
Speaker:flaws. I want to, you know, I want it to be a pretty picture.
Speaker:And that's a. You know, that's a definitely something, you know, as a
Speaker:concept that's beaten into us in most families forever. It's like
Speaker:our parents are like, make sure you smile for the school photo. You know, take
Speaker:a good picture. You know, all of those things. So I think that that's a
Speaker:reasonable thing. Okay. Did you. Did you have any concerns about
Speaker:what the photographer who you were working with would think of you or what
Speaker:they would say or judge you during the process or any
Speaker:sneaky things about, you know, what my husband think when he
Speaker:sees these photos? So I Was
Speaker:comforted by the idea that, like, okay, well,
Speaker:if I feel good, my husband is probably going to love
Speaker:these because he loves me, and it's nothing he
Speaker:hasn't seen before. Right. Okay. All right.
Speaker:But I did feel slightly
Speaker:concerned about being judged by the photographer for just
Speaker:not having, like, a body that needs the beauty standard.
Speaker:But that was very quickly kind of washed away just through the
Speaker:experience and getting more comfortable. Yeah, I mean, I think that
Speaker:that is, you know, that there's. There's layers of that that you
Speaker:can unpack, because most of us are not Runway models
Speaker:who are going to show up in. In the photos like that. But that doesn't
Speaker:alleviate the pressure that when you put yourself in that situations, like, who am
Speaker:I to. To do this and go through this? So I think that that's.
Speaker:I think that's a good thing to be aware of.
Speaker:Thing about it. Okay, so you shared that this process for
Speaker:you, the process of having these photos taken of you in the context of giving
Speaker:them as a gift, unearth some of your own confidence
Speaker:issues. Which is interesting to talk to you about it today because you've already done
Speaker:all the work. So it's like going back and thinking about it then
Speaker:for me, it's easy to imagine, you know, the confidence issues. Right.
Speaker:And we, like, when we look good in photos, we
Speaker:may not, like when somebody catches us as a. In a candid
Speaker:photo and we don't look great. Sometimes we can be
Speaker:surprised by how we show up in reflections
Speaker:and in and in photos, especially with this thing called
Speaker:age. So, like, talk a
Speaker:little bit more about what the confidence side uncovered as
Speaker:part of the process. What did that feel like for you?
Speaker:I think that I had some limiting
Speaker:beliefs that I had. I think, thought I had put to.
Speaker:Bed. But really I
Speaker:just had not dealt with
Speaker:them. Sort of bypassed that. Right? Exactly. I maybe, like,
Speaker:shove them under the. The carpet instead of, like,
Speaker:actually dealing with them. And
Speaker:my lack of confidence came from when I was a little girl. I def.
Speaker:I have two, like, beautiful, skinny sisters. And
Speaker:I definitely felt like I was, like, less
Speaker:worth worthy because I was a curvy girl.
Speaker:And, you know, I'll never forget in third grade, my mom was like,
Speaker:basically, you can't have dessert because you don't need it. But she,
Speaker:like, continued to buy it for my siblings. So there was this,
Speaker:like, othering that happened from a pretty young age.
Speaker:And so when I was facing the
Speaker:idea of, like, being like, fairly unclothed in
Speaker:photographs, all of those things came back, like,
Speaker:kind of crashing back. That you know, I didn't have a
Speaker:Runway body. I had a postpartum body. And, like,
Speaker:maybe that. That body was not as good as other bodies or
Speaker:not lovable or not
Speaker:pretty. And, like, I. When I
Speaker:saw the photos, after going through, like,
Speaker:how nervous I was to take them and how
Speaker:I was worried about being judged, I
Speaker:really, just. For the first time, like, I felt like
Speaker:I could let go of so much of that.
Speaker:That it was. That that was just a story I was telling
Speaker:myself. So there's a lot that you touched in there.
Speaker:The, you know, the pressure of beauty concepts
Speaker:within your family and the
Speaker:worthiness. So, yeah, no, the
Speaker:worthiness of dessert. Everybody gets to eat dessert. You can eat dessert for breakfast. It
Speaker:doesn't make you a good person or not.
Speaker:But I do think that that's a part of culture that
Speaker:is, you know, is still. Still around to this day. It has not gone away.
