My Picture Perfect Imperfect Self

"There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself;comfortable in her perfect imperfection.  To me, that is the true essence of beauty"- Steve Maraboli.

I know I'm not a model in any shape or form, but for one day in April I got to embrace my inner goddess and feel picture perfect.  Over the years I somehow formed a rather negative self image and it wasn't uncommon for me to berate myself for not having a flat stomach or perfectly toned thighs.  Even when I lost a remarkable 23 pounds this past winter, I still didn't feel perfect enough.  My husband thought this was ridiculous as he sees me as simply stunning.  He loves my curves and soft skin.  He says he can't get enough of my smile and laugh.

So when I won a "modern glam" photo shoot through http://sexandthesuburb.com/, a site featuring life in the Fraser Valley, and the fabulousness of being a woman, I was ecstatic!  Here was my opportunity to look and feel truly amazing and capture it in print forever.  On April 13th 2013, I grabbed my bag of outfits I chose for the shoot and headed into Vancouver to meet with Tobin and Sarah Smith, the amazing husband and wife team of http://www.photobinphotography.com/.  I had to admit I was a little anxious as I had never done this type of thing before.  And add the fact that I planned to mix in a few boudoir shots into the session, I wasn't exactly sure how comfortable I'd be in lingerie in front of strangers.
 

The pair of Siamese fighting fish battling in my stomach that misty morning were quickly subdued once I met Sarah on the steps of pho Tobin studio.  Sarah's welcoming demeanour made me feel right at home in the cozy studio.  After helping me unpack my bag, Sarah and Tobin both excitedly looked over my clothing selection, which made me feel good about my choices.  Then Tobin immediately went into "photographer mode" and started planning the shoot, while Sarah started to transform me.  I was instructed to not wear any make-up nor do anything to my hair, as Sarah wanted a clean canvas to work her magic.  This was no big deal to me as I normally don't wear make-up during the day anyway.

90 minutes later Sarah placed me in front of the mirror and for the first time in my life I didn't recognize the woman reflected back at me.  I think I literally asked "who is that?", which now seems like a silly question, as of course it was me.  My hair was done in these sexy curls and my make-up, which I thought would be overly done, was elegant and sleek.  Sarah's vision for all her clients is to enhance the natural beauty that already exists.  All women have incredible eyes I learned, so that is the feature that needs to be accentuated; my eyes never looked so alive.

Now it was picture time.  I started off in a black wrap dress.  Once again the fish fluttered.  I was unsure of how I'd do as a model, as this was out of my realm of normalcy.  However with Tobin's comfortable ease about himself, not to mention the fact he tells the best knock knock jokes, I was laughing and having a fabulous time acting like a model.  When it came time to do the boudoir pictures I didn't feel as self conscious as I thought I would.  I was actually comfortable in my own skin and felt confident and sexy.  Feeling very empowered, I left their studio knowing I truly was beautiful, and that I need to remember that everyday.  So as a reminder I have some portraits up on my bedroom wall of my imperfect, perfect self.

Looking back on this experience I see how valuable it was for me to do this.  It has boasted my self confidence so much.  I truly believe every woman should do this at least once in her life, as Tobin and Sarah from http://www.photobinphotography.com/ really do "transcend the everyday. "