self-portraits with yellow flowers

SELF-PORTRAITS: my reasons for creating them

I have spent the last decade of my life showing women how beautiful and powerful they are. Playing in nature with them for an hour or two, them wearing different outfits or none at all, to then have them look at the final photos and gasp, “Is this really me?” 

Their eyes lit up, they stood taller, I could tell that they were completely in love with themselves in those photos. Giving them this experience felt like the purpose of WHY I was put onto this Earth. 

But I was jealous. I wanted this experience for myself. The whole premise of my work is LOVE YOURSELF, you are amazing, you can do and be whatever you want to be, just see yourself for the magnificent GODDESS that you are. 

Some say that our art is the medicine that WE ourselves most need in our lives. And I always knew it. I knew and still know that I must cultivate the SELF-LOVE that the pages of my website are screaming about. The time has come. It was time for me to try some of my own medicine. “I will create artistic self-portraits so I too can fall in love with the woman behind the camera,” I decided. 

The interesting thing was that I have toyed with the idea of self-portraits before. When my first daughter was about two months old, out of creative hunger, in a breastfeeding bra stained with milk I created self-portraits of me with a rose. That was my most successful self-portrait in the sense that I consider it absolutely gorgeous and other people like it too. There were some other self-portraits that I’ve made that I didn’t love so I ended up not even sharing them publicly. 

SELF-PORTRAITS WHILE LIVING AT THE NATURIST RESORT

In the summer of 2025 I had an opportunity to do an artist-in-residence program at a naturist resort called Sunsport Gardens. The path of an artistic nude photographer led me to meet Katie Ospina who lived there, we became friends, and I would visit her at the resort from time to time. This nudist resort is a piece of paradise in Loxahatchee, FL and they support artists. The thought of “it would be nice to live there for free and create” visited me once and then turned into months-long conversations with the owners about it, until it finally came to fruition in June-July 2025. It also coincided perfectly (thank you Universe) with a rough patch I was experiencing in my marriage, so it was an absolute gift. 

Here I am, in a tropical paradise, living in a RV that is the cutest thing and a very romantic experience. I have kids with me some days, but other days I am completely free. I roll out of bed naked, go outside naked, and get a variety of nature backdrops to play in. 

I must say that doing self-portraits is a rather painful experience technically speaking. I would set up my camera on a tripod, use a Camcode app as a remote control for the camera which allowed me to see what the camera saw. I would set my camera on a delayed timer, which meant that from the moment I clicked the button on my phone, I had five seconds to drop it and get into a pose. I could then check right there on my phone what the photo looked like, and then repeat the process more times until the masterpiece shined back at me from the screen. 

Very often, the masterpiece or even a resemblance thereof, refused to show up. Oftentimes I had to get up, adjust the camera angle, climb back into the bushes or wherever the inspiration called me to be, and start over again. During sessions when I liked how the photos were turning out, the complexity of the process did not bother me. When I didn’t like how I looked, or I couldn’t get into flow, I would quickly get pulled into “why in the world am I doing this?”

My very first series of self-portraits while I was living at Sunsport Gardens was photos with the yellow flowers. I was actually filming an ending for my hemi-facial spasm video (it is about my journey with healing a debilitating condition that I was able to heal with a brain surgery), and I wanted to have some pretty flowers for the table to make the shot a little more festive. 

There I was, wearing a fuchsia dress, all made up and ready to film, when I discover that I need some flowers for the table. I go outside, feeling extremely overdressed. I run into Amanda. She is obviously naked, except for a tie dye skirt around her hips and a hat to protect her from the sun. I tell her about my dilemma and she suggests I go pick these flowers called Mexican sunflowers. 

She gives me a pair of scissors. I go get the flowers, put them in a small glass and film my video. And then as I look at these flowers on the table in my camper, I realize that they are so gorgeous that I want to be photographed WITH them. I decide to go for an implied nude theme, knowing that the flowers will hide everything that needs to be hidden. I create photos that make me so happy. 

I noticed that dissatisfaction with the body fades with time. I have a photo of myself from when before I had kids, and look absolutely stunning there. Back then, of course, I thought I was fat. So maybe when I’m eighty or ninety, I will look at THESE photos and appreciate and ADMIRE my body. And for this very important reason, I invite every one to do self-portraits.  

Self-portraits Resources and Inspiration

If you are looking for some inspiration in the self-portrait space, there are some pretty amazing creators out there.

A few that I follow are:

Daria Gudkova: https://www.instagram.com/dariagudkova

Teri Hofford https://www.instagram.com/terihofford/

Helen Hetkel: https://www.instagram.com/helen.hetkel/

Miki: https://www.instagram.com/mikis.atelier

Came across this profile: https://www.instagram.com/artofselfportraiture/

self-portraits: the healing power

I have struggled with self-esteem and self-worth since adolescence.

I grew up being friends with this girl who was tall, with a tiny waist, big boobs, huge blue eyes, long eye lashes and symmetrical features that made everyone do a double take. 

When she and I would walk the main street of Saint Petersburg (Russia, obviously), people’s eyes were magnetized to her face. You can’t NOT see her. I did not have that. I felt overlooked, not pretty enough, and tied my self-worth to my appearance. Kids teased me that I looked Chinese, or that I was hit on the face with a frying pan. I would boil parsley and then put wipe my face with the mixture in order to get rid of my freckles. At least THAT, would make normal looking, I thought. Alas, there was nothing that could be done to change what I looked like. I was not as pretty as my friend, I did not feel worthy, and somewhere along the way learned to seek validation from the outside… 

Looking beautiful, feeling beautiful, being perceived as beautiful, as a result, became of major importance for me. There are some people for whom it is not important. When I dig deeper, I understand that the need to look beautiful must be stemming from an evolutionary need for acceptance. And I know I have come a long way, and now feel more at home in my body than I ever have. But the need for beauty is still there. Maybe it is my gift to see the beauty in others, and show it to them, because a lot of other women feel the same way as I did and am slowly unlearning it. I am worthy regardless of what I look like. And I AM beautiful. I can see it. I get validation of it from others (maybe the least trusted source), but most importantly, I FEEL IT. I am starting to feel my own magnificence and becoming more magnetic as a result of it. The more I tap into that energy of knowing that I am beautiful, perfect in a way, perfect with all my imperfections, perfect in my humanity (but in no way above others, just in my own uniqueness), that I am creative, that l am powerful - the more I feel it, the more I tap into it, the more magnetic I become. 

In the beginning of my creative play, I WAS wearing a turquoise tube top. I LOVE the combination of these two complimentary colors, but I decided to go for the implied nude theme after all.

When I look at this photo, the asymmetry in my face is apparent, but there is also so much beauty in it. I held my hands in this way to make my skin taut and as if to say, am I perfect?

Did self-portraits help with that? Maybe. Maybe not. Photography definitely holds this healing power and I am glad that I was able to experience myself a fraction of what I give others. I think the magic of photography in general and self-portraiture in particular is that everyone sees life around them, they see themselves in the mirror, but when people see a photograph, they say, WOW, you captured THAT. That frozen slice of reality, that split second, that glance, that move, that emotion - you froze it in time. And maybe the colors came together in a beautiful harmony, and the composition…

Engaging my creativity makes me feel whole, valid and complete. I think creativity is one of the reasons I was able to stay sober for almost 13 years. And I am sure there have been studies done on how engaging creativity can boost your confidence, something that I touched on in this article.

When I create my own self-portraits, I have a chance to BE SEEN and see myself. Even if the gift of being seen happens by the artist me. Also, the fact that I can express myself through this creative outlet BECAUSE I CAN, feels liberating. I can be whoever I want in the photograph. And I get to be beautiful, if I get the masterpiece to shine back at me from the screen. And it is often not the superficial type of “pretty” that I am after, but perhaps the entire process and the final result are a sort of reclamation of my self-worth.

The connection to the creative source allows me to dissolve in the process and what I do becomes deeply meaningful. The logical mind is very good at dismissing some ideas, but when I am taking self-portraits, the logical mind is not allowed in. He stays behind closed doors, while the creative mind gets to play and run the show. The way you plug a mixer into an electric outlet, I plug myself into the process, put my head down and plunge into work. If I do that, if I surrender to it, the creative process consumes me, swallows me in and I become a part of it. I think it is GOD. Or GODDESS. You connect to her, you connect to the GODDESS, and you BECOME HER.

And when you come out of it, hours later, look around the room and see tripod and camera equipment over here, your clothes and things over there, everything scattered in chaos all over the room, and you feel high. You have a deep satisfaction for what you’ve done. After a session like this I say, I don’t even care if the images are any good, because I got so much joy out of the process. And I am lying to myself of course, because I know that the reason I am so glad with the process is because I know, and I SEE and I feel that the photos are going to be great, that I am capturing it, and that this beautiful divinely orchestrated creative process in which I tap into that GOD part of me, is working out for me. 

Here are most of the portraits from that series, with the exception of a few images where my nipple is partially visible but I decided to not to remove it. The other option would have been to slap a “censored” label on them, but I decided against it. I might come to a point where I’m ok with MY nipples on my website, but for now, I’m respecting my own boundary :)

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Here is what the process actually looked like. Follow me on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes magic.

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What did you think of my portraits? Which one do you think is the one I consider THE masterpiece from this session? Do YOU take self-portraits? I would love to hear - please share in the comments or send me a private message! ♥

march 2026 - women making history month

When I was a kid, March 8, International Women’s Day, was one of my favorite holidays. It signaled that the long cold Siberian winter was almost over. It meant festive gatherings at home with loads of my favorite Olivye salad (aka potato salad, but never say it to a Russian). It meant happy moms, grandmas and girls — many got flowers and gifts.

Now in the US, March is Women’s History Month. There are a lot of women whose names are forever etched into history and whose faces adorn the pages of textbooks. Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou — the list goes on.

But who said history needs to be loud to matter?

What if history isn’t measured by how big it looks, but by who it touches?

History is being made every day by ordinary women like you and me. The choices we make every day, and how we support not only others but OURSELVES, create a ripple effect that is history in the making.

If you are an artist, a chef, an entrepreneur, if you sell insurance, or if you are “just a mom” (the hardest job I’ve ever held), you are making history. If you do what you do with heart, you are making a difference.

We often brush off what we do as “not a big deal,” insignificant. But even if you throw a small stone into a pond, it creates ripples. Your being a homeschool mom to your kids makes a difference. You showing up to work every day and giving your clients the best experience they deserve makes a difference. You being brave enough to follow your heart and create paintings and dream of making a living off your art is making a difference. You making a delicious meal that nourishes someone’s body is also nourishing their soul.

You are making a difference.
You are making history.

This month of March 2026 I want to recognize and celebrate this for all of us. Women are my main audience and who I serve, so I am looking at it through the lens of a woman, because that’s what feels most natural to me. But truly, this applies to all of us. Feel free to engage no matter what gender you are.

When you turn on the news, the world can seem like it’s falling apart. Another war. More conflict. At times like this I often feel helpless. I feel like there is absolutely nothing I personally can do to eliminate unnecessary pain and suffering in the world. I wish I had a magic wand that I could wave and instantly restore peace everywhere.

I don’t have that kind of magic.

What I do have is the ability to take responsibility for my world. My actions. My words. My energy.

Maybe the answer to chaos out there starts with how we live in here. In our homes. In our friendships. In the way we speak to ourselves.

Small ripples of love, kindness, bravery. The way we treat strangers. The way we encourage our children. The way we show up in our work.

Maybe that’s where real change begins.

Last month I was on a fancy yacht at a networking event. The people there had access to millions of dollars and were involved in projects that cost unfathomable amounts of money. It felt inspiring to be around them. Their ideas were big, bold, life-changing. It’s important to be around people like that because it fires you up.

But at a certain moment, I felt small.

There I was with my camera, capturing the emotion of the event. Everyone raved about the photos I created. But in the grand scheme of things, I suddenly felt like what I was doing didn’t really matter.

In a conversation with a guy named Jose, who runs a non-profit helping IT students in South Florida reach the preparation level of MIT students, he admitted that he sometimes feels the same way. I couldn’t believe it. His work impacts so many lives! And yet he still questioned if it was enough.

That’s when I realized something.

I get to impact each individual woman who comes to do her Goddess Photoshoot with me. I get to impact many through showing up and sharing what is working for me on my journey. Me sharing about overcoming alcoholism and sobriety may help someone feel less alone. Me taking selfies and creating self-portraits may inspire someone to try the same and find a new way of expressing themselves. Me being curious about naturism and nudism and creating content around it may invite someone to visit Sunsport Gardens Naturist Resort that I often talk about — and they might have the most liberating experience of their life.

Exploring comfort in my own skin — literally and metaphorically — is part of my history too. Learning to stand in my body without shame is not a small thing. And if that gives someone else permission to feel freer in theirs, that ripple matters.

Me creating beautiful portraits of a woman during her Goddess Photoshoot may give her the chance to see herself in a whole new light and give her the confidence boost she needs. Me creating personal branding photos for a sound healer may empower her to promote her offerings more confidently and build a thriving business doing what she loves.

These small but mighty ripple effects are proof that I am making history.

And the truth is, WE ALL ARE.

This month, I would like to explore this idea further. I believe it is important to recognize our own magnificence and celebrate the seemingly “no big deal” wins. I will be posting on my Instagram and Facebook and would love to know what Women Making History Month looks like for you.

As a photographer, I will also be highlighting the amazing women I get to work with. The truth is, I have been celebrating women making history on my social media feeds this entire time through my photography. This month I’m just doing it more intentionally.

And if the way we see ourselves shapes the way we move through the world, then learning to see ourselves with compassion might be one of the most powerful things we can do.

I will also be offering an in-person class titled Selfies for Self-Love that will teach women how to create artistic self-portraits. For me personally, self-portraits have been a powerful tool in learning to accept and embrace myself. This class isn’t about perfect angles. It’s about changing the relationship you have with your own reflection.

Finally, I will be offering some really cool merch on my website that aligns with self-love and self-empowerment. Sometimes what’s needed to create impact is that extra push of courage and belief in yourself. The products in my online store were created with that in mind.

We don’t need headlines to matter.
We don’t need huge platforms to make a difference.

We need heart. We need courage. We need the willingness to take our own lives seriously.

It’s time to stop dismissing our wins as “no big deal.” It’s time to acknowledge the quiet ways we are shaping the world around us.

I invite you to join me on this journey of self-inquiry, self-discovery, self-celebration and self-reclamation.

And I would truly love to know:

In what small but meaningful way are you making history right now?

With love and gratitude,

Francesca Bliss ♥

P. S. As I was getting ready to publish this article, I started choosing images to go with it. Somehow, water images kept coming up. I went with it, then questioned it, then went with it again as my intuition told me. I guess it goes with the whole theme feeling insignificant in the ocean of everything else, but nevertheless making a splash and causing the ripple effect. I hope you enjoyed it.

selfies as a path to self-love

Part I - NOT A SELFIE TAKER?

"People who post selfies are narcissists crying out for attention." I used to think.

I was the person who didn’t take, or god forbid, share selfies. Because I wasn’t that above mentioned narcissist. Until I realized something… When I looked in the mirror, I thought I was at least good looking, but when the cell phone showed me what he (phone) saw, I was horrified…My nose seemed huge, how much one eye was bigger (or smaller?) than the other was just weird, and gosh, I could see EVERY. SINGLE. PORE! Please point the camera the other way…

But as most people, I want to be consistent. I want my actions to be consistent with my beliefs. And the belief that I am preaching from every page of my website and in my life is this:

LOVE YOURSELF!

You are beautiful, you are perfect the way you are right now, you are worthy of your love, admire yourself. And since my inner dialogue wasn’t reflecting that, I decided it was time to change.

I basically FORCED myself to take selfies. When I am wearing makeup and my hair looks ok I seem to like myself more, but I also challenged myself to take no makeup, just-crawled-out-of-bed- and-made-my-coffee selfies. Many of the photos live on my phone and the rest of the world will NEVER see them. Other selfies I do post in my stories and even in my posts now (I have come a long way!). I can say for sure that the THOUGHT and ACT of SELFIE TAKING causes much less anxiety and negative emotions than it used to and it comes more naturally.

Are selfies good for self-esteem?

Using a statistical technique known as a mediation model, scientists found evidence to suggest that posting selfies encourages positive social media feedback, which improves body image and increases self-esteem.

Please not that I am NOT promoting relying on outside praise and attention to build up your own self-esteem. What I am promoting is finding beauty and good qualities in yourself and focusing on those.