Speaker:We do still very much prioritize and value
Speaker:and highlight people who look a very specific way. And it's very
Speaker:easy for people to say, oh, if I don't
Speaker:look like that, I don't get to have this. Great.
Speaker:And that's unfortunate because most of us do not
Speaker:look like that. And it gets in the way of living your very real life.
Speaker:Or, I'm going to torture myself through this experience. Like, you still
Speaker:have to go to the pool party, but you're going to, like, feel
Speaker:horrible through the experience.
Speaker:Or people don't. People opt out. They drop their kids off for the pool party
Speaker:because they don't want to be seen in a swimsuit. They don't participate in the
Speaker:photos. You know, we all have these in our family. The
Speaker:person who's not ever in the group photo or doesn't hang the photos because
Speaker:they don't like to see themselves in their own house. And, yeah,
Speaker:it's. You know, those things are all there. Did it surprise you that you
Speaker:were nervous to do this? Seeing as it was
Speaker:your profession, like, to turn the lens? Were you surprised by how nervous
Speaker:you got to go through it? No, because
Speaker:it was. It was still a new
Speaker:level for me. Okay. Like, I hadn't shot any
Speaker:boudoir yet. I had just been doing other kinds of photography,
Speaker:and so I hadn't done any modeling yet. I'm a lot less
Speaker:nervous now to get in front of the lens if I have
Speaker:a new outfit for my client closet to show off. Or,
Speaker:like, for example, right now, my
Speaker:husband and I have been practicing like.
Speaker:Like Santa Claus, like a fireman's carry with. Okay.
Speaker:Up in the air with me and, like, kind of like a little Santa
Speaker:baby, like, baby doll, like a red thing that has, like,
Speaker:white on the edges, like a little, like, Santa uniform.
Speaker:And, like, I'm much less nervous to do that and, like, hit it with a
Speaker:timer because I practice so much, and I have gotten back in front of the
Speaker:lens over and over again. But it does. Like,
Speaker:there is a twinge that's like. And these are on the Internet,
Speaker:right? No. Yeah. And everything has changed. Like, so. But there
Speaker:is also. There's. So there's a new. There's a new
Speaker:phenomenon with all the social media stuff and everything is that people.
Speaker:There's a secondary judgment where people make an assumption often, and a
Speaker:judgment about people who do have public
Speaker:personalities and do put themselves out for those things. And some people would
Speaker:describe it as cringy, you know, and other people, like, it's my job.
Speaker:It's like, you know, just take it for what it is. So it's a. It's
Speaker:a whole other level of those things. All right, so you
Speaker:mentioned this a second ago. You started it, but I want you to walk me
Speaker:through what your experience was. You were nervous to do it. You were unsure
Speaker:of it. It uncovered some of these confidence issues. Walk us through your
Speaker:experience of seeing the photos of you for the first time.
Speaker:When I saw the photos of me for the first time,
Speaker:I felt great relief that they didn't look
Speaker:terrible. Like, I was worried they would. And
Speaker:then I just actually let them wash over
Speaker:me. And I.
Speaker:I felt really sexy. I felt really good. And I. And all of those,
Speaker:like, previous concepts of having, like, an unlovable or an
Speaker:unworthy body, I was like, I can put that down because I feel
Speaker:really good about myself. That is fantastic. All right, so
Speaker:was there ever a time any part of this process like,
Speaker:that you ran the scenario in your head? You're like, I can do
Speaker:this, and then I can maybe not even give them to my husband.
Speaker:No. Once I saw them, I was like, oh, if I'm happy with
Speaker:them, like, he's going to be thrilled. Okay. All right. Very good.
Speaker:Very good. Okay. So obviously, having boudoir photos taken of
Speaker:yourself is not the only way to face the issues of body
Speaker:confidence and things like that. But it is definitely one way to do it. Definitely.
Speaker:So you have mentioned this throughout this. Like, that now you have turned around,
Speaker:and this is something that you offer as a product and a process that you
Speaker:take clients through. Connect the dots here
Speaker:for how that actually happened, how you went from being somebody who was Like,
Speaker:I'm going to try this for myself all the way through for, like, this is
Speaker:something I'm going to do as a part of my business for other people.
