Speaker:

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.