People who know you love for you for who you are. All of you. They don’t even notice that your one breast is bigger than the other. They don’t think about the size of your pores or that your hair is thin. They love you for the fact that you are there when they need you, or they like your silly knock-knock jokes or your puns. And people LOVE seeing your face in their social media feed. Have you noticed how much more engagement you get when your face is in the shot as opposed to a pic of what you ate for breakfast? Exactly. People ENJOY SEEING YOU, give them that treat, take that selfie, post it scared, and see what happens… You might be pleasantly surprised about how you feel afterwards.

Part II - EMBRACING SELFIES

The second part of the reason why it was important for me to embrace selfies was this. Statistics show that social media posts perform better when your face is in it - engagement and likes are much higher. I promised myself to do whatever it takes to grow my business into a thriving one. It meant putting myself out there. It meant showing people the face behind the lens, it meant sharing more about who I am. People connect with people, not businesses. And since I was on a mission, my perception of selfies changed. Sometimes, when taking a selfie in a place where other people could see me, i thought people would laugh at me that I was one of those influencers doing a booty shake into the camera in the middle of a restaurant. In response to that imaginary remark I answered to myself “I am growing an empire and I don’t care what people think.” It took all the pressure right off, it was incredible! 

I started bringing a tripod to most photoshoots to record a behind-the-scenes video of how I photograph. In the beginning all I could notice was extra pounds around my waste and how asymmetrical my face was but then i got over myself. The point was to show my audience what my process looks like. And i remember when early last year I shared a behind-the-scenes of a goddess photoshoot and i booked a photoshoot thanks to it (Katie’s goddess photoshoot)! That was my proof that putting myself out there really works! And now I actually ENJOY creating my behind-the-scenes videos! 

So it is like building a habit. I created a habit of bringing a tripod to every photoshoot to film how I work. Now it has become second nature. The same with taking selfies. I GOT USED to taking them. It became a habit, and took out the anxiety out of it. 

“I am building a business where I can use my talents to help other people, change their lives, and create a fulfilling abundant life for myself, yes. And taking this selfie is part of the process, there’s no shame in it.”  WHY I was doing something changed my ATTITUDE toward it and it made it unimportant what others think. 

Why am I sharing this? Well, I am not sure if I’m the only one who has selfie issues… But if being too critical of yourself is stopping you from fully stepping into your potential, you can change it. The question is, do you WANT to change it? Putting yourself out there becomes easier with practice, so the more you do it, the easier it will become. If you make a commitment to taking more selfies and putting yourself out there, a month from now, a year from now you will look back and be amazed by how far you’ve come.

Part III - ADD THIS WORD TO MAKE SELFIES SHAMELESS

Another way to take the shame out of selfies is this: create ARTISTIC selfies. When your selfie is more than a photo of you smiling into the camera, it is not just a selfie. It is an artistic self-portrait. Artists have been creating self-portraits since a long time ago. Doesn’t the phrase “artistic self-portrait” immediately sounds more refined and sophisticated than “selfie”? Yes. And if using the phrase “artistic self-portrait” is what will make you create these self-portraits, then shamelessly substitute one for the other. 

What separates a selfie from an artistic self-portrait? A selfie is a self-portrait, so the only difference between the two phrases is the word “artistic”. Translation: take a selfie looking into the camera. Take a photo looking up, obscure your face, use a flower to cover up your face, photograph only  a part of your face, substitute your face for something else, and you got yourself an artistic portrait. Artistic is a way of self-expression. 

When my first daughter was about two months old I created this artistic self-portrait. I wrote a story about it here, if you want to check it out. Since then I have made several attempts to create artistic selfies and not of all them were successful but I must say I do enjoy the process.

Part IV - THE EASIEST WAY TO TURN SELFIES INTO ARTISTIC SELF-PORTRAITS

The easiest way to create an artistic selfie is to get creative with posing!

In my guide “8 Easy Goddess Posing Prompts for Looking Divine in Photos” I show my favorite poses that I have been using over the years during my Goddess Photoshoots. I have been photographing goddesses for the last 8 years and what helped me create unique photos of the women is using non-traditional poses. You can easily incorporate these poses into your artistic portraits. The guide has photos of each pose and I describe the possible variations for each one.

You can get your free posing guide here.

Of course, you will either need help from a girlfriend or a partner, or you can buy yourself an inexpensive tripod for your cell phone and take photos on a timer. There is some work involved, but the result will be totally worth it. Especially if you don’t have an opportunity to invest into professional photos of yourself, artistic self portraits that you will create will allow you to see yourself differently. It might change how you see yourself and will also give you an opportunity to create stunning visual content for your social media if that is what you are after. 

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The idea of artistic self-portraits is something I am passionate about because I believe:

1). it is a way to find beauty in yourself and learn to appreciate and accept your body

2). it is a creative outlet and oftentimes as adults we don’t have enough opportunities to express ourselves creatively.

In fact, I am so excited about the idea of artistic self-portraits that I will be teaching an in-person playshop (workshop, but way funner) in South Florida and may create a course on the topic. I have created a bunch more artistic self-portraits since I drafted this article. I am not an authority on self-portraits because I don’t create so many of them, but I am happy to share my process and inspire other women to create them as they learn to embrace, accept and fall in love with themselves. ♥

strong as a mother: a different kind of maternity photoshoot

Most maternity sessions look alike - a feminine air of the expecting goddess smiling and looking down at her belly. The only thing that differentiates these photoshoots is the color of the dress and the length of the train.

Oh, and almost everyone wears a floral crown.

It is so trite that it brings on the severe nausea of the first trimester.

Listen, I have created photos like this before in these maternity photoshoots. And if it’s your thing, go for it. I can create these photos for you, but chances after reading this you won’t… Oh well…

My invitation is to understand WHY you are having these photos done THIS way? By all means have your maternity photos taken but avoid the cookie cutter pictures plastered all over Instagram and Pinterest.

Work with a photographer who sees the uniqueness of you and is creatively bold to push outside the commonplace.

When is the best time to do a maternity photoshoot?

It is considered best to photograph maternity around 30-32 weeks. At this point, the belly is very visible but the mother is still quite mobile and not exhausted from carrying around a busload of a belly. In addition to that, the expecting mom does not look bloated or puffy. At this stage she is not yet screaming “come out already!” and maybe that is why the tendency is to create light and airy dreamy photos.

Amy, the woman in these photos, did not do her maternity photoshoot at 32 weeks.

Or 34 weeks.

Or 38 weeks.

She waited, and waited and pontificated whether she needs to do it in the first place.

You see, she had her Mother Blessing Ceremony, which was absolutely beautiful and during which we captured some photos of her henna painted belly. Maybe that’s why she did not have the need to document this phase in a maternity photoshoot - she kinda sorta already did.

“I feel like I want to get all dolled up for the photos but at the same time I don’t want to.” Amy confessed.

Amy was 40 weeks pregnant. Her belly was humongous and she was tired. When I think back to the last weeks of my pregnancies, the last thing on my mind was pretending to be a light airy fairy floating through the woods with her magical belly. When you are THAT pregnant, it’s not easy.

Maternity photoshoot in the comfort of your home

Since Amy was not getting back to me, I sent her a message saying this:

“Listen, I’m coming over to your house and we are doing a maternity photoshoot. You can be in sweats, I don’t care. We just need to document this in photos. And once we have your photos taken, your daughter might say, “ok, I can come out now because Mommie got her big belly photos taken.”

Amy wrote back, “OK”. We agreed to photograph on the morning of December 31.

As I was driving to this girl’s maternity session, a different kind of vision came to me. Instead of soft and feminine, I saw a fearless, powerful, badass, tough goddess ready for labor. “We will need your husband’s jacket and black boots”, I said, after I kissed her hello.

I also picked up some flowers at Trader’s Joe on the way over to her house. Baby breath, and some St. John’s Wart flowers that looked like they were made of plastic. For some reason they drew my attention and I followed my intuition.

“I have combat boots” she said.

I got goose bumps. “I love it!” My vision for a hardcore badass goddess ready to fight was coming together. To empathize the edginess, I knew I would be photographing in harsh light, none of that soft light airy nonsense. The sun was right above us at this point, in zenith, high South Florida noon. I wouldn’t want her to be squinting, I knew I would have her wearing my cool Goodr sunglasses.

I wanted to portray softness AND edginess and power at the same time, so I inserted baby breath into her boots. Totally not an original idea, I saw it done somewhere before in a high fashion photoshoot. Unoriginality of my vision did not bother me for a second, it had to be done THAT WAY.

As Amy waddled through the house collecting some other pieces she needed, the flowers fell out of course.

We headed outside, I asked Amy to sit on a stool in front of a shed in their backyard.

By the way, I knew Amy would be giving birth at home, and guess who her birth photographer would be? ME!!! And maybe that’s why the vision for her photos came the way it did. Sitting in front of a shed, symbolizing tools of LABOR, something that she would be doing in the nearest future.

This is how the photos turned out.

We also did a soft and vulnerable session indoors with her husband and their dog Yogi and cat Belle.

Do you want to hear the most insane part about this photoshoot?

We did our maternity session on December 31, 2023.

On January 1, 2024, Amy went into labor!

As Amy’s birth photographer, I got to witness all the badass and hard core goddess energy that transpired in the 15 hours that I was in their home. It was absolutely incredible to witness that, document it in a beautiful film and photographs AND heal some of my own stuff related to birth.

I make art because I need attention

“I make art because I want attention.” A thought came for a visit.

In my current marriage that might crumble completely, the husband tells me that I want too much attention. This is my second husband, for the record.

“Give me attention” is the phrase I used to say to my first husband a lot. He was older than me, and I in my prime party years - I was twenty years old when I got married. I didn’t know how to drive a car when I came to this country. Even though I already spoke English, I was still learning the language. I remember how my heart rate would increase when the phone would ring in the office of a language school where I used to work, and I had to answer it. It was baptism by fire, but I did it. Aside from my Administrative Assistant job, I didn’t have anything else. I had no identity, no interests, nothing.

There was a huuuuuge part of me missing, and naturally, I would ask my husband to fill up that void. I would not ask, I would demand in a voice with a Russian accent: GIVE ME ATTENTION.

Not knowing what it is I wanted from him, helplessly he would look around the room. He wanted to chill and relax, he didn’t know what “giving attention” looked like. Neither did I. So he would give me vodka.

Now years later, with my second husband (who is younger than me - I go from one extreme to the other), I am a completely different person. I feel that I have so much in me, and OF me, yet it would be nice to get some attention. And I don’t demand it, I gently ask for it. But even though I ask almost in a timid (or maybe it’s passive aggressive?) tone if he could give me attention, he finds it triggering. Because during fights, he brings out my needing the attention as something big, unnecessary, ugly, and unnecessary (yes, twice).

I think he too, doesn’t understand what that “attention” looks like. Neither do I. The problem is that vodka is no longer an option. 

I tell myself that I post on social media because I want to promote my photography business. And that is a true story. Since I don’t have a 9 to 5, social media gives me an option to promote my services for free. But it also gives me small doses of feel-good hormones when someone likes my post. I want to post again, I thought. Why? So I can get  a t t e n t i o n . 

That horrible A-word that both husbands hated. 

Attention. 

ATTENTION. 

When I post photographs of other people or self-portraits, people like them, sometimes they comment, sometimes they DM me. I get the attention! And guess what? It feels good! It feels great. I feel validated. I know we are not supposed to seek validation from the outside, but hey, it works! Almost like vodka. 

Why do some people need this external attention and others don’t?

Did I not get enough attention growing up? Or are some people wired to crave it more? Am I asking the right questions here?

Am I the only crazy one who wants attention from a romantic partner?

Can art alone fulfil my need for attention? I can ask chatGPT all these questions, let’s see what it says. 

What I know for now is this, I do use social media and my art as a way to get attention. I also believe that my work is transformative and helps women feel beautiful. If I post from the position of my work is meaningful, it can transform your life, then it becomes selfless, other people centered, and then I am in service to others. That is ok. 

If I post from the position of “I want attention”, that is self-centered, that is selfish, and that’s a no-no. We don’t do selfish things to please ourselves as women! (sarcastically) 

I want to share about my need for attention because maybe there is someone like me who feels the same way. Who also struggles to receive attention from a partner, or who craves the attention from others for no other reason other than it makes them feel good. I want them to feel seen. Or maybe I am expressing for purely selfish reasons just because I want to, and I don’t care if nobody finds it useful. I (capital I) want this. 

My current husband says that I talk to others because I constantly want attention. There is some truth to that and here is how it actually works:

When I’m my normal usual self, I will talk to everyone. I will smile to everyone who wants to receive it, I will give a compliment, I will ask a question. I like to engage with people because I am totally uninhibited and I generally like people. And when I am happy and joyful, I want to spread joy around like magic dust. When I engage with people like that, it is NOT from a standpoint of people pleasing. I am a recovering people pleaser and I know how it works. I am joyful around people not to get people to like ME. I spread happiness because I want people to like THEM! I am already high on life and it is a great place to be and that is why I am inviting everyone to join me there. I NEVER do that to get attention. So yeah, husband, take that!

I was exchanging audio messages with a very wise friend, and she said that when I have the love for myself, I won’t be seeking it from the other. Maybe my need for attention is a way of asking for love from my husband. And I thought to myself, I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to love myself completely so much that I am whole and complete and I don’t need anyone to come and fill any voids in my soul. Do YOU know how to love yourself so fully and completely? Is that something that comes with age?

I did go to chatGPT and asked the questions about attention. And I am not going to ask it to summarize what it said, I (capital I) will do it for you myself, because I (capital I) like to write. 

First of all, how did we live without chatGPT therapy before? That’s crazy. I just cried when I read what it told me and this is not the first time when AI tears my heart open with its truth and I start crying tears of awareness and healing. 

It says that people are wired differently. Some people regulate themselves internally, others need to receive reassurance from a partner. It comes down to attachment styles. It also talked about how artists feel more, notice more (but doesn’t everyone see what I see?) Also, when it comes to art, since mine is visual, it needs to be seen, it needs an eye. I often say that I create because it makes ME happy but art is something that needs to be seen, admired, or criticized, but it needs to see the public eye in order to be alive. 

The most important revelation that chatGPT gave me is this:

what I’m seeking is not ATTENTION. 

And maybe that’s why both husbands got triggered when I asked for it. They felt that attention was something they needed to GIVE, some extra work that is required of them (god forbid), and that’s why they felt inadequate. 

what I desire is CONNECTION. 

The heart to heart connection, where you want to share stories, hurts and joys, so you can feel seen and safe. I am wired in a way that makes we want to be seen and, as a woman, be CHOSEN. 

And maybe that is why the work that I do is precisely THIS: giving women a chance to be SEEN. I want these women to feel seen so they can see how amazing they are, so they can honor themselves, and CHOOSE themselves, choose to be SELFISH and follow their DESIRES and not settle for a man who doesn’t want to do the extra “work” for the special woman in his life. Because, fuck, is it really that much to ask for? 

And I know I can get pulled aside into a topic of how a lot of men don’t know how to connect because they have never been taught, and that I can take responsibility and take a step toward that connection. The truth is, I am trying. I don’t put full blame of a situation on someone else, I am learning to be aware of my needs and desires, and take personal responsibility for what’s happening. Relationships require work. But sometimes, you may be in a wrong relationship and no matter how much work you put into it, it’s not going to work…

I wrote this simply because I was unpacking that thought: “I create art to get attention”. If it resonated and you want to share your experience on the subject of needing attention, seeking connection, or being seen, please share in the comments or send me a private message.

Posting this photo here because now you know me and I don’t need to explain anything ♥

Birth Trauma: Am I Less of a Mother for Having a C-Section?

This feeling has been gnawing on me for years. Every time I would scroll Instagram and see a post about a baby being born, someone else’s baby’s birthday, or god forbid a story of a “magical” birth, my body would clench… Why is this happening? 

I have three kids and they all came into the world via a C-section. Even though my intention was to give birth to them naturally, the way nature intended, it didn’t happen that way. I am very thankful for my healthy kids and I love them (obviously I do, why do we, mothers, need to make this disclaimer, as if someone might accuse us of not loving our children?). I managed to stuff all my birth trauma into one box and hid it in a far away dark corner of my soul closet. 

Until I became AWARE of a conclusion I was drawing out of this entire experience:

Because my kids didn’t enter the world “naturally”, but via a C-section, I am not a good mother. 

(I am very good at drawing conclusions like that! Check out my story about how I equated playing a musical instrument to talent and how it prevented me from any creative expression). 

Don’t you see the logic here? My kids’ births were not perfect and because of that I’m a bad mother. On the other hand, the women on Instagram who had magical births, are good mothers.

At the end of last year I realized that it was time to get that box out of the closet, and get the courage to open it up and process it.

A friend of mine was pregnant at the time and I got the honor of photographing and filming her Mother Blessing Ceremony. I was trying to steady my camera as I was sobbing through the experience. It was a beautiful gathering of closest friends and family who came together to celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby Joy into the world.