Speaker:So when I saw the photos and I kind of
Speaker:let myself level up from that experience,
Speaker:I. I sat with it and I
Speaker:gave them to my husband. He was thrilled and he,
Speaker:he was super supportive. And then I,
Speaker:it took me like a couple weeks to say,
Speaker:like, well, how could I offer this to other women?
Speaker:Because it was so meaningful to me and it did really
Speaker:help me transform and, like, believe
Speaker:myself and like, I could do scary things and I was
Speaker:okay on the other side. And I did feel really good
Speaker:and sexy and like, really in my body. Like, I think that there is a
Speaker:somatic connection where you're like, okay, I can live here.
Speaker:And so then I reached out to friends and I was like,
Speaker:hey, do you mind if I could I work out like a pose flow and
Speaker:give you a couple photos to like, figure out what I'm doing
Speaker:and then working through the process with them. I was like, okay,
Speaker:yeah, I want to market this. I want to have this be part of my
Speaker:business. And that's when I niche down. So it was probably like
Speaker:three weeks or a month from then, and then probably
Speaker:like three more months before I was like,
Speaker:okay, I'm going to try to figure out this with models and friends and.
Speaker:And then by August of that next year, I had my
Speaker:first paying client. Very, very nice. I mean, it's so interesting to think
Speaker:about this sort of niche within photography, right?
Speaker:Because, you know, you take pictures of babies, nobody's worried
Speaker:about, like, you know, whether or not to show the, like,
Speaker:little fat rolls. Like, we love it. I love the rolls on babies. It's
Speaker:so life affirming, right? You know, and you take pet
Speaker:photos and family photos. Like, nobody's worried about, you know, the
Speaker:goofy face of, of the animal because it's the way we see
Speaker:them. But, you know, when it comes to, like, wedding photos,
Speaker:you know, it's a lot of concern that we want it to look, you know,
Speaker:the way we want it to look. Family photos, group photos, the family
Speaker:fight, everybody getting ready. You will wear this shirt and you will be happy
Speaker:about it. That's like a, you know, a comedy skit that plays out
Speaker:in every single family. But then this is a very, you know, this is a
Speaker:concept that you have leaned heavily into. You know, this isn't
Speaker:it? There's an empowerment and an identity component of this that
Speaker:is part, part of the, it's more Than just the pictures. Absolutely,
Speaker:absolutely. But I do think that boudoir is throwing yourself into the deep
Speaker:end. So I think that maybe start with a head shut.
Speaker:Well, maybe. Or like, I, I do offer my
Speaker:clients, like a lot of different ways to kind of help themselves
Speaker:with self confidence and loving themselves before we get
Speaker:to the photo shoot. So if they mention that they feel like, like
Speaker:very self critical, I'll talk about mirror work with
Speaker:them. Like, can we get to the place where we see something that we love?
Speaker:Okay. Can we get to neutral on the things that we pick on a lot?
Speaker:Like, could you thank your belly for digesting your food?
Speaker:Could you thank it for holding your babies and keeping them safe?
Speaker:And like, then could we bridge to feeling more
Speaker:neutral about it? I have a body, I have a belly. It is okay.
Speaker:Yeah. And then, and then we can get to, you know, more positive.
Speaker:But I find if people are just saying affirmations
Speaker:like, I have a beautiful body and they
Speaker:legit cannot list things. When I ask them, what do you love about your body?
Speaker:They're just not gonna believe it. Your subconscious is gonna just like, whoop,
Speaker:don't believe that. That's way too far. This is a bridge too far.
Speaker:And so I think these little baby steps can help just with
Speaker:the daily mirror work and also so
Speaker:asking in affirmations instead, I call them
Speaker:ask formations instead of affirmations. So, like, why
Speaker:am I so beautiful and unique? Why am I the person to
Speaker:give this message? Why am I the person to give this gift? Because then your
Speaker:body and your brain starts looking for the
Speaker:answer instead of just kicking it out like, no, I'm not beautiful. I don't believe
Speaker:that. I'm just not gonna. And then you feel diminished by it. If you're like,
Speaker:like, I am hot and you don't believe that you're hot, then
Speaker:you're like, oh, it just brings it back again. But if you
Speaker:ask yourself, why am I so beautiful and
Speaker:special? Then your brain's like, well, why? Yeah,
Speaker:yeah, they love my hair or whatever, you know? Right.
