HELLO!

Camberley photographer

Hey, I'm Chantal, and I am the photographer and founder of CAPTIVATE!

Why do you shoot Boudoir?

Recently, someone asked me why I love shooting Boudoir Photography.

They asked in such a way that made me think they weren’t too impressed with the idea of boudoir style photography, basically she had slightly turned her nose up at me.

It made me stop and think a little bit about why I am so drawn to this style. What is it about boudoir that has captured my heart, to the point that it’s now the centre of my business?

I have been a professional photographer for over 12yrs now and over the first 9 years I photographed various genres, mainly weddings, fashion & portrait and a sprinkle of boudoir photo shoots dotted around during those years.

On the odd occasion that I would shoot a boudoir session I started to realise that actually I was witnessing real life, actual magic happen.

I would watch a woman step tentatively but bravely into the studio, with no idea what the day would hold for her.

This amazing woman would hand over trust to me and allow me to show her how amazing she truly is. At the end of the shoot, I would see this same woman literally float out of the studio with an inner confidence that radiates out of every part of her, it literally filled my soul with joy.

It started to dawn on me how incredibly valuable a photo shoot like this really is. We hear the notion of “female empowerment” being banded about a lot at the moment but I am in the privileged position to see it happen right in front of my eyes.

Who comes in for a Boudoir Photo Shoot?

Women come to me for many different reasons, often a big milestone birthday, hitting a personal and hard fought for target, and often after the painful end of an important relationship.

I realised they all came to me at the end of a certain part of their life and I was there to help them step forward into something new, exiting and unknown.

As a women we all get caught up in nurturing others, children, partners, family, employees and we can often entirely overlook ourselves. By the time we do remember to take a good look, we hardly recognise ourselves and have lost the belief that its ok to do great things just for us.

A shoot with me often marks the end of something, perhaps that something was good or bad but after their shoot it can feel like its the beginning of something new, exciting and unknown.

It rarely feels like I am at work if I’m honest and why would it? I meet truly amazing women on a daily basis, women who don’t realise that they inspire me, women who teach me, women who make me grateful for the sisterhood that women allow themselves to be a part of.

When I first started shooting this style of photography, I didn’t realise the incredible value of a shoot like this. I was drawn to it as I love meeting and photographing women like you, but I have since found I have the ability to draw out your inner confidence, to help to learn appreciate yourself as you are and then stand back and watch as the magic works.

So that is why I LOVE LOVE LOVE Boudoir Photography!

It’s not about lingerie, being sexy, or about a certain body shape. It’s about feeling amazing, it’s about being seen as a woman and not just as a wife, mother, boss, employee. It’s about tapping back into that person you were and still are in spite of or because of the experiences life has thrown at you over the years.

It’s about loving yourself again

It’s about accepting yourself

It’s about valuing yourself again

It’s about feeling damn good and not feeling guilty about it.

And I get to be a part of this amazing experience every day….. AS MY JOB!

Feeling pretty lucky actually, and that’s what I said to this person who asked me. Oh.. and then she booked me ;

Chantal x

Ginger Cottage, Barossa Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 4JE Tel: 07552 129418

contact@chantalstorrsbarbor.com web: www.captivatethestudio.co.uk

Surrey's Premier Boudoir Studio