I enjoyed the event immensely but it also brought up a lot of emotions because: 

• I did not have a ceremony like that… 

• I did not have people come bless my belly, and rub cornmeal on my feet to honor me… 

• I did not have friends caress my face with a fragrant rose… 

• I did not write a song dedicated to my child… 

• I did not have people sit in circle and sing that song in unison…

• I did not…. 

(am I just a jealous bitch?)

For me, once again, this confirmed my notion of being a “bad mother”. All good mothers have motherhood initiation and mother blessing ceremonies, don’t they?

Amy and I talked about my birth trauma and I was hired to be Amy’s birth photographer. The plan was for me to capture the magic of Joy’s birth at home (Amy is a good mother all around) AND for me to attempt to heal and process my own birth experiences. 

Witnessing the birth of Amy’s daughter Joy was healing and triggering and elating all at once. It was a testament to the power of a woman’s body and it was amazing to witness that.

When attempting to understand WHY I am disappointed about my birth experience, I dug up where the suffering comes from. It comes from this:

1. Comparing my birth to a “perfect” birth.

2. Attachment to having my birth be a certain way.

3. A belief that a C-section is an “easy” birth.

Comparing my birth to a “perfect” birth

My first birth experience did not go the way I envisioned it. We all want what’s best for our babies, and an unmedicated natural birth is what’s considered best for the child. With my first child, my intention was to give birth naturally.

For context, here’s how my three births unfolded.

1st baby: scheduled C-section because the doctor said the baby was breach.

2nd baby: scheduled C-section. I considered doing a VBAC (vaginal birth after C-section), but the way the doctor presented the risk statistic (or the way I understood it), pushed me to opt for a C-section. 

3rd baby: emergency C-section after attempted VBAC. I wanted to experience natural birth and everything seemed to be going “according to plan”, but at a certain point in labor, I developed a fever and the baby’s heart rate started dropping. I did not have a doula and a big support team, which could have made a difference in how my birth went. 

When I was pregnant with my first child, my doctor told me that the baby was lying head up in the womb. She was considered a breach, and because of that I would have to have a C-section.

The doctor did give me some exercises to do for the baby to turn, and I did them. When I went in for an other ultrasound, the nurse technician told me that the baby had turned! I was overjoyed at the fact that I could experience the process of natural childbirth.

When I returned the following week for another visit, the doctor took me to the ultrasound room.  He performed the ultrasound himself, with no nurse in the room, and told me that the baby turned head up again.

I had never seen a doctor do an ultrasound himself. Years later, looking at that experience, I wonder if what he told me was the truth. We will never find out. I eventually left that doctor, but it was my first child and I was naive. I went in for a scheduled C-section. 

There are a lot of people saying this way or that way is better for the baby, there are a lot of people who are against modern medicine. There is this unseen unspoken pressure for an unmedicated birth in a tub at home. And of course, vaginal birth is better because of the bacteria in the birth canal that helps the baby.

Of course we want what’s best for the baby. And because I did not have a vaginal birth, I feel like I’m not measuring up to this standard of birthing perfection.   

Attachment to Having My Birth Be a Certain Way

Whenever you attach yourself to a specific outcome, if things work out NOT the way you envisioned, there is disappointment. My birth was NOT what I thought it would be like, but I think even with natural births it is often not what we paint it to be. So there may be a slew of emotions there, from sadness and disappointment to joy, obviously.

There definitely was fear in my decision because the doctor painted the C-section experience to be a safer way for both me, the mother, and the child. On top of that, looking back at the experience, there is some anger and resentment at the doctor who possibly lied to me. Having a scheduled surgery at 7 am in the hospital is much more convenient than being woken up at 3 am and not knowing when the baby will actually see the light of the world. 

I think most first-time moms go into the experience thinking it will be a beautiful rollercoaster on a rainbow with unicorns along the way.

Everyone wants an easy fast birth but not everybody gets that. Some women are in labor for 24 hours. Did they envision it that way? I doubt it. I suppose that’s the beauty of a huge lesson in the birthing experience – letting go, flowing with it, and letting it unfold the way it is meant to. 

When I was attempting to give birth to my third child, my son, vaginally, the birth did not go as I envisioned. Had I had a doula and other women supporting me through labor, I might have been able to do it myself. If I hadn’t been strapped to the bed by a baby’s heartrate monitor and could have walked around, it might have been a different experience. Many things contributed to creating the birth trauma. The biggest one among them was the fact I didn’t know…

• I didn’t know that having a doula really makes a difference in your birthing experience.

• I didn’t know that I could tell the hospital that I will get up and walk around and they must honor my wishes.

• I didn’t know that if too much time elapses after the water breaks, it’s not good for the baby. 

• I didn’t know and now I cannot go back and change those things…. 

My husband thinks I’m crazy. He reminds me that the important thing is the outcome: we have three beautiful healthy children who are so loved. And it is to true, it is a blessing. 

A C-section is an Easy Birth 

Lastly, I see a C-section as an “easy” birth. You don’t go through the agony of contractions, and the feeling of your vagina bursting and your asshole popping out. You don’t suffer. (Uuu, did I just uncover a limiting belief there? If you don’t suffer, you don’t deserve it? Or it’s not the RIGHT way?)

With a C-section, you show up in the hospital at 5 am, they do your pre-op IV while you lie in a cold room, and at 6:58 am you are holding your baby in your sweet embrace.  

This “easy” birth, by the way, is considered a major surgery. The doctor cuts through your skin, takes out your intestines, cuts through the uterus, the amniotic sac, takes out the baby, then puts everything back, and stitches you up. You pee into a bag and can’t poop for a few days. On top of that, you heal for the next couple of months. Which part of it is exactly easy?

I think both vaginal birth and a C-section are not easy births. I don’t know what’s easy about the whole motherhood experience… Deciding what color to paint your nursery? Even that requires mental power so even that’s not easy! 

Language That Can Contribute to Creating Birth Trauma

When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I met with a midwife, because I wanted a better birth experience the second time around. She eventually referred me to a wonderful doctor who, even though a modern medicine practitioner, was more open to respecting women’s wishes and not pressuring them into convenient-for-him ways.

But one thing she said about the C-section was this: with a C-section, the birth doesn’t happen on baby’s terms: someone fling opens the door open and rips the baby out of the coziness of the mother’s womb into a brightly lit surgery room.

Now, how the fuck am I supposed to feel good as a mother after that description???

The words we use are important. And if I paint my birth experience in those words, it will not help anyone, not me, not my children. The same experience can be described in different words, giving it a different shading, and some people want to paint modern doctors to be these evil creatures, and wording like this helps achieve that. But I choose not to subscribe to that. 

(And maybe I’m just too impressionable, and that’s why I perceive the world this way?)

The reason I decided to write this story is because I didn’t want to have my stomach tie up in knots every time I saw a reel of Taylor Swift dancing with a caption “this is how you feel after an unmedicated home birth”. And I know I’m a fucking weirdo because many women I know had C-sections and they are perfectly happy with the experience they’ve had and the thought of “less of a mom” doesn’t even shadow their mind.

These women don’t feel their babies were “ripped out of their uterus” and brought into the world. So this is my way of processing it, and if this helps someone, it makes me happy.

Healing a Birth Trauma 

As I was unpacking the whole birthing experience with the beautiful mother whose birth I photographed AND who is a holistic therapist and friend (and whose videos you can watch here), here’s my action plan for healing around this:

I need to forgive myself, others and the whole situation.

I did not know better, I didn’t ask for a second opinion, both I and my husband (and I!) had fears.

In order for me to accept and forgive, I need to work through the emotions that I have in relation to this experience. It is sadness of it being not what I envisioned, it is anger at the doctor, anger at myself for not knowing better, it is resentment towards the doctor who did what was convenient for him, resentment at the midwife who said the baby gets “ripped out” of me, it is jealousy of other women who had an unmedicated home birth, it is the grief of not being able to go back and redo the experience…

What does “working through” these emotions look like? I see journaling, talking about it with a trusted friend. I also read somewhere that movement, like dance or yoga, are great for processing emotions because we store some many of them in our bodies.

I can also practice gratitude and trusting that everything happens the way it should be. I can remind myself that my babies came into the world the way they were supposed to. They are healthy and happy and that’s what matters.

Once I process these emotions, I can forgive and accept.

Another useful reminder is to know that MY EXPERIENCE was perfect for me and my children. There’s no reason to panic or get worked up every time I see someone sharing about their experience, no matter how “perfect” it was. Their experience is their experience, and when they say comparison is a thief of joy, it is!

Scientists say comparison is an evolutionary tool that helps us gauge how we are doing, but in the modern world it rarely serves as a tool for positive transformation.

Even though this blog is not focused solely on motherhood and childbirth, but rather on our journey through life as women, this story was an important one for me to share.

I am curious to know if I’m the only crazy woman who thinks these things? I’m curious to know about your birth experience and thoughts around it. Please share in the comments or send me a private message.

This issue falls into the category of one of those things that you don’t just take care of once and they are done and gone. Just like it took my time for my C-section scar to heal, it will take time for my birth trauma to heal. May this story be the beginning of it for me and for you, if you need it.

How to Overcome Limiting Beliefs and Find Joy in Life

What are limiting beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are beliefs we have about ourselves and the world. Also referred to as self-limiting beliefs, or self imposed limitations, these are not “the sky’s the limit” type of beliefs, but the opposite of that.

Limiting beliefs often start with “I am not…” or “I can’t ….” or “I will never ….” and usually state that you cannot do something. Take a look at some

Examples of limiting beliefs:

I am not flexible.

I can’t write.

I am not photogenic.

I’m not good at math.

I will never make it as an artist. 

I don’t have time.

All good men are taken.

I don’t have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.  

I like to think of limiting beliefs as putting yourself into a box, and then putting a label on top of it. I’ll illustrate that with a story in a little bit. 

Characteristics of limiting beliefs:

First of all, limiting beliefs are usually FALSE.

For example, if you didn’t do well in math at school, it doesn’t mean you are not good at it. You were probably one of twenty-some students in the class and the teacher could not have possibly given you individual attention. If you had a private tutor who had poured time and energy into you to make sure you understood the material, the outcome of the math situation might have been different. 

On top of that, if you actually got excited about math and practiced a lot, would you still say you are not good at math? Of course not! You would have evidence that would confirm the “I’m good at math” narrative.

Therefore, the statement “I”m not good at math” is simply not accurate and not true because the amount of INPUT was not adequate for a different result. 

The second reason limiting beliefs suck is because they affect how we manifest and we end up MANIFESTING more of the NONSENSE that we actually don’t want!

For example, just because online dating hasn’t been working out for you, does not mean that all men on dating apps are jerks. I know it’s hard to remain positive when life has shown you over and over again the evidence of the contrary, but… In a situation like this I’d prefer to avoid using a limiting belief statement of “all men are jerks”, because then my language and thinking manifest more of that into my life. 

The third characteristic of limiting beliefs is that they KEEP YOU SAFE. It sounds like a good thing, but it’s not. Everything worth having lies on the other side of discomfort and fear.

If you want to live wholeheartedly, as Brene Brown says, there will be friction. Friction of hard work, facing fears and showing up. If you keep listening to the voice of limiting beliefs, you won’t get anywhere. In a little bit we will uncover the true nature of limiting beliefs that will make it easier to overcome them. 

The good news about limiting beliefs is that, just like a sticker you put on a journal or a label you affix to a box, they can be removed. Some are easier to peel off, while others are nasty clingers that will require some spiritual Goo-gone to be rid of permanently. 

Check out my story.

While growing up in the Soviet Union, many of my classmates in elementary school went to a music school. There, for years, several times a week, they learned to play piano. As a daughter of a busy teacher of physics and astronomy, I signed myself up for dance lessons and started going to dance school.

When at a certain point, my mom asked me if I wanted to play piano, I told her: I have dance four times a week, when can I possibly play piano? (Seriously, what else was i doing at the age of 8, i could’ve fit in ten more activities!) Other parents didn’t ask their kids, they just made them go there. My mom asked, and I turned out that opportunity.  

Somewhere along the way, I started perceiving people who knew how to play a musical instrument as talented. I never learned how to play piano, therefore, I had no talent. This limiting belief of “I’m not talented” = “I am not creative” stayed with me for years. 

This brings us to the next point, 

Where do limiting beliefs come from?

Limiting beliefs can come from anywhere. As I observe my daughters, 9 and 7, interact, I notice some labeling in the way they speak. “Oh, I can’t jump high”, “I’m a slow reader”, or “I’m not flexible”.

As they are growing up and making sense of the world AND themselves, labeling helps them understand where they belong (I’m not a scientist, don’t quote me on that).

I am also pretty certain that many of the labels they stick on themselves are the ones their mommy or daddy wear. 

Just like in the story above, my limiting belief formed in childhood. I have made a false connection in my mind between being able to play a musical instrument (something that requires owning a musical instrument, skill, discipline, thoughtful instruction, or having someone who can teach you, AND constant practice) with talent. I then managed to extrapolate from the “I’m not talented” to “I cannot create”, because, again, I made an erroneous assumption that you MUST posses talent in order to create. 

Thinking about all of this logically now is one thing. HAVING PROOF that it is not true because I became a self-taught photographer and create what others call stunning images is living proof that I CAN CREATE.

Some people say I have a gift, but i don’t know if it is so. The skills in photography came to me because I was seeking out ways to learn, practiced, read, attended workshops, did lots of photoshoots and that’s how I got to where I am today. 

Talent usually accounts for about 2% of what determines the outcome of a situation. So if “I’m not talented” or “I’m not creative” is holding you back from trying your hand at something you feel drawn to, I urge you to stop it right now. 

Limiting beliefs can also come from “well wishers” who might have dropped a careless comment about you.

A friend of mine confided that she always wanted to play guitar. When she was a kid and she went to the only music teacher in the only music school in her town, the teacher carelessly took her hand, sifted through her fingers, and said, “No, your fingers are too weak for guitar. You can’t play it. I can offer you a balalaika instead.”

That little girl grew up, she is now 34, and still carries the hurtful words of an insensitive teacher with her. 

Life itself sometimes gives us numerous situations that are evidence of that thing. To preserve energy, we create a label “I’m this or that” and carry it around as a badge of honor. But again, it all comes back to manifestation, and if that’s what we start to believe and say, we will see more evidence of it. 

How to overcome limiting beliefs. 

The first step in overcoming a limiting belief is AWARENESS that it is limiting you. 

Just like in overcoming addiction and getting sober, the first step is admitting that you have a problem. This step is usually the hardest because it requires SEEING.  

It is usually hard to have awareness because in a way, you must rise above the situation to be able to see it. And since we tend to get mired in our problems, it takes some courage and practice to do that. It wasn’t right away that I realized that I was using the phrase “I’m not creative” as a shield.

Which brings us to the next section.

To overcome a limiting belief, recognize it for what it is and what it does:

A limiting belief wants to be your friend. It wants to keep you safe. It wants to prevent you from falling on your face and embarrassing yourself. It’s like a thick padded blanket that you wrap yourself in AND THEN stick a label on yourself: I am not creative. Therefore, don’t ask me to get vulnerable and make something that others will laugh at. Save me the embarrassment by putting me in a category that doesn’t get asked to create. 

Seeing a limiting belief with such compassion, understanding that it is not an enemy, it just really wants to keep you out of harm’s way is a beautiful way to reframe it. 

A side note:

Some thoughts/beliefs you have about yourself may be true… If you are naturally more inclined toward something, or are naturally not good at something, RECOGNIZING that quality is so empowering. Knowing that something is not your strength gives you the power to rearrange the way you distribute energy, outsource that thing if you can, or learn how to live with it to focus on things you are good at. The important thing here, is to use empowering language.  

How can you tell an empowering statement from a limiting belief? A limiting belief carries a different vibe with it… It is almost as if you know you are supposed to be doing the thing that lies on the other side of effort and hard work, and there is an enormous amount of fear associated with it. With an empowering statement, there is calmness, and power associated with deep knowing of yourself. 

Actionable steps to overcome limiting beliefs 

• Write it out – from a voice in your head to a story you’ve been telling yourself.

• Surround yourself with the right people and community.

• Baby steps to build confidence and fight fear. 

• Release all expectations before you begin 

• Create a new persona and step into her. 

• Flood yourself with motivational content: podcasts, books, videos.

• Use affirmations to plant new beliefs.

Let’s take a look at each one of these items up close.

Write it Out – Get That Voice Out of Your Head 

A limiting belief is a little voice inside your head. Dress in all white, with a halo made of wire and cheap plastic wings, it is actually playing a devil’s advocate. It tries to be your friend but prevents you from stepping into your fullest expression. When the voice lives inside your head, you start perceiving what it says as reality.