Speaker:No, I love that. That is fantastic. All right, so
Speaker:in a minute, we're going to do the final questions. But I. You have the
Speaker:people who are watching on YouTube. You can see, see that it's Sabrina Harrison
Speaker:photography. But tell the audience what you. What you do and how
Speaker:they can find you online after they listen or watch this interview.
Speaker:I am a boudoir retreat and branding photographer.
Speaker:I like to say I love to make women feel good with or without their
Speaker:clothes on. And you can find me At Sabrina
Speaker:Harrison Photography. That is my website. That is my Instagram handle. That is my
Speaker:Facebook. It's very easy, and I would love
Speaker:to help you level up. I would love to help you love yourself.
Speaker:Fantastic. You have a special offer for the audience, which is a confidence
Speaker:workshop called Glow up to show up. And so there. Normally that's
Speaker:$47, but it'll be free for the audience. There's a link in the
Speaker:show notes where you're listening or watching the show. The easiest way for everybody
Speaker:who's in the audience to get those links is to subscribe to the imperfect adulting
Speaker:email community, because then you don't have to dig through the show notes.
Speaker:It comes straight into your inbox and you can just click it. You don't have
Speaker:to even listen to all the episodes or watch them because I send the recap
Speaker:once a week. So I always share with people that that is the easiest way
Speaker:to do that. Thank you so much, Sabrina, for that very special offer.
Speaker:As we were going through this, I was thinking that there's another element of this
Speaker:that is coming with all the people who are doing AI
Speaker:modifications of photos. Like you could do, you know,
Speaker:tell your friend Mr. Chatgpt or, you know,
Speaker:hey, make boudoir photography of me. That's like, not even me,
Speaker:just a whole other element. But then it wouldn't actually be you. That's a conversation
Speaker:for another day. Not for today. We're gonna go straight into the final
Speaker:questions. Are you ready? I'm ready. Let's do it.
Speaker:Do you like to travel? And if you do, what website do
Speaker:you use to find your best deals on airplane tickets?
Speaker:Oh, I do love to travel. I.
Speaker:It's like. She's like, random question, Amy. Yeah,
Speaker:I don'. Love airplanes, but I love being other places.
Speaker:And I generally do, like, an incognito Google
Speaker:search so that it doesn't have my metadata. And then I'll just kind of
Speaker:scroll through and see who has the best offer. Oh, so
Speaker:you do the incognito. So it doesn't know. That is very.
Speaker:That's a good tip because I have learned that if I like. I have learned
Speaker:that my search, the pricing changes when I log in with my free flyer
Speaker:miles. It's like, oh, now here's your real price pricing. Except not really, because
Speaker:once you book it, then we're going to actually charge you for your seat. But
Speaker:anyway, like, air travel is
Speaker:annoying in 2025. All right, next question.
Speaker:Do you shop online? And if so, what's something you bought recently that
Speaker:you're pretty happy with the purchase. I do shop online
Speaker:and something that I bought recently because my husband's birthday is coming up
Speaker:again is a set from Thistle Inspire.
Speaker:It has has flames on it, and I love that lingerie company. It's
Speaker:like very adjustable and it's handmade and it's women owned,
Speaker:and it's Thistle and spire. Thistle Inspire. Yeah,
Speaker:Thistle and Spire. All right. I've never heard of it. Totally gonna check it
Speaker:out. All right. If I invited you over to my house for movie night,
Speaker:which would be a long drive because you're in Colorado and I'm in Florida, but
Speaker:let's go with it. But you get to pick the movie that we're gonna watch.
Speaker:Putting you on the spot. What's the movie that you'd pick? Pick.
Speaker:This time of year, Just right now, like today. Like, if it was today, what
Speaker:would it be? I would totally pick some, like, Hallmark Christmas
Speaker:trash because it's so low stakes
Speaker:and it's literally like the same house every time. Like in
Speaker:the same house. Like, as a photographer, you notice the sets and stuff.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. So I would definitely pick one of. Those Hallmark holiday
Speaker:movie. That's a wonderful thing that. That's it. Sabrina Harrison, thank you so
Speaker:much for being a wonderful guest today on the show. Thank you so much,
Speaker:Amy. I really appreciate being here and having the chance to tell my story.