If you take out a piece of paper and write down what that voice is telling you, you can start seeing it as a story instead. Just like a story I was telling myself about not being creative because I didn’t know how to play piano.

Show the story aka what the voice tells you to a trusted friend, therapist, life coach. Together you might be able to see what’s real. 

When I finally became aware of my limiting belief “I am not talented, I am not creative and therefore I cannot do photography”, it was life changing! The thing I did not mention is that I had been drawn to photography since my early twenties.

I would spend my last college money on fashion magazines and would pore over the images. I wouldn’t even read the articles! And it wasn’t my desire to be a super model. It was these photographs, photos of gorgeous models, their faces, the shadows, colors, that pulled me in and fascinated me.

I remember years later, when someone would ask me what I liked, I would tell them that I was drawn to photography. I even went to a local college to research a degree in Photography (because later I adopted another belief that “you need a degree/certification to practice art”)

The huge step in my overcoming my limiting belief was my neighbor Kimberly. I told her about my dreams and fears and she told me, “Why don’t you buy a digital camera and try it?”

Such a simple suggestions in response to years and years of mulling over, overthinking and being afraid. So simple yet so profound. 

It brings me to another powerful step in how to overcome your limiting beliefs:

Surround Yourself With the Right People

Surround yourself with the right people. It can be people who are more aware than you, more experienced in the field you feel drawn to, people you trust and respect who have achieved something. Building a community around yourself is going to be instrumental in your success in life. 

The next step is also difficult because we are moving away from thinking and conceptualizing to DOING. 

Small Actionable Steps Despite Fear to Build Confidence. 

The best remedy for fear is ACTION. Do it scared. There’s even a book about that! 

As someone who was drawn to photography, my first steps were to buy a digital camera. Seems simple, right? But from budgetary constraints to all the different makes and types, what do you choose? I did my research and ended up buying the same thing my neighbor Kimberly had (she is an entrepreneur, blogger, food photographer). The camera and accessories cost me about $600. Done. 

When that fancy camera came to my doorstep in an Amazon box, I was excited and overwhelmed. Finally, I can be a part of the photography world. But how in the world can I learn to use this thing with lots of buttons and dials?

To make this part easier for myself, I signed up for two classes at a local art school: Basics of Digital Photography and Introduction to Photoshop. Classes were held in person and one of my teachers looked like Santa Claus. Both classes taught me some basics and gave me confidence and encouragement to continue.

It was during the classes with Santa, who gave us assignments to photograph portraits, that I fell in love with photographing people. It was after doing photoshoots with a friend and my husband in an attempt to practice AND then seeing their reactions to the final photos that I knew I was hooked. 

Going into exploring photography, what helped a lot was not having any expectations. I had no timeline, I had no idea of how this photography journey was supposed to look like, I just went with it. 

Releasing Expectations

Letting go of attachment to outcome and releasing notions of how things “should be” is so liberating. Your journey is unique to you, therefore, don’t compare yourself to others.

Scientist say that we compare ourselves to others to quickly gauge how we are doing. Are we similar to everyone else, are we better, are we worse? The problem is that we rarely take into consideration the other, “invisible” factors. I remember comparing myself to other photographers on Instagram, or thinking that I need an art degree to be a “real” photographer.

The best tip here would be to stay in your lane, focus on what you need to do, and chip away. Stay curious without expectations and see where the journey leads you! 

Creating a Persona to Become The Most Amazing Version of You

Another thing that helped me step into my artist was creating an alter ego persona for the person I wanted to become.

The truth is, the persona had already been created a couple years ago. One time I met a woman who impressed me so much with her confidence, her ability to hold everyone’s attention and to captivate the room, that I named my alter ego after her – Francesca. She struck me so much with the power that she had that I wanted to become her. 

Francesca was confident, spoke unrushed, and possessed the air about her that made everyone stop and hang onto her every word. And when it was time for me to choose a name for my photography business, I wanted two words to be a part of it: Francesca – my alter ego name, and “bliss” – which is what I experienced when I did photography. My friend suggested the name Francesca Bliss. 

I was scared because I would be a double impostor – not a real artist AND using a fake name. But I went with it. Some may say that having an alter ego/artist name is pretending to be someone else, or hiding behind a name. For me it was the opposite. For me it was stepping into my power more fully. Because Francesca wasn’t afraid. Francesca could wear and be whatever she wanted to be that day and she didn’t care about what other people would say. If she woke up one day and decided to become whatever, she would and she would have no qualms about it, no impostor syndrome, and nobody, I repeat nobody would doubt her ability because ot the way she carried herself and that inner confidence and power that radiated twelve feet out of body. 

Having that alter ego persona, that artist. Francesca Bliss, allowed me to step into her, if only in my thoughts and when scripting scenarios for possible interactions. Channeling my inner artist while for a time setting aside my self-imposed limitations and fears, helped me blossom into the artist I am today. 

Flood Yourself With Positivity

Overcoming limiting beliefs is essentially work in changing how you think, changing your subconscious beliefs. Therefore, immersing yourself in  positivity and inspiring, motivational content is the way to go. I love listening to podcasts and reading books to accomplish that. 

The only word of caution I have about consuming motivational content is this. Be sure to dedicate some time to the DOING as well as learning about doing, which is what we do when we read and watch others talk about it. Unless you take action, and do stuff, you will not get far. I like to listen to podcasts when I drive or go for a walk, while at other times, when I can, I focus on doing. 

As part of flooding yourself with positivity, visual affirmations are great everyday reminders. I created these sticker affirmations for women that don’t allow me to forget the divine power that is within me. Women like to put them on laptops, journals, water bottles, and so on. 

You can also write down positive affirmations and read them aloud daily. The important thing is not just to say them aloud, but to attach some emotion, feeling, or faith to these statements. 

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs is a Way to More Joy in Life

Self-limiting beliefs often hold us back from living in our fullest expression. Many of the things we believe are not fully accurate, or may have been acquired as a result of someone’s negative comment. Challenging limiting beliefs is a great way to free yourself and fully step into living your life’s purpose.

It is stepping more fully into becoming the person you were meant to be, the person the Universe, God, Life wants you to be. It is stepping into your power so you can fully share your gifts and live a life filled with meaning and JOY. 

The steps in overcoming limiting beliefs are surrounding yourself with the right people, taking small actionable steps to build self-confidence, surrounding yourself with the right resources and tools to achieve whatever you set out to achieve. 

On a personal note, overcoming a self-limiting belief of “I’m not creative” opened the door to a world of art and transformed my life. I am a firm believer that the reason I was able to overcome my alcoholism addiction this time around was because of art!

The void that I used to fill up with alcohol got filled up with creativity and allowed me to be and feel whole, and complete. As if creativity healed that gap that was within me and allowed me to get in touch with MYSELF, what’s important for me, WHO I AM. 

Overcoming made up stories of the mind, one thought at a time, we can step more fully into who we are. Aside from being a mother and wife, an entrepreneur, I get to make art, create, and that gives me so much JOY and I want the same for you. ♥

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capturing success: a realtor's guide to a personal branding photoshoot

If you are a REALTOR, this article will teach you everything you need to know about building a powerful personal brand online. The number one tool we are going to focus here is photography. I am including an in-depth explanation of what headshots are and how they are different from a branding photoshoot. On top of that, I give you a step-by-step guide to your own REALTOR personal branding photoshoot and what to pay attention to. Lastly, I give you some visual ideas of the photos I created for my client who is a real estate agent. I hope that this article serves as inspiration to move you up the success ladder in your business!

headshots vs personal branding photoshoot

Do I need headshots or a personal branding photoshoot as a REALTOR? What’s the difference between the two?

Headshots are elaborate professional portraits usually taken in a studio environment. I have a friend, her name is Annette, and she creates formulaic, perfect portraits in her studio. Annette Meyer is German, so you know the headshots she takes will be exact and perfect.

If you book a headshot session in a studio, you can expect a few headshot portraits and full-body images created in a studio. You can remove the background in these photos and use them as overlays on your Open House announcements, and other social media and email promos.

A personal branding photoshoot is usually done on location: at a listing you’ve secured for that purpose, or a friend’s house, or outdoors. A skilled branding photographer will most likely create headshots for you during your session. These headshots can be as perfect as the ones taken in a studio. You can still remove the background in a these photos using Canva and use them for your marketing.

In addition to that, a personal branding photoshoot is a chance to see you in “staged” action. These can be shots of you:

• preparing for an Open House

• hosting an Open House

• doing a buyer consultation or a listing presentation

• working in your home office or on the go.

These types of photos are sometimes called lifestyle photos. They are an idealized representation of reality. The purpose of these photos is to convey what you are about visually. The goal is for people who follow you on social media to get to know you and forever plant a seed in their head that you are a REALTOR.

Now that we’ve cleared away the difference between headshots and a personal branding photography session, let’s map out how to get the most out of it.

How to prepare for your real estate personal branding photoshoot

I always tell my clients, a lot goes into preparation for a personal branding photoshoot, but it pays off. The better you prepare, the more you can get out of your photography investment.

Here are the things to consider before your personal branding session. I will use my client Brooke as an example. This way you can see the process every step of the way and enjoy the final images we created (and see if they would work for your REALTOR brand?)

prepare the outfits that communicate your brand’s aspirational identity

Choose anywhere from 3 to 7 outfits, depending on the length of your session and your photographer’s recommendation. Chances are, you won’t use all of them, but it’s good to have options. It is better to have quality images in different outfits so your photos don’t look like they were all taken on the same day.

Make sure your clothes are wrinkle free and clean before the photoshoot. Trust me, you can’t afford to “remove it in Photoshop later” because you will be charge extra for that. And you don’t want the energy of sloppiness going into your shoot. We are all about excellence and attention to detail, right?

My client Brooke prepared 5 outfits for her branding session, you can see them in these photos we created for her:

Brooke’s desire was to tap more deeply into the luxury market. In order to appeal to her ideal customer, she had to dress the part. Having a exquisite style and lots of options in her wardrobe, she narrowed it down to these five outfits. She had a vision for a red pantsuit and she purchased it for the photoshoot!

When choosing outfits, aim for a good mix of formal/professional and more casual options.

If you don’t have enough options in your closet (that is the story of my life, so I HEAR YOU!), remember, that you can ask a friend to help you choose outfits, go shopping with you, or hire a professional stylist. A stylist is an additional expense but if you are aiming for success, you’ve got to dress for the part. And it is amazing how we FEEL different, and perceive ourselves differently depending on what we are wearing, have you noticed that?

I ALWAYS ask clients to send me photos of their outfits before the photoshoot. It helps me visualize their photos, imagine against which backdrop the outfit will work best, and what personality trait it will help to bring out. Some colors and patterns may work better, that’s why I always want to see what the client chooses so I can help them pick the best outfits that will make them shine.

choose the right location

My client Brooke asked her former clients if they would allow us to use their property. We came in, photographed, and were out of there in one hour. The house was absolutely gorgeous and absolutely PERFECT for Brooke’s brand. And it made my job as a photographer super easy because every corner of the house was picture perfect and I caught such a high photographing there.

In addition to photographing indoors, we took some photos outside, by the pool.

Ideally, I would have loved to photograph my client somewhere in the city in a coffee shop, or doing something that she loves, maybe going for a walk on the beach, or reading a book. These types of photos visually tell your audience what your interests are and help build rapport. In Brooke’s case, we had only one hour to work with, so we only created images portraying her professional side.

Hair and Makeup for the photoshoot

Clients often ask me if they should have their hair and makeup done for the photoshoot. As a matter of fact, I get this question asked so often, that I filmed a video about it.

The bottom line, you don’t have to hire a professional MUA or get your hair done, but you can if you want. to I usually address this topic in detail during a phone consultation with the client.

Brooke had her hair blow dried in a salon, but makeup came free - she asked a friend to do it. If you don’t normally wear wakeup, watch the video to weigh all the pros and cons of professional makeup and decide if it is the right choice for you.

communicate with your photographer

Personal branding photos are more than just pretty pictures (though they totally are, just look at this goddess!) It is important to have a strategy in mind when creating these photos. When you talk with your photographer, address the following:

• will you be using these photos to update your website?

• what orientation of photos will you need (websites use a lot of horizontal banners, and a good photographer will create a good mix of vertical and horizontal images)

• do you need photos for social media?

• do you have specific posts in mind for which you can create images during you session?

• what kind of photos will best serve your brand?

• who is your target audience? a first-time buyer as opposed to an investment property buyer will have a slightly different feel to brand voice and message.

• who is your audience and what do they like? can you include any of the items that resonate with them during your photoshoot as props?

• will you be offering/promoting anything in the next six months for which you need photos?

real estate branding Photoshoot props

You might want to bring some props to your photoshoot. It is always easier to pose when you are holding something in your hands. Also, props add more interest to your photos and are fun to play with.

I love to have fresh flowers for branding photoshoots. I brought a bouquet of white flowers to Brooke’s session. We hardly needed them because the house was perfect as is, and we ended up gifting the flowers to the house owner.

Here is a list of props you could include in a REALTOR personal branding photoshoot:

• for sale sign

• sold sign

• open house sign

• gigantic key prop

• laptop, cell phone, book, journal - things you use for work

• champagne and glasses (to celebrate a purchase/sale of a new home)

• balloons (to celebrate, alternative to alcohol)

• house floor plans

You could also invite a couple of close friends to pose as your buyers/sellers. This way you can stage photos of working with clients, so your audience can see what it feels like to work with you.

Things to bring with you to the photoshoot

• outfits

• shoes and accessories for each outfit

• props

• hair brush

• makeup to retouch if needed

what to expect the day of the photoshoot

On the day of the photoshoot, you will meet with the photographer at the designated location and work your plan. Your skilled photographer will tell you where you will pose in each outfit and will guide you through the posing process. It is normal to feel slightly intimidated at first, but after about 10 minutes or so, you will get used to the camera pointing at you, most people do. The only advice for this part of the process is to to have fun! It will be over before you know, and it will be so worth it.

what NOT to do with the final photos.

Once you receive your photos from your photographer, you will experience one of two things:

You will be super excited about your photos and will want to share ALL OF THEM on social media right away. Don’t do that!

You will go into a shock from how awesome you are. At this time you realize that it is time to to get vulnerable and start posting. As a result, you freeze and do nothing with your photos. Don’t do that either!

Just like you don’t want to dump all the photos in one post, you don’t want to put them away until your hair color/length/etc changes. Use them! But use them wisely. Remember the strategy we talked about when we prepared for the branding photoshoot?

Use your new photos to:

• update your website

• update your social media avatars

• update your email signature

• create social media content

My client Brooke updated her website. She used her new gorgeous photos to completely revamp her website and it makes my heart sing when I see the photos we created on the pages of her website.

Professional photography or phone camera? what’s more relatable, what’s better?

Do you notice how sometimes super polished photos of a friend who always posts perfect photos annoy you? (or is it just me?)

There is an argument that quick photos snapped with your cell phone are better. Some say they are more relatable, tell a better story, help people connect with you better. It may be true.

I have a counter-question for you, however. How often are you HAPPY with the photos your cell phone produces for you? Even if I look in the mirror and think I look good, my cell phone camera somehow fails to capture that. Then the question of better cell phone pictures goes out the window, simply because there are no photos to show!

Having professional photos of yourself taken doesn’t mean your Instagram feed needs to become a perfectly curated photography portfolio. Many of my clients use the photos from their branding session for some posts, while reels, stories and some posts they snap with their phone camera. If you are like me and have a hard time getting a perfect selfie with a cell phone, having professional photos will give you at least a handful of photos you LOVE. That, in turn, means you will be more likely to share them, and thus attract attention to yourself and your brand.

why is it worth investing in professional photos for your real estate business?

Here are 3 reasons to invest into professional brand photography for your real estate business:

First, it is IMPERATIVE to have a few professional images of yourself that you feel proud of. It may be a handful of images you will be using everywhere - on your social media avatar, business card, open house promos, and much more. You are projecting an image of yourself with these photos, and we all know how important first impressions are.

The second reason you want to have PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS of yourself taken because expensive cameras and talented photographers work MAGIC. My camera is magical in that the photos it creates show the soul of the person I photograph. If you add to that my skill in seeing what poses work well for each body type and what images convey powerful emotion, you get double magic.

The third reason you want to have branding photos of yourself done is because SEEING is BELIEVING. It is about you stepping into your IDENTITY of a SUCCESSFUL real estate agent. Many of my clients told me that SEEING themselves as professionals in these photos gave them a huge confidence boost. I know this is something so intangible, but it is the energy, the vibe, the subconscious belief you EMBODY that your clients feel and that helps you sell.

Brooke had an article published about her in the local Atlantic Ave magazine. Do you think she would have had the confidence to have her photo printed on glossy pages that everyone around town would see if she was not proud of how she looked? I doubt it. Does she feel like a total badass because her name, photos and business info is printed in a local publication? You betcha.

Here are a few more images from Brooke’s personal branding photoshoot. It is safe to say that I am obsessed with these photos!

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I hope you found this article helpful! I love helping entrepreneurs create a powerful presence online and I would love to work together.

If you would like to learn more about your own personal branding photoshoot, please get in touch and let’s create some magic together!

YouTube's unfair termination of women empowerment channel

Last Saturday morning I woke up to an email from YouTube saying that my channel was terminated. The channel where I shared videos from my photoshoots and interviews with women talking about body acceptance and learning to feel comfortable in their own skin, was taken down.

I started the channel back in 2015 when someone said, you need to have a YouTube channel. I started uploading videos about photoshoots that I’ve done, the spiritual events I attended and more.

Over the last year I decided to focus more on video creation because I thought videos would be an amazing way to amplify voices, connect in community and better ourselves.

YouTube says I violated their sexy and nudity policy.

I studied YouTube Community Guidelines thoroughly to make sure I follow the rules. From ideation to filming and edition, it can take me anywhere from 10 to 40 hours to create. How foolish of me would be to do all the work KNOWING that there is a risk of having it all disappear in an instance?

Let me walk you through the types of videos I had on my channel, and how they compare to other content that is plentiful on YouTube.

One of my recent videos was an interview with a woman named Katie who lives at a naturist resort. I admired Katie for how confident she was in her body and I decided to film an interview with her, in the hopes of inspiring people. Video interviews with Katie focused on:

• body acceptance

• rising together in sisterhood

• living in nature

• being authentic and true to yourself

Though this video got close to 230K views, it has ZERO NUDITY in it. A lot of people commented on what a good interview it was explaining the nudist lifestyle and how it is conducive to body acceptance and cultivating self-love.

There is some nudity in my videos, but it is NOT of sexually gratifying intent.

Nudity that is present in my content is of following nature:

• artistic nude photos of women, taken during a Goddess Gathering. These photos fall under the category of ART in the YouTube Community Guidelines, and therefore, should be allowed.

• documentary style video of a woman living in a naturist resort where her private parts are blurred out AND the video is classified as for viewers of “18 and older"

This is the style of artistic nude photography I do to show women that they are A BODY OF ART:

I KNOW FOR A FACT that other creators who take photos like this share their work on YouTube.

When I got interested in artistic nude photography, I came across an amazing site called Model Society. I found it through a video on YouTube that was a slideshow of photographs with a voiceover over it. So why is it ok for THEM to share it, and not for me?

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Model Society. But they are even showing her nipples in one of the THUMBNAILS. Is it because that video has 17 MILLION views at the time of me writing this and therefore keeps driving traffic and revenues for YouTube???

As you can see from the screenshot above, the message in the preview says that “the video may not be suitable for all viewers”. This is what happens when a video is classified as containing adult content, for viewers over 18 years of age. It is the same type of content - ARTISTIC NUDE PHOTOGRAPHY - that is present in my videos!

The purpose of nude photos in my videos was to show how women can feel beautiful and confident in their bodies, how having a photography session like this helps them feel empowered, how they learn to accept their body and be more at home in their own skin.

Another video of mine was a recipe of ceremonial cacao that Katie shares. Katie lives in a naturist resort, and when she made the cacao, she was nude, because that’s her lifestyle! I thought it was ok to share the video just like that, because she didn’t get naked just to entertain the viewers, but she lives and functions like this, I posted the video as is.

YouTube removed that video for violation of sex and nudity so I blurred out all the private parts and posted it again. The ceremonial cacao video is also meaningful because it talks about women’s circles, a powerful connection and healing tool.

The updated cacao video was classified as “for viewers 18 or older” AND had all the fun parts blurred out. Just like this video here does:

It is possible that YouTube bots flagged my channel because of the words “nude”, “naked”, “naturist”. When I run a search using these words, A LOT of channels and videos pop up. Those videos do not violate Community Guidelines and neither do mine! The only difference between me and these channels is that they have huge subscriber base.

I read somewhere online that YouTube is more lenient toward large channels. Is it because they are a source of higher ad revenue?

The thing is, my channel didn’t even violate the rules!

Another video on my channel was about a bodypainting experience that I personally had. The video touched on the subjects of body acceptance and stepping away from an idealized version of what a body “should look like”. It was also an art transformation, and body painting videos are plentiful on YouTube. Though it may look like I am nude at the first glance, I had pasties over my nipples and nude color thong on. Does that make me nude?? I don’t think so.

There was one more video that could have potentially been problematic. It was a video about a tantra healer’s Goddess Photoshoot. In one of the scenes Kim is topless and being playful on the beach as I photograph her. The entire scene is less than a minute. Again, it falls under the category of ART, but if YouTube is so offended by it, I can cut out that part, or blur it out.

Do you see now where the frustration comes from? When I read the rules and self-identify that it is ok and then see that others are doing what I identified as ok, then I’m ok too, right? Is it a double standard? The big YouTubers with millions of views who bring in tons of revenue for the ads are ok, but small creators like me are not? IT’S NOT FAIR!

For me, this YouTube channel is not just a way to promote my photography business, which provides livelihood for me and my three kids, my family. This is my LIFE’S MISSION.

Seeing beauty in ourselves, loving and accepting ourselves is the first step to loving, or at least accepting others. It’s a path to harmony and peace with oneself and with the rest of world.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The very fact that you are reading this helps a lot! Thank you!

Other ways in which you can help me get my Goddess Mirror YouTube Channel back:!

• leave a comment with the words “I SUPPORT YOU” underneath this article. Feel free to leave a longer comment but I would advise against profane or violent language;

• share this article on social media;

• Tweet (X?) at @TeamYouTube on X about unfair channel termination;

• if you know a publicist, or someone who works for a newspaper, magazine, TV station, or another publication who would want to talk about this publicly, please connect us. I intend to reach all channels and not give up until I get it back!

• if you know anyone who works at YouTube who could help, please pass this on or connect us. If a human (not a bot) looks at my channel, they will be able to see that there is no pornography or sexually gratifying content there. They should be able to see my channel for what it is - a place to empower women, amplify voices, and rise together in sisterhood.

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Thank you so much for reading this and for supporting me. This is the time when I most need you support and your willingness to help means the world to me! I appreciate you so much!

With love and gratitude,

Francesca Bliss

can you boost confidence through creativity?

"Women have amazing feminine intuition. It's sweet, playful, sexy, authentic, and our super power. It's a deep down trusted KNOWING.

When not nourished and forgotten, it sounds something like this:

”I don't have a creative bone in my body”, or "I don't have any good ideas." which in turn creates "I don't trust my gut feelings" or my original ideas are not worthy"... "I am not worthy".

This is the beginning of a post by a client for whom I did a branding photoshoot, ArtSea Living studio, a space which provides a safe place for women to explore their creativity.

How true, I thought to myself.

I think whenever we say "I am not [positive adjective]" or "I am [negative adjective]", we limit ourselves.

Labels we stick on ourselves.

Take, for example, a phrase "I am not flexible".

Let's say, you cannot touch your toes, bend yourself into a pretzel, do a handstand, or do other impressive poses that experienced yogis can. By the way, pictured here in a pretzel pose is one of my amazing clients, a yoga goddess named Kesley (you can read about her photoshoot by clicking on the photo).

What would happen if you practiced regularly, say by stretching three times a week, maybe taking a yoga class now and then, or maybe by committing to a regular schedule of yoga classes? If you committed to gaining strength and practicing hand stands (my personal dream), for a period of three months, how would it change you? Do you think stretchability of your muscles would change? Even if after a year of regular yoga classes, if you still can't do a split or touch your toes, do you think you would dare to say about your body "I am not flexible"?

I don't think so.

The same applies to people who say "I am not creative". Sometimes it's easier to slap a label onto ourselves that says "I am not this or that" so we can avoid the vulnerability (aka embarrassment) of having to show up and try ourselves in that thing. By stating "I am not creative" I save myself the embarrassment of creating something that resembles a drawing of a five-year old that people would laugh at.

The crazy thing is that these notions of negative "I ams" and "I am nots" come from very strange places! I used to be the person who described herself as "not creative" or "not talented". I had been drawn to photography for years, but the "I am not creative" label I adopted kept me from trying my hand at it. Do you know where the notion came from?

You see, when I was growing up in the Soviet Union, many of my classmates attended music school where they learned to play piano or violin. I somehow managed to get myself into dance lessons, which I attended four times a week. When my mom asked me if I wanted to learn how to play piano, I told her "How could I possibly fit that into my schedule?" The answer of my ten-year-old self was “no”. As a result, I never learned how to play piano, and I also never became a dancer.

Later on life I started regarding people who knew how to play a musical instrument as "talented" and since I did not learn how to play one, I was not talented, and therefore was not creative.

Do you see how erroneous that thinking is?

Another thing about creativity is that sometimes people think about creativity and art as something reserved for the special few. They think of art as something requiring a degree or diploma that grants you a permission to do it. I was also one of those people! Since I did not have a degree in photography, who was I to practice it and, god forbid, call myself a photographer?!

The truth is (according to me and many others) creativity is something we ALL have access to. It is in our bones, it is our birthright. Just watch how little kids play and you will see that you don't need a piece of paper certifying your creativity for you.

Try saying “I AM creative”, “I have access to the infinite source of inspiration and creativity”, “Creativity is my birthright” and see how it feels in your body.

For me personally, finding photography as my creative outlet gave me more confidence as a person. I feel safe in expressing myself, though I would be lying to you if I said it happened overnight. It has been a process, it still is. (There is also a notion of assigning a lot of my worth to the identity of an artist/creator, but that’s a topic for another story…)

creativity is not reserved for art only.

Creativity is something that we get to practice anywhere in our life, it’s not reserved for creating art only. How you decorate your home, prepare your food, the clothes and accessories you wear and even the way you talk are all forms of expression, CREATIVE expression!

Phrases like "I am not creative" or "I am not flexible" can keep you cozy in the safety of a comfort zone.
They help build a soft padded wall that protects from requests to try something new. It is also a static mindset. "I am not flexible" means that I have been cast into a solid mold and I cannot break free from it.

I believe the LANGUAGE we use greatly affects the perception of our abilities and capabilities, therefore it is best to avoid phrases that cast us into impossibility mode (aka victim mode).

Since we are talking about labels, do you know what most clients tell me about themselves before a photoshoot?

You may have heard it or you may even use it to describe yourself.

I AM NOT PHOTOGENIC.

This phrase means whenever I look at photos of myself, I never like any of them. We don't bother to mention that the photos were taken from the wrong angle, in bad lighting, in a really unflattering pose, by a person who has zero understanding of what’s visually appealing. We just slap a label on ourselves saying "I am not photogenic". As a professional photographer, I can assure you that I can make anyone look photogenic!

If “I am not photogenic” is a label you often use, I invite you to throw it in the garbage. You don’t need it anymore!

One of the reasons a Goddess Photoshoot is an empowering experience for women, is because of the CREATIVE PLAY element inherent in it.

Most of the women I photograph are not professional models. I don’t expect them to know how to pose. To help women look their best I gently guide them through the posing process, suggesting this or that pose, near this tree or holding that leaf.

What happens most of the time is that after we photography for some time, women start listening to their intuition and they start creating poses and ideas themselves! They might be shy at first, I encourage them to follow the hunch and we see where it leads us. Creative play is trying this pose hugging a tree, and then maybe shifting a pose a little bit, and a little more, and the next thing you know, you are climbing the tree, feeling powerful and free, and we create a series of amazing images.

Check out this video, if you are curious to learn more about a Goddess Photoshoot and what you can expect during one.

Removing all the "I am nots" and negative "I ams" from our lives is a way to free ourselves.

It is committing to a growth mindset, trusting and knowing that you can morph yourself into whatever version of yourself you desire. It is knowing that most of the things in life are skills, just like riding a bike or driving a car, that can be learned or cultivated, practiced and honed (creativity is one of them!) And once you have that knowing that you can be anything, how powerful is that?

And to answer the question posed in the title of this story, YES, YOU CAN! Add more creativity to your life and see what impact it has. Good luck!

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I hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings inspired by a social media post of a client. What is your experience with creativity? How do you express yourself creatively, how has that changed your life? Let me know in the comments or send me a message, I would love to hear from you!

sunrise beach photoshoot in boca raton, fl

It often starts out the same. My client feels awkward because of needing to bare their soul to me in a photoshoot, maybe slightly freaked out about a stranger pointing a camera at them, and not knowing how to pose on top of that.

As a photographer, I pretend to be confident and project the image of a person who knows what she’s doing. The truth is, I have no clue. I have never photographed you in my entire life! I don’t know what poses will work best, and which ones I can scrap. I don’t know if you will go along with the ideas I offer, or if you will politely decline my suggestions. I don’t know if you can truly drop into your body and move your arms when I ask you to, or if you are going to be conscious of on-lookers, and that will stifle you. Of course, I have been doing this for a while and I should know what I’m doing, but I am nervous before each photoshoot. I think it’s my body’s way of preparing for it - elevating my adrenaline levels so I am pumped up.

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When I first met Stefanie in the parking lot, before we walked over to the beach, I immediately admired her thick long ginger hair, a dancer’s body and gigantic green eyes. With a body composition like that, she cold have been a professional model! And I had the honor of photographing her.

After a few “getting to know each other poses” sitting on an apple box, we moved closer to the water. There we did some shots moving and walking.

Midway into our photoshoot, while the sun was gaining momentum above the horizon, and the water and sky were still golden, it started drizzling. My beautiful client looked so beautiful and magical in this sun rain, and these images are my favorite! Just look at her,

As I was not prepared for the rain and the drizzle became quite intense, I ended up taking off my t-shirt and putting it on top of my camera to protect my camera!

At this point, Stefanie was pretty wet too so we decided to take it all the way and created these photos of her in the water:

Some of the other images from this part of the photoshoot that I love are these:

It was time to retire the black dress and Stefanie changed into a bikini. We created a few more photographs in which she shows off her gorgeous lean dancer’s body.

Here are a few final images from our beach Goddess Photoshoot that morning. What a treat it was to photograph this gorgeous goddess!

If you want to see what that morning looked and felt like, check out the video below. Oh, and be sure to subscribe to my channel so you are notified of when I publish new videos.

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Love what you see, but worried you wouldn’t look that good in photos? Most of the women I photograph are not professional models and I guide them through the experience so they can feel and look their best. Please reach out and let’s talk about what kind of photos you see yourself in. I would love to create with you! ♥

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artistic nude photoshoot as a way to accepting, honoring and celebrating your body

Why do a nude photoshoot?

What is your relationship with your body? Do you cherish it, do you love it, are you proud of it, are you thankful for it, or do you hate it? As women we are too often critical of ourselves, trying to fit a certain standard of beauty or what we once looked like, and forget to thank our bodies for being here for us and housing our souls.

A great way to celebrate your body is to do an artistic nude photoshoot. My nude photoshoots are mostly done in nature - there is something so liberating about being in your birthday suit in the wild - and my photoshoots are different from boudoir photoshoots.

Boudoir photoshoots are usually done indoors, at home or in a studio, the person usually wears lingerie and the purpose of photos is often to seduce or to show a sexy side of oneself. With my nude photoshoots the attention is not outward to be a certain way but it is more inward, on being at peace with your body, as if dissolving in the nature around you, being the way you are, the way you were created, powerful, beautiful, divine.

Grace and I met when creating a video for a local ecstatic dance facilitator. I got fascinated with the way Grace moves, with her hands and her tattoos, and most importantly, by how comfortable she was in her body. Later, when my creative urge said I must do an artistic nude photoshoot, I immediately reached out to Grace and she said yes!

Grace’s Nude Photoshoot

I told her we would meet in a John Prince Park in Lake Worth that was somewhere in between her and my homes. When I got to the park, dark clouds started gathering around, but I didn’t pay them much attention. It was almost our meeting time and I had to send Grace the pin with the exact location where we would be photographing. The park turned out to be one huge open space with lots of people who were walking, jogging, and playing soccer despite the impending rain. How are we supposed to do a nude photoshoot where there is literally NOWHERE to hide?

I drove in a circle and then spotted a small lake, on the other side from where all the action was happening. I parked and ran over there to see if there was enough privacy to get naked there. Jackpot! It was a perfect little oasis away from everyone and I immediately sent my location to Grace. I wonder if I projected the image of a confident photographer who knows all the perfect places for a photoshoot? ;)

Grace got undressed and we started photographing at the edge of the pond next to the trees.

I wanted to give her time to get used to

1). being nude

2). being nude out in the open

3). being nude out in the open in front of a camera.

That’s a lot to process all at once, but after a few breaths, Grace started connecting to the nature around her and showed zero discomfort!

After a few more minutes she grabbed a bottle of water, poured it over her hair and head, and sighed out “Ahhh… this is better.” I knew she was now fully herself in front of me with nothing to hide.

She lay on the ground, of course. Grounding into the energy of the Earth - this is a very important part of a Goddess Photoshoot that I try to include as often as possible. (Watch this video to learn more about the techniques I use in divine feminine photography and why they work.)

The beautiful goddess in front of me danced at the edge of the water, while I clicked away the shutter to capture her gorgeous curves and energy. I especially loved the tattoo on her left arm - she said it was a portrait of HER created by an artist. Soo beautiful and powerful!

Afterwards we moved to the other side of the pond. There were water lilies there and a regal fluffy cypress tree. I asked her to get into the water, so she could be in the center of the stage Mama Nature prepared for her. We played there and she roared, of course, and I love the photos we created in this series.

I asked her to pick up one of the fallen orange leaves. She picked it up, and held in her hands, the crescent leaf spotted with droplets of water. I guess it started drizzling by now, but we were having so much fun, we hardly noticed! She placed the crescent moon leaf on her third eye, and I am absolutely obsessed with the images we created here!

The next thing I got inspired by was the cypress tree behind her. I love the soft, almost fur-like, branches, and I invited her to wrap herself in it, as it was a blanket. These are the photos we created:

These photos are considered implied nude - a type of photography where it is obvious that the person is nude, but you cannot really see the strategic places. It is a great place to start for those who want to admire and honor their body with a nude photoshoot, but the idea of being totally nude is a bit scary.

Some time after these photos we created, I played with them (aka re-edited them) and made the greens pink instead. I LOVE how they turned out so I am sharing one of the images here:

There was a storm coming near. Big heavy clouds covered the sky and looked like they were about to burst with torrents of water. These are the final images from Grace’s photoshoot. I love the simple blue background of these portraits.

As soon as we said good-bye and got in the cars, the sky erupted. It poured so hard, and I felt so complete and so fulfilled. What an honor to witness this goddess as she honors her body and documents her journey of self-love and living in this body.

To connect with Grace, follow her on Instagram.

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To learn more about different techniques I use during a Goddess Photoshoot, take a look at this video:

What is Goddess Photoshoot and why women crave it?

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Goddess Photoshoot for an Empath and Embodiment Coach Diane

Our first acquaintance happened on Instagram. I would see these videos of her dancing with gorgeous red silk fans on the beach, and I would think to myself, “It would be a dream to photograph this goddess!” When stars aligned, this Goddess Photoshoot happened, in one of my most favorite Magic Forest locations.

Being an A+ student that she is, she prepared a bunch of props, sent me photos of her outfits ahead of time, and created a playlist for her photoshoot.

After the first simple outfit of denim shorts and blue blouse, Diane changed into an almost white outfit. When I saw her standing like this, she looked like a angel.

I held a crystal near the lens to add even more magic to this image above, which I absolutely love.

Diane brought several props to the photoshoot, and we played with some of them next: a red rose, a big white quartz crystal and her white silk fans.

The white silk fans deserve a special mention because I am obsessed with them! They are so mesmerizing to watch that I created a short video of her dancing with them. I am also inspired to buy them for myself and learn how to dance with them.

Here are a few more images form the silk fan series:

and a few more photos among the trees:

We knew our time at this location was running out because we needed to head to the beach for the last part of her Goddess photoshoot. But I had to take her to THE THRONE. I had talked about it endlessly and, naturally, she got so intrigued, that she now HAD TO PHOTOGRAPH THERE!

So what is a throne? It is a giant rock that grew tons of lush fern on it and it started looking like a real throne for a green nature goddess. My first encounter with this rock was when I sneaked into this park breaking the law (trespassing. I wonder if I can get in trouble if someone reads this…) You can read more about the story of that photoshoot here.

The throne photos came out great - so happy about them! She sat on it, roared, tousled her hair and we packed our things to run to the beach before it got too dark. Luckily, that day, the throne was lush and green, because one time, when I advertised it to another client, when we came up to it, it was a giant bald rectangular prism of coral-like rock with not a single leaf on it.

As we were driving to the beach, I kept looking at the golden sun setting in the west. The road that lead to the beach was closed and I had to make a detour. Will we ever make it to the beach? I must have broken every speed limit, but we eventually made it to the beach.

When we made it to the beach, the sky was purple and pink, but the beautiful golden light was long gone. I took a few powerful images of her using available light, and then set up my softbox.

I absolutely LOVE the images from this last part of her photoshoot! She looks like a sultry moon goddess, with the dark sky behind her. I am dreaming of creating more photos like this, maybe during a night of a full moon.

To learn more about the beautiful goddess Diane featured here, follow her on Instagram.

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Curious what the photos from YOUR Goddess Photoshoot would look like? Reach out and let’s talk about what wants to be expressed or celebrated.

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jungle and ocean goddess photoshoot

jungle goddess photoshoot

Sometimes one word can change everything.

It was the case with this photoshoot. We were going to photograph on the beach next to a park with banyan tees next to it. But it all changed with one message.

I usually ask my clients to send me photos of their outfits because it helps me to visualize their photos better. I knew that one of the outfits she wanted to wear was a bikini. When she sent the photos though, she wrote, “here is my jungle bikini.”

Jungle?

Jungle.

JUNGLE!!!

The bikini was gorgeous but I immediately knew that it didn’t belong next to banyan trees. It could have worked for the beach, but she planted a seed in my head. I had to find a real jungle for her. And I knew just of a perfect place.

I texted her the video from that location to show what I had in mind. She was totally open and loved the idea (working with clients who trust my creative vision is so much fun!)

The problem with Florida weather is that it is sunny one minute and starts storming five minutes later. On the day of the photoshoot, as we were driving to the park, dark clouds started gathering in a very suspicious way.

“I secretly had hoped for a photoshoot in the rain, will I manifest rain for myself this time?”, went through my head.

Whatever the outcome would be, I had a good feeling about this one. Possibly because I am a delusional chronic optimist.

The weather was holding out for us when we got there as we literally jogged to our spot. I loaded all my stuff onto a kids stroller. Most really professional photographers use a special wagon to lug their stuff. They look so organized and put together and here I am, pushing a stroller with no kid in it but a giant soft box on top.

“Get oiled up” I said, as I started setting up the soft box and the flash. I wanted her body to glisten as she was running around in the “wild” jungle. She had brought coconut oil specifically for that. We took some photos against the backdrop of green leaves. My model was amazing at posing, I gave her very few posing prompts.

The lobster claw plant was in bloom and I knew I wanted to create photos with it. After a few shots I thought it would look really cool if she was topless next to the plant.

We heard thunder. Uh oh.

My biggest fear is to be struck by lightning, I don’t really mind the water. And, of course, I needed to protect my equipment. I had envisioned photographing her in the rain and Mother Nature gave us exactly what we needed.

Large droplets started falling from the sky, my gorgeous goddess topless in front of me, started dancing in the rain, soaking up the magic of this moment. These are some of my most favorite photos from her photoshoot. Dancing in the rain, almost nude, feeling rain drops touch her skin, elated by the sight of lush greenery around her, it must have been exhilarating. It was for me, to witness that.

In a matter of minutes it started raining harder and we had to grab out things and find shelter before my flash and camera got completely soaked. We rain to a gazebo nearby. A couple was smoking and playing cards there. My model joined them, as I ran back to get the rest of the stuff. If the photoshoot had ended right at that moment, I would have already felt complete.

The rain slowed down, we regrouped and were ready to continue photographing again.

After we photographed on the large rocks, we saw these flowers that we could not pass so we played there. And she did some dancing in the freshly washed by the rain forest.

She said, “There were some really cool-looking leaves there, can we photograph there?” A Goddess Photoshoot is a way to express yourself creatively while playing in nature. If your intuition calls you to play next to a certain tree or plant, it is ALWAYS A YES for me! And we created one of my favorite shots during that play!

I love everything about this photo. Everything. She is divine. ABSOLUTELY DIVINE.

Ocean Goddess Photoshoot

Our original plan to photograph at the beach was still on. Someone who has a tendency to get carried away in the creative process, I was glad my model felt complete and was ready to go to the beach. We still had three more outfits we wanted to photograph in so we had to work fast!

When we got to the ocean, there was not a soul there. The thunderstorm scared them off, I guess, and now the entire beach belonged to us. We started out by playing on the dunes with wild sea oats, and I absolutely love the images we created there:

And here are some black and white photographs from this series:

She changed into a pearly white bikini and we headed closer to the water. Honestly, if I looked like her, I would just walk around naked everywhere and would have my photos taken all over the place!

My favorite shots are of her lying on the sand, where her feet crossed at the ankles look so much like a mermaid’s tail! :)

And a little change of perspective for you:

It was getting dark. We could have called it a night, and a very successful one at that, but we had one more outfit, and I said, “ok, 5 more minutes”. If I say that, I will probably get carried away for at least 20 more :)

I quickly set up the soft box and we created these photos. We did it fast, very imperfectly, if you will, but I am very happy with how some of these shots came out.

And that was it. A perfect photoshoot with the perfect rain and the perfect weather after that with a perfect goddess. Needless to say, she LOVED the photos. I love them too. I only kick myself for not having filmed the behind-the-scenes of it so I could make a YouTube video about it. But maybe if I had, the photos wouldn’t have come out as good because I would have had to split my attention into two processes. So NO. No regrets here. NEXT TIME she and I will photograph, I will get an assistant who will film us and then I will make an epic movie about our photoshoot too.

Speaking of video, when I sent her the link to THIS video (because her photos are in it), this is what she said:

So definitely check out this video if you want to get an idea of what a Goddess Photoshoot with me looks and feels like.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed these photos and the story.

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four archetypes of one goddess: Aura Lila

“For years I had been admiring photos by Francesca Bliss of so many beautiful and empowered women from the community and thought to myself... "Wow, one of these days I would love to do a shoot with her, but I am so not ready for that. I don't even know who I am, what my offering is, or how I want to be seen by the world. When I'm more clear in myself, I will reach out to her."

Fast forward a few years, I was still secretly admiring her from afar and hadn't reached out to her, but she posted about wanting someone to just play with for a Goddess Photoshoot. I still didn't feel super clear about how I wanted to be captured, but I thought "Hmmm, I do love to play, I can definitely do that! This is my chance!"

Hours before the shoot we had planned, I was suddenly feeling lethargic and irritable, uninspired, resistant, and not very playful. I thought, "Ugh, I don't feel like myself at all, this is definitely not how I want to be seen and captured, maybe I should reschedule."

But something told me to just go, to just show up and trust. I reminded myself that I had waited years for this moment, I had made the commitment, and I needed to honor it and just come exactly as I am and that will be enough.

Within minutes of our arriving together in nature, I started to feel relief, grounding, and my playfulness returning. Francesca Bliss had such a gentle way of guiding and drawing out of me my essence in various forms. I remembered my connection to many archetypes that live within me - my playful inner child, my wild warrior, my wise woman, my forest fairy, and my nurturing inner mother.

She followed her inspiration even at times when it didn't make sense, and we trusted it. Somehow she was able to capture all of these sides of me in just one session! I was amazed at her ability to truly see me and capture me so effortlessly. Beyond taking these photos for others to see, I came to see myself more fully and remember who I truly am through the journey.

I now see her often at conscious gatherings and events continuing to capture the beauty of goddess embodiment and empowerment. Her presence as such a loving witness and powerful creative force is a blessing to our community.

“Goddesses, if you are in South Florida, I highly suggest coming to Francesca Bliss for photos that truly portray your soul. Don’t wait until that “perfect time.” Now is the time to allow yourself to be seen and shine!””

— Aura Lila

Oh, how thankful I am for this beautiful testimonial and heart-felt words Aura Lila generously expressed here… Before I melt into a puddle of thankful weeping to have the honor of witnessing these gorgeous women, I must tell you MY STORY of this Goddess photoshoot.

The crazy thing is, I felt exactly the same way as Aura Lila did - irritable, uninspired, and I was definitely not in the mood to do a Goddess Photoshoot that evening! (But of course I was ecstatic when we first scheduled it.)

I got to the park before she did. I parked, got out of the car and walked over to the trees. I was surveying the area that I had seen a hundred times, thinking about how showing up determines 80% of success. I was also thinking about how I don’t cancel things that I commit to, but at the same time wondering how the hell I was going to pull off a playful photography experience when I was not feeling playful at all.

As I was thinking that, I caught a movement with the corner of my eye. It was something brown on the brown ground - a bunny! His cute little ears were almost transparent, he was chewing on some grass, his little nose moving from side to side, and seeing him hop off with his snow white tail bouncing up and down put a smile on my face.

When Aura Lila arrived and parked her dark blue Honda Fit next to my white Honda Fit, “what a coincidence”, I thought.

When we started talking and discovered that we were both feeling “blah” before a photoshoot that we were both excited about, it made both of us laugh and we decided to go into the woods and just see what will come out of this experience. I told her about the bunny and as we headed into the nature, it quickly healed us of our apathy and helped get into the creative process.

playful inner child

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Our first stop was near the lake. Aura Lila strikes me as Tinker Bell, a playful and mischievous spirit, and that’s exactly what we set out to portray in the first series of photos. Aura Lila sang her song “Seed” to me as she hugged a plant, danced, and allowed me to capture her expression in these photos.

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Wise woman

There was a dried up leaf of a palm tree that caught my eye and that I was called to play with. I get my inspiration from nature and I will get excited by a dried up leaf or a dead stump, but in this case it didn’t seem to make sense. It didn’t vibe with Aura Lila’s playful spirit but because the urge to try it was too strong, I invited her to play with me. Naturally, she agreed. Here are the photos we created in this series, and when she saw the final photos, she did not say these photos didn’t resonate with her. Instead, she said that I captured the four different archetypes that she identifies with: playful inner child, wild warrior, wise woman, forest fairy, and nurturing inner mother.

It felt amazing to know that my inspiration did not lead me astray, but instead helped both of us to go deeper. It always does, so why even question it?

wild spirit

After the introspective and calm wise woman, it was time to unleash Aura Lila’s lioness into the wild. She slipped into a silk slip that was the color of the grass, so she could blend in with the territory, the land where she belonged and where she ruled. I asked her to scream (as I often do during a Goddess Photoshoot, read and watch more about it here) and she claimed the land with her voice:

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The color of her dress against the backdrop of the Boca Raton Yamato Scrub Natural Area inspired me to have Aura Lila IN the grass, like a wild cheetah going on a prowl. Here is what it looked like:

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I also took several photos using my favorite Lensbaby Composer Pro II because I love the dreaminess it creates in camera:

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nurturing and motherly

Aura Lila’s next outfit was an off-the-shoulder crop top and a matching skirt. She looked like a flamenco dancer in it, and needless to say, happily performed for me when I asked her to dance. We played on a path that had a field of fluffies (I don’t know what to call these things in English, so I call them fluffies). The backdrop for some of the photos was a huge oak tree adorned with garlands of Spanish moss. The images we created during this part of the photoshoot are still playful but she looks softer and more nurturing here:

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I call photos in which women spread their arms wide or reach for the sky “big poses”. In a pose like this, you take up a lot more space than when you are standing with your arms by your sides. Because you take up more space, you are feeling as if you are physically bigger and this, my friend, increases confidence. I am not a scientist and you don’t need to believe me (because we don’t believe everything we read on the internet) but do believe the scientists in this TedTalk from which I realized the psychological impact of a technique I had been using intuitively!

A few more images from this series:

I titled the image below SURRENDERING TO THE PATH. It speaks to me.

As a creator, as a human, sometimes I question myself about what I’m doing. But I also have a deep INNER KNOWING that this is my path… And I all I need to do is surrender to the process, take it one step at a time.

Keep making connections,

keep showing up,

keep honing my craft,

keep following my inspiration even if it doesn’t make sense at times…

The path of your soul’s purpose will lead you to where you need to get. It’s about following what brings you JOY, delight (that’s my word for this year 2023), it’s about following your bliss. And sometimes it is easy to put something on your calendar that you think will bring you bliss, but showing up to DOING that thing may not feel like bliss, but you gotta do that part too. You gotta show up, inching your way closer to the dream.

This experience with Aura Lila also taught me something valuable that everyone needs to hear:

Keep showing up because you don’t know whose lives you are impacting.

Aura Lila says she had been a fan of my art for several years! She never liked any of my posts and I wasn’t aware that she was a follower of my Facebook page. I didn’t know she existed while my photographs deeply impacted her! The same may be happening to you. You might not be getting much engagement or reach with your social media posts, but you don’t know who is reading and, most importantly, RESONATING, with your message. Keep showing up, my friend!

Before the photoshoot Aura Lila thought “I don't even know who I am, what my offering is, or how I want to be seen by the world.” During her creative play Goddess Photoshoot she expressed VARIOUS VERSIONS of herself. Humans are such multi-faceted and complex creatures. The beauty of a photography experience like this one is that you get to DISCOVER who you are. By removing labels and identities of every date life and playing in nature, the woman can get in touch with her TRUE NATURE. Grounding, relaxing, re-wilding and starting to listen to the voice of your soul will help you understand what you are drawn to and what path you should take.

Oftentimes we don’t get to see how the world sees us, so having a professional photoshoot experience, especially the one that helps you get in touch with your divine feminine energy, allows you to see magic in yourself. “I came to see myself more fully and remember who I truly am through the journey, “ Aura Lila says in her testimonial. Self-discovery or coming to self is a long process, and sometimes the first step is just to show up for yourself in this way.

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If this story resonated with you, please feel free to share it with your friends, leave a comment or send me a direct message. I love connecting with you! ♥ And if you would like to talk about what kind of photos we can create during YOUR Goddess Photoshoot ceremony, let’s connect.

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my favorite fairy

Her gorgeous curls, radiating smile, and a sexy Irish accent will make you remember her forever. Whenever I catch a glimpse of her on social media, she is either on Mount Shasta, in Israel, Dubai, or Mexico, teaching one of her access bars, embodiment or other workshops. She is multi-talented, super passionate, and extremely inspiring to learn from, be around, look at and especially work with.

I had the honor of photographing Amy Shine three times, but somehow didn’t get to creating a blog post about each photoshoot. In this story I am sharing my favorite photos from all three photoshoots that I did with Amy, so you can see what is possible to create with one person in different locations. Also, if you visit Amy’s website, you will be able to see how she uses the photos we created together on her website and social media to promote her offerings. Amy has a brilliant graphic designer who is able to take the photos I create and transform them into amazing graphics that reflect Amy’s brand and communicate the energy of her offerings.

Photoshoot number 1:

Golden Sunrise Photoshoot in the woods

For our first photoshoot we photographed at sunrise in the Yamato Scrub Natural area, a 200-acre preserve of Florida wilderness. Amy wore a white and green dress and danced in the tall grass, whispered to the trees, and meditated in the rays of golden light.

Amy is a an Access Bars Facilitator, which means she is a trained practitioner who helps individuals in unlocking and releasing limiting beliefs, thoughts, and emotions through a unique and transformational modality called Access Bars. By gently touching specific points on the head, known as bars, the facilitator facilitates the release of stored electromagnetic energies accumulated over time. This gentle and non-invasive technique prompts deep relaxation and allows for the dissipation of mental, emotional, and physical blockages. The Access Bars Facilitator creates a safe and nurturing space for clients, guiding them towards greater clarity, empowerment, and a sense of expansiveness in their lives. Through their expertise and compassion, these facilitators play a crucial role in promoting personal growth and well-being.

We photograph out in the open field as the sun is rises and its light is soft and golden. As the day gains strength and the light becomes harsher, we move into the woody area with the Spanish moss and tall pine trees that provide more shade.

I love this photo we create that symbolizes coming out of the darkness and into light, emerging from the unconscious into the conscious, from the unseen into the seen.

Our divine feminine power lies in our very nature, that is why I prefer to photograph women in nature. Depending on who I work with, I might even ask them to lie on the ground, to bring that grounding to the whole next level. As I discovered during our first photoshoot with Amy, she is game for whatever artistic idea I have. I asked her to lie on the ground, with cascades of her curls spread around her head as a halo, and standing right above her, I took this shot. There is a look of peacefulness, tranquility, and calmness in her eyes, her hair the color of the Earth, she looks like Mother Nature herself.

Throat chakra activation aka screaming off the top of your lungs is something that I have been offering to women intuitively during every Goddess Photoshoot. What it does is that it gives woman a voice. It gives her a chance to be heard. I talk about this in more detail in this article and you can actually see Amy scream during one of her photoshoots.

This photo is me getting to know Amy’s screams for the first time, and I must admit I absolutely love them!

We also played in the area with the magical Spanish moss, which resembles her hair. Given that Amy is also a movement facilitator, we also incorporate dancing shots in all of her photoshoots. By the way, if you want to see a video of Amy dancing in nature and talking about Dance to Oneness check out this video on my YouTube channel.

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Photoshoot number 2:

Golden Light in the Banyan Tree and Pink Sunset over the Ocean

For the second photoshoot we meet at the Spanish River Park in Boca Raton just before the sunset. As the golden light pours in between the branches, I create these portraits of Amy.

I photograph Amy dancing at the root of a majestic banyan tree and also had her dance IN the tree. Climbing trees is a natural part of Amy’s photoshoots, and she did it in all three of her Goddess Photoshoots!

Amy changes into another outfit and we head out of the forest.

I take a few shots of Amy dancing in the dunes with golden wild oats and then head closer to the water. There, Amy channels her inner mermaid, and we create some of my most favorite images of her. I just love how powerful and beautiful she looks in these photos.

It was also during this photoshoot that we filmed a video in which Amy talks about how she got into dance and Accessing the Joy in Body. You can watch it here.

For the very last portion of this photoshoot, when the sun is already behind the horizon, and the color of the sky changed from pink to mysterious pink and golden, we take a few silhouette and mysterious-looking photos on the intracoastal.

Here’s an at-a-glance overview of that photoshoot:

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Photoshoot number 3:

Green Fairy in a Magic Forest

Our most recent photoshoot took place in one of my favorite locations that is truly magical. This parks boasts a variety of trees and leaves that dazzle you with their magnificence. And the gigantic dark green elephant-ear-looking leaves make her look like a tiny fairy indeed.

We created some photos of Amy in a black silk slip next to a mysterious royal poinciana tree.

We also played next to a puddle in which I captured her reflection. Later, Amy wrote a beautiful post about addiction and shared it with one of the photos from the puddle series and the image and text went to together so beautifully and made such a powerful impression.

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I love playing with harsh light lately. When you are a new photographer, they teach you to stay away from it and that’s what I did. But now I love how dramatic harsh light is and what you can create with it. Here are a few portraits of Amy where the light of a gaining strength (but still golden) sun is hitting her directly in the face. When I look at these photos, they make me happy. And that’s what our art is supposed to do, right? Make US (creators) happy. ♥

For one portion of the photoshoot Amy donned this light blue dress and she looked like a ballerina in it. Well, she is a dancer, but this outfit gave her a different kind of elegance and accentuated her posture. I love the photos we created in it:

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Of course, there was also tree climbing and dancing in the forest:

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My favorite images from this session are these ones. I love her gentle expression and mysterious smile as she looks at home among these gigantic green leaves.

The overview of the photos from this photoshoot looks like this:

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I hope these photos got you curious about Amy and the magic she holds. Please check out her website and Instagram to learn more about her. It can also be a good exercise in spotting the images we created and how she uses them in her marketing.

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Curious about having personal branding photos done for your spiritual business? I would love to work with you! Reach out and let’s talk about what kind of photos will help take your business to the next level and let’s manifest some magic together!

the dark feminine

I had an epiphany today.

Four moms, myself included, were hanging out while our kids were playing tennis, and one woman brought up a local photographer who creates “daring” photos of women. 

I saw how the eyes of one of them lit up with interest and excitement. It was the same woman who had told me she wanted to do a sexy sunrise photoshoot. 

This also brought to memory of a woman I photographed a couple of years ago, a mother of three. A gentle, agreeable, nurturing goddess who told me she was looking for edgy photos. She didn’t want sweet and pretty pictures of her smiling in the field of daisies. She wanted photos of her staring daringly into the camera, as she wore rugged boots and a leather jacket at the backdrop of rough cement and dilapidated building. 

How could I not see it back then?

And what a gift that I can see it now.

Curiously enough, I just learned about the dark feminine a couple of weeks ago. A lady commented on my work on Instagram and asked me if I had done much work with dark feminine. 

“What is dark feminine?” I asked and immediately started my research. 

As I scroll down my Instagram feed, I see women who look gentle, soft, kind, nurturing, sweet, agreeable, reaching their arms out toward the sky and sunlight and embracing the whole world with the sweetness of their souls. That’s LIGHT FEMININE. That’s what women are EXPECTED to be: nurturing, motherly, compassionate, kind. That’s what we are used to seeing women as, that’s our “typical” role: giving, forgiving, caring, generous and gentle.

The DARK FEMININE represents the aspects of the feminine psyche that have been suppressed and repressed in our society. It is the part of us that is WILD, UNTAMED, and UNAPOLOGETIC. It is the part of us that is ANGRY, FIERCE, SEDUCTIVE, and POWERFUL. 

As women we are often taught to be good girls, to suppress our anger, to cross our legs, to be agreeable and accommodating. We are expected to be polite, gentle and submissive. We are told that anger is unbecoming and that we should always put others’ needs before our own.

It is the “smile, you look prettier when you smile” comment you hear from older people sometimes. And the response the dark feminine would give is “F*&#k you, I am not here for your entertainment.”

Curiously enough, I have been feeling angry lately.

And I have been wanting to create self-portraits wearing a black see-through dress, something more on the edgy and seductive side, but not for the purpose of “entertaining my husband” as I like to say, but FOR ME. I have banned black clothes from my wardrobe entirely in the last ten or so years (I used to own ONLY black clothes when I was in high school), but lately I am feeling drawn to it again. I also started speaking my truth more and have been openly cursing and expressing my anger to and toward my husband (the poor guy gets the brunt of it, but we will get through this eventually).

I feel freer. 

It feels good to be angry. Or to be more accurate, it feels good to let the anger out. 

My friend Jess pulled a card for me recently. Guess what was on the card? It was a huge dragon spitting flames of fire! That image resonated so deeply with me. 

It feels good to release those flames of fury from inside of you. When I hold it inside and try to be “a good girl”, it is suffocating me. 

And that’s why other women are craving edgy photos of themselves.

That dark feminine side of them is seeking to be expressed. It wants out, it is sick and tired of being bottled up inside.

It wants to get the fuck out because it is time. 

It is probably sick and tired of cooking, cleaning, buying groceries, doing laundry and folding laundry,  and taking care of all the kids’ school and extracurricular stuff, and of making sure that everything is running smoothly. I think that shit would suffocate even the strongest of men if they dared to do all we do. That’s me speaking for myself, I am not sure what drives other women… I do know that a lot of my anger stems from the fact that I have to do all the “woman” stuff in my household…

Embracing the dark feminine means embracing our anger, our darkness, and our power. It means acknowledging and accepting all aspects of ourselves, even the parts we have been taught to suppress. 

When we embrace the wild, angry, bleeding, and sexual side of ourselves, we step into our power. We also start trusting our intuition and following our creativity, we trust our inner wisdom to guide us in our lives. We are no longer afraid to try new things, leave partners who don’t value us, and speak our truth openly. 

Learning about the dark feminine also made me re-evaluate my work.

I started looking for examples of it in my work and was able to find only a handful of photographs where I invited women to channel their dark feminine side. Now that I openly became a cursing sailor (honestly, I have always been one, but I have been suppressing it, because, well, I’m a “good girl”) I MUST explore the dark feminine more. There is a chance I will throw myself entirely into the other side of the divine feminine spectrum…. But I also trust that after that experimentation I will find what is TRULY ME artistically and as a woman.

LIGHT FEMININE TRAITS

nurturing, loving, kind

compassionate, empathetic, forgiving

gentle, soft, delicate

intuitive, feeling

happy, content, agreeable, calm

DARK FEMININE TRAITS

fearless, bold, daring, fierce

passionate, following her desires, seductive

wild, raw, primal, edgy

powerful, transformational, magnetic, creative

tempestuous, angry, raging, feeling all emotions

As I started examining the traits of the dark feminine, I realized that IT HAS BEEN present in my art! The goal of my photography is to make women feel POWERFUL, and my invitation for the women is to transform into the woman who follows her desires and dreams. And I ALWAYS invite women to scream and be wild during a portion of their photoshoot.

My photoshoots also almost always take place in NATURE, thus inviting women to connect to Mother Earth, the dark feminine herself.

I have been intuitively offering this safe space to women and now I understand that this is the part you call the dark feminine.

And now it is more clear than ever how together the LIGHT FEMININNE and the DARK FEMININE make up the DIVINE FEMININE.

I promised myself not to talk badly about my art. My sweet goddesses in photos reaching toward the light ARE a reflection of the kindness and compassion with which I see the world. The path that has led me to where I am today - I am thankful for it. And since I have come to learn about the dark feminine now, I will explore it. I am excited to play with this energy and I am inviting women to join me. 

How to tap into the dark feminine energy.

As I prepare explore the DARK FEMININE creative and personally, here is the action plan that came to mind:

(the masculine energy in me is great and it always likes to have a plan, that’s just who I am :) But I also will remain open to being flexible and gentle with myself throughout the process (thank you, feminine, energy :)))

Read and research more about dark goddesses, books about witches, listen to podcasts and learn as much as possible about this topic. (I’m a very academic and by the book type of girl, in case it wasn’t clear :))

Become even more aware of my anger and emotions in general. I have found journaling as a great way for that.

Learn about dark feminine rituals and practices that can help me heal what needs to be healed. I imagine some shadow work is in the cards for me for sure! To connect to my emotions (and to myself) on a deeper level, I will attend some tantra workshops and classes.

Get more in tune with my menstrual cycle. Honestly, I must say that I am proud of myself for honoring it lately. There was a day when my girlfriend with whom we like to create content (I do not like that word, so you know), went out intending to film something, I knew I was on my period so I should have been in my pajamas on the couch in the first place, but I got all dressed up and I went out. I did feel however, that the creative energy was no there and I ended up not filming anything. I honored my body and how I felt. It felt awkward at first, and I kept explaining it to my friend Sasha, and apologizing (to myself included), but at the end it felt so good.

There are a lot of resources about the menstrual cycle and understanding it and getting in sync with it is part of the tapping into the dark feminine magic within our own bodes.

Explore the dark feminine creatively by allowing the women to REALLY EMBRACE it during a DARK GODDESS PHOTOSHOOT. I see it as a safe space for women to let out their flames of fury, their rage. It is also a place where they can connect to the powerful seductress within, connect to their desire and sexuality. It is a place where they can channel their mystic, their slut, their raging tigress.

For props and outfits I’m envisioning: black, red or daring dark color outfits, fierce and non-smiling facial expressions (or evil smiles!), powerful and bold, victorious poses, as well as something curled up and almost repulsive in the traditional sense, mystic looking candelabras, candles and witch’s tools, swords, ravens, skulls, blood, the moon. I see these images NOT as perfectly in focus images, but rather as something that communicates FEELING. I see slow shutter speed that results in trailing light and crazy out of focus feeling depicting CHAOS, a WHIRLWIND of uncontrollable energy, a place from which CREATIVITY COMES. I envision women who look almost IMPISH, causing you to want to skip these photos but at the same time you know you want to look again. These are the visions I’m having and I can’t wait to birth them into life through a creative process with someone.

As I was picking out images for this article, I realized that MANY women don’t have access to that dark feminine side of us. And as I type these words, I first wrote “some women” because I didn’t want to offend anyone, ruffle feathers and cause waves by my statement. And that’s exactly WHAT HAS BEEN SURPRESSED IN ME! So fuck it, YES, I am saying what I see as true, and though it may not be true for you, many women do not have access to their dark feminine side. That’s why we are out of touch with our sexuality and the magic within us.

So let’s ruffle feathers, let’s cause waves, and let’s become the fullest expression of what we are to be in this lifetime.

I am convinced that it is no coincidence that the dark feminine flung the door open into my life and commanded I acknowledge it. It has been present in my life all this time but in more subtle, almost invisible ways and now it is demanding the center stage.

And the fact that you came across this article is no coincidence either. I invite you to explore your dark feminine side, whether it is through reading books and journaling, or doing shadow work and working with a tantra practitioner, or doing a creative play photoshoot. By connecting to our dark feminine we are untangling generations-worth of suppressed emotions, sexuality and power so we are doing it not only for ourselves, but for our daughters and generations to come.

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Please feel free to share in the comments the resources that help you. Thank you for reading and happy exploring of the dark feminine together!

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epic goddess photoshoot for oracle Eyre in south florida

This article contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase some of the products recommended here, I might get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Happy reading!

What happens when 2 goddesses get together for a 2-location photoshoot and photograph for 2 hours in each place? :)

Magic happens, my friend. MAGIC.

“How’s your family? You came down to see your family here, right?” I ask her as we unload her suitcase full of outfits and props and we head into the MAGIC FOREST - our first photoshoot location. For the record, the park is obviously not called that officially, but it might as well be! It has trees with rainbow bark, a mystical tree, a grotto with water that sparkles in the sun and a regal banyan tree the size of a palace.

“No, I don’t have family here,” she says. “My mom used to live here, but not anymore” she answers.

My eyes open wide as I stare back at her.

“Did you come to South Florida just for me?” I say almost tearing up.

“Yes, I did. I came just for you” she says with a gentle smile. “I found you on Pinterest and fell in love with your work and I knew that you would be the one to photograph me.”

“I am famous!!!” I jumped around in joy mixed with disbelief.

If someone would have told me I would have clients flying in to see me from another state, I wouldn’t believe them… and now it is happening. This is so exciting, but most of all, I feel so GRATEFUL and humbled…

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Oracle Goddess Photoshoot Outfits and looks

Being an A+ student she is, Eyre prepared for her photoshoot very well! A suitcase-full of outfits, crowns, props and accessories many of which came in handy during our creative play. I was so impressed with the variety of things she brought and how well they matched each setting. Well, being A+ students that I am, I did suggest the locations for our photoshoot and we chose two places that intuitively felt right. I also sent her photos from each location so she was “familiar” with what each place would look like and I think that might have helped her choose the perfect colors for her outfits.

Let’s take a look at the outfits and accessories Eyre wore and a total number of looks we created.

Look #1: Green Forest Nymph.

Eyre arrived to the photoshoot in this dark green dress. As we were walking down the path, I saw these dark green leaves exactly the same color as her dress. The leaves were framing this one spot beautifully, as if waiting for their forest queen to take her regal spot. We played here for some time while Eyre was getting used to the camera and warming up. We photographed without any props and then included a bouquet of artificial flowers for this series. You can get the same Green Forest Nymph dress on Amazon and it comes in a variety of colors.

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Look #2: mystical oracle

Our second stop was a mystical tree and to give herself the aura of mysticism, Eyre put on a scarlet hooded cloak which she purchased on Etsy. This cape made her and the photos look absolutely epic. I can tell you for sure that we couldn’t have achieved the same look with a cheap Halloween cape, and I am so happy that Eyre invested into this. I bet she will also use this cloak for ceremonies and her Avalon priestess program.

We decided to set up an altar at the base of the mystical tree. Eyre gathered some green leaves, laid them on the ground and placed her magic tools there: sage, smudging feathers, singing bowls, a wooden bow and a candle. Let’s take a look at each one of these in detail.

Tibetan singing bowl and a larger brass singing bowl were some of the props she brought to the photoshoot. Eyre placed red rose petals in a larger bowl (maybe they have been blessed in a ritual she did at home…) and at a certain point of the photoshoot she threw them up in the air. You can see that moment in the behind-the-scenes video from our photoshoot below.

We used a white candle and I am obsessed with the photos we created with it! While photographing, I held a crystal in front of the lens. Doing so adds colors and reflections that the crystal pulls in from its surroundings and the effect can be quite dramatic depending on how you hold it, what’s around you and how the light hits. In some photos with the candle you may notice a mysterious blur in the left bottom corner, and in others you can see the reflection of the trees above us. It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy and this certainly does! :)

I love using crystals during Goddess Photoshoots! Eyre held a white quartz crystal from her own collection and I love this photo we created.

As an oracle, through her connection to Spirit, Eyre helps point her clients in the right direction. To symbolize this in photos, Eyre brought this gorgeous wooden bow. As it turns, out, she found this uniquely shaped piece of wood on her property and painted it. The result was a stunning looking bow that we improvised with to create a series of powerful photos.

Smudging feathers and sage or palo santo is always a good idea for a Goddess Photoshoot if you ask me! We didn’t create much smoke in these shots, but we did with another outfit. Keep reading!

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Look #3: Golden Goddess clad in Silk

Eyre changed in the bushes :) When I saw her wearing this gorgeous mustard gold dress, I knew it would look stunning against the backdrop of my favorite dark green leaves that make you look like a tiny fairy when you stand next to them. After we played there, I asked Eyre to sit on the ground because I realized that the leaves are the exact same color as her dress! The one-sleeved equivalent with a sexy shoulder of this dress is available on Amazon in a variety of colors.

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Look #4: Golden Sun Goddess in Lush Greenery

Add a simple crown, and the energy of the outfit and the model changes radiantly! Once Eyre put on this Goddess crown in gold, we moved to photograph in the lush fern and the photos we created there are divine. Be sure to check out the behind-the-scenes video to see how I got her to look comfortable amidst all that vegetation ;)

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Look #5: Lady in Burgundy Red

By this time in our photoshoot, we were having so much fun but the sun was on the way down and we had to hurry. We had one more location to drive to!! Would we have the time to photograph next to a majestic banyan tree?

We had to work fast. Eyre changed into a burgundy Goddess dress and I asked her to sit amidst all the flowers. I think she was being bitten by bugs and since modeling is harder work than most people think, she and I were both getting tired.

We also played with a peacock feather, but honestly, I don’t think I was quite able to bring into life the exact vision of what I wanted to create with it. I ended up editing this photo in an infra-red style, making all the greens look red.

Then we played right next to the banyan tree, and of course, I asked her to dance to no music :) She looked absolutely divine and I think these photos capture that well.

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Look #6: white Linen and Moss Greens in a Moss Cave

We have now moved on to our second photoshoot location and Eyre is standing in a moss cave and talking to her spirit guides. She is wearing a simple A-line linen dress with a draping sleeveless cardigan that drapes her figure. The colors of the outfit are EXACTLY the same color as the Spanish moss encapsulating her into a safe cocoon. I love how the cut of her dress makes the tattoo on her chest visible. This simple outfit works so great in this setting, and I definitely have to give full credit for that (and all the other outfits!) to Eyre: she did her homework well and now she will have a TON of images in different outfits that she will be able to use for so many things.

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Look #7: Neutral Colors and natural Fabrics in a Sea of Grass

We stayed in the same color palette in terms of clothing and landscape. Eyre changed into a pair of linen slacks and a top with a frayed front and we set out into the vastness of the South Florida (slightly manicured) wilderness.

At a certain point, when Eyre was squatting in the grass as I had asked her to, her hair got stuck on the tall grass behind her and it inspired me to create these images. I edited them using the infra-red-imitating preset, which turned greens into reds, pinks and magentas. and I absolutely love them:

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Look #8: Black romper with feather earrings

Eyre donned a simple black romper, adorner herself with feather earrings and held her ceremonial handheld drum so we could create these images. I used a soft box to light my model and her selenic drum. Super happy with how the images turned out against the backdrop of a darkening sky.

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Look #9: Warrior Priestess Jacket and black romper with malas

For this look, Eyre is wearing a black romper and a vintage Warrior Goddess denim jacket. The jacket was one-of-a-kind creation that she found on Etsy that is impossible to find anywhere else. If you look the idea of the jacket, you can try a boho jacket similar to this one I found online. A romper with good reviews that comes in several colors and that is similar to ours is this one. Eyre finished this look with big feather earrings and two malas necklaces.

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9 looks at 2 different photoshoot locations and over 100 mages that Eyre received after this epic branding Goddess Photoshoot. Check out the video below to get a glimpse of what our co-creation process looked like:

I also asked Eyre to record an audio note telling about her spiritual journey, which she did, and I added that audio track to the slideshow of almost all photos from her photoshoot. You can watch it here:

Eyre’s branding photoshoot will forever stay in my memory as one of the most epic photoshoots. Is it because it was so fun working with this goddess, or because for the first time in my photography life I felt “famous”? Maybe it’s a mix of both. ;)

To learn more about Eyre and the gifts she brings to this world, please visit her website.

I hope you enjoyed my written and visual story. Thank you for reading!

With love and gratitude,

Francesca Bliss

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more from the blog:

personal branding photoshoot for an integrative health practitioner Tracy

You know how many hard-hustling women find themselves exhausted, overwhelmed, with stubborn pounds clung to their mid-section while wondering what happened to the fit warrior that crushed deadlines, to-do lists and let nothing stand in their way? Well, I help women find and correct the underlying root cause imbalances so that they lose that stubborn weight, look and feel amazing and reconnect with their lost mojo. 

I am unique because I have walked an integrative wellness journey at the most profound level. Many highly respected neurologists told me that I would not live, yet here I am, very much alive. I left a promising corporate career to practice Integrative Health because I do not want one more person to share my journey.  

My story is long and circuitous, like most people in the natural health and wellness space.

Here is the Cliff Notes version:

My last “traditional job” was as the Global Vice President of Consumer Research and Product Development for a multi-billion-dollar consumer durables brand. You would likely know the brand if I told you. I WAS the hard-driving female.   

It kills me to say this, but I am now 52 years old. Ugh. I was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease when I was 32 years old, just 14 months after my twin daughters were born. Parkinson’s is what dismantled my paternal grandmother, so I knew very well what lay ahead for me when the diagnosis was given, and then confirmed three times by increasingly highly credentialed specialists.

The words “Progressive, degenerative, there is no cure” were burned into my brain because I heard them repeated so many times.

They told me my marriage would fail. Check; it failed wildly.

They told me I would be institutionalized within ten years.

They told me I would be dead in 20 years.

I was unwilling to accept these answers.

I will admit that at first I did the completely normal thing and fell into a gross heap of despair. The illness progressed rapidly during my self-pity party, which terrified me. Then one day, my sweet little girls crawled into my lap, and one of them asked me, “Mommy, who is going to takecare of us when you die?” Oh, my goodness. The question took my breath away. I told them that I was not going to die; I was obviously too mean to die, and smiled. I made a mental note: no more Disney Princess movies! At that time, the princesses all had deceased mothers and evil stepmothers.   

some of the branding photos we created:

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These events occurred more than 20 years ago, so there were no “done for you detoxes”, and Dr. Google was not a resource. I went to the library, researched everything I could about the known contributing factors to Parkinson’s disease, and found a huge correlation to pesticide exposure.

I also learned that movement was a great way to keep the condition at bay, which was not what I had been told. So, I began a mad campaign of walking, detoxing in every manner I could research, and praying the rosary.     

The rest is a very, very long story, but I can tell you that I was at one point a very heavily medicated person with visible tremors that frequently froze and fell down the stairs.

My Neurologist told me that he had no idea how I did it, but if I walked into his office, he would say that I DO NOT have Parkinson’s Disease. It took ten years, but I am and remain 100% symptom-free. I am now a runner, an equestrian, and a thrilled Mom who loves to be here for the twin girls she raised alone.   

I am appalled at what Big Food and Big Pharma do to the people of the United States. It galls me to think that so many mothers are doing things for their families, truly believing that they are taking the very best care of them when they are slowly poisoning them. This is true of the food they feed them, the personal care products, the products used to launder their clothes and clean their homes, and even the water they bathe in is often filled with chlorine and pharmaceuticals that goes straight into the bloodstream through the skin. I believe that by educating and helping the women of the world, I will have a ripple effect, impacting families and the next generation.  

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The thing that I am most proud of is that I learned the body’s power to heal itself, and I know this not from a book, lecture, or certification.

I have checked many educational boxes and continue to learn, but I know it because I have lived it.

When someone tells me that they feel like they are dying, I know the feeling. I fell at the base of my driveway, taking out the trash on a wintery Chicago morning before work one day. I lay there and cried because I was literally dying. I was dying a slow, protracted, miserable death, and I felt helpless.

Until I found hope, that is my unique gift. I do not know how or why, but I am able to see the bright light in others that they often cannot see themselves. If you can get someone to see that bright light, to find that, then there is hope for them.

People cannot heal without hope.   

This story changed my life and gave me new purpose.  I was told I was going to die, and I said, “Death, not today.” I replaced deficiencies, removed toxicities, and let my body return to its equilibrium and voila!  I now absolutely MUST take this and share.  I help others find the courage to heal, and I use functional medicine labs and protocols combined with transformational coaching technique to help reset the subconscious behaviors that “keep them stuck” to guide them to wellness. This is my greatest accomplishment.

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How’s that for a story? I cried when I read it. It is so powerful that I decided to share it in its entirety (with Tracy’s permission, of course).

I feel so special that this strong woman chose to do her branding photoshoot with me. She was very nervous about the photoshoot because she remembered from her corporate days stiff headshots that looked nothing like her. When she saw photos on my website, she says she regained hope that she can have photos of herself that she would not be embarrassed to post online.

Tracy had her makeup done by Savannah of https://www.jusssavvybeauty.com/

I brought some irises which symbolize hope, and Tracy had a coupe other bouquets around the house (fresh flowers always add such a nice touch to photos!). She always has tons of fresh fruits and veggies in her pantry and we used them for photos as well. Tracy’s dogs gladly posed for photos too, and the entire photoshoot flowed smoothly as we changed outfits and rooms where we photographed.

If you would like to work with Tracy or get to know her, follow her on Instagram: @tracyweskamp

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other personal branding stories:

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personal branding photoshoot for an interior designer

Anastasia needed to create photos for a new franchise business she purchased. She would be doing interior design and the franchise gave her a useful PDF guide of the kinds of photos that would work best for the new website. 

Finding the right location for a branding photoshoot is key. Anastasia’s target audience was upscale and the place where we would photograph had to express that. From experience I know that luxury hotels don’t allow photography in the lobby (unless you have a manager friend who can get you a media pass ;)) and the rooms are usually too small to be able to photograph in them.

6 location choices for a branding photoshoot

Depending on your brand, budget and situation, you can choose to photograph at one of the following locations:

• photograph in your home

• rent an AirBnB for a night

• use Peerspace to find the perfect location. This website lets you find a space near you that you can rent out for a few hours

• photograph in a studio that can build out a set for you

• ask around to see if any of your friends have a suitable place and who would let you use their space

• photograph outdoors, somewhere in the city

We were not able to find a Peerspace or AirBnB location that fit our vision and I do not own a studio. Three days before the photoshoot Anastasia texted me saying that we would be able to use her friend’s house for our photoshoot.

When I walked into the house, I was greeted by a Greek grandma who was visiting her daughter, the owner of the house. The house was perfect for the vision we had for our photos - it was filled with natural light, had high ceilings, beautiful modern furniture, and high ceilings. There was one little problem, but it was A LOT of it! 

There were Christmas decorations everywhere! White and silver snowmen and reindeer, snowflakes and nutcrackers, were on the dining table, on the coffee table, on the side table by the mirror, it seemed they FLOODED the house. 

And since you want branding photos to be relevant all year round, you don’t want them to be tied to a specific holiday (a few photos for social media posts around the holiday are fine, but not all of them).

The powerful Goddesses that we are, we remove obstacles that stand in our way :)

Section by section, depending on where we would photograph, we would remove Christmas decorations, wipe glitter off the table and start photographing there. By the end of the photoshoot the Greek grandma had the job of putting the house together again, because the only thing that was still intact was the Christmas tree. 

I laughed through most of the photoshoot. Anastasia would go with every posing idea that I offered. That usually makes creative play productive and fun. Her accent and sense of humor made me laugh so much my jaw hurt. She is so lighthearted and easy-going, honest and simple, and I really loved that about her. 

In addition to traditional portraits of Anastasia, I felt it was important to capture that playful part of her. So we created this image and a close up of her shoes to portray her passion for fashion.

But it wasn’t only her sense of humor that inspired me in this Greek Goddess. 

What I loved about her was this. 

When I first got to the house and got over the overwhelm of winter wonderland, we went to the bedroom to pick the outfits for the photoshoot. Anastasia did her homework and brought several outfits. When I saw what she brought my eyes widened. There was a black off the shoulder top with feathers, and a white t-shirt with the word “fearless” on it. From the boots and the shoes to the iPad case and her jewelry, I loved her taste and her zest for wanting and BEING dressy, stylish, flashy. This desire to look good, to be attractive, to be fashionable signals to me her zest for life, and I loved that. I believe surrounding yourself with things that spark DELIGHT is part of the vibe you create for your mood and for your life.

BRANDING PHOTOS FOR AN INTERIOR DESIGNER IN BOCA RATON, FL:

That’s a wrap! It was an amazing experience working with Anastasia and I wish her good luck on her entrepreneurial journey! ♥

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Need personal branding photos to grow YOUR business? I have a Personal Branding Questionnaire that I have my clients complete before we photograph. It helps both of us get clear on what we want to communicate with our images so the client has an entire library of them to use for at least six months. I will be happy to send you the questionnaire for free, just send me an email!

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more on personal branding